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GPO's Digitization and Preservation InitiativesLaptop with books.

One of the strategic goals of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) is to digitize a complete legacy collection of tangible U.S. Government publications to make sure that these materials are available, in the public domain, for permanent public access. The conversion of tangible materials will begin with printed publications, and will eventually include microfiche and other formats.

GPO will:

  • Coordinate this effort;
  • Assist in the establishment and implementation of standards;
  • Maintain a registry of digitization projects;
  • Serve as a trusted repository for preservation and access, in addition to any other places that the materials might be held;
  • Certify and authenticate the electronic files; and
  • Ensure that there is appropriate cataloging and metadata for the items in the collection.

The availability of an electronic legacy collection will allow depository libraries, including regional libraries, to manage their tangible collections more effectively, substituting electronic copies for tangible copies -- if they wish to do so.

RFP for Mass Digitization | Specification for Quality Control
Priorities for Digitization of the Legacy Collection | Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects | Specification for Converted Content
Meeting of Experts

GPO Request for Mass Digitization Services

To assist in implementing this strategic goal, GPO will set up free or near-free partnerships with a variety of sources for the purpose of digitizing the legacy collection. These partnerships may include but are not limited to, Federal depository libraries, Federal agencies, and private organizations. Throughout these endeavors, GPO will ensure that these materials are available, in the public domain, for no-fee permanent public access through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

In support of this plan, GPO issued a Request for Information (RFI) for Mass Digitization Opportunities. This RFI was announced through Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) in January 2008. The responses to the announcement were analyzed and led to the development of an RFP for Mass Digitization which was also posted on FedBizOpps on August 12, 2008. The RFP can be found here.

GPO is requesting proposals from industry specific to the digitization of publications that are within scope of GPO’s dissemination programs. GPO envisions a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship with a private or public sector participant(s) where the uncompressed, unaltered files created as a result of the conversion process are delivered to GPO at no cost to the Government. These files will serve as the digital master copies that will be preserved and used for the creation of access derivatives within FDsys. In exchange, the contractor or contractors shall be able to maintain a collection of files produced.

GPO’s Digitization Demonstration Summary Report Online

In March 2006 a six-month digitization demonstration project was authorized by the Joint Committee on Printing (JCP). The project began July 2006 and provided GPO the opportunity to test equipment capabilities, develop workflow processes, analyze costs, and evaluate methods for ingest, storage, and access to the digitized files.

The project outcomes are now online in Summary Report: Digitization Demonstration Project.

GPO Request for Legacy Publications for Digitization Demonstration Project

GPO is looking for donations of these legacy publications in support of its digitization demonstration project. The list of needed publications, which will be updated weekly if there are any changes, is attached. This list will be posted throughout the digitization pilot, which runs through December, or until we acquire all needed publications].

GPO prefers these publications come from regional-approved deaccessions or collections of duplicates no longer needed. While donations are preferable, loans of material will be considered as well when publications are not available for donation.

If you have questions or comments or wish to make a publication donation to GPO, please use the GPO online help service. To ensure that your submission is routed to the correct area, please choose the category "Federal Depository Libraries" and the appropriate subcategory "Digitization- "Publication Offers to GPO".

GPO appreciates all publication donations.

Specification for Quality Control

This is the specification GPO plans to use that covers all the necessary requirements and elements required for the quality control of converted, or digitized, content. The specification will be used to support GPO's Operational Specification for Converted Content (Version 3.3). The end product of the Quality Control will be converted content configured to quality requirements and alignment to Future Digital System (FDsys) . Quality Control will ensure that the content is ready for submission to FDsys. The specification is an outline of Quality Control and will continue to evolve as technological advancements and digitization requirements occur in the digital imaging industry.

Priorities for Digitization of the Legacy Collection

This initial priority list below was developed based on review of a number of recommendations and resources conveyed to GPO by librarians in the Federal Depository Library Program and greater information community.

Priorities for Digitization of Legacy Collection (September 2005 – Final)

Priorities for Digitization of Legacy Collection (July 2005 - Draft)

Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects

GPO is pleased to announce the launch of its Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects. The Registry’s goal is to provide comprehensive coverage of all appropriate digitization projects that include U.S. Government publications.

GPO encourages personnel at libraries, government agencies, museums, and other non-profit institutions performing digitization to contribute information about planned, in progress, or completed digitization projects including U.S. Government publications to the Registry. Projects represented in the Registry must be freely accessible and entirely composed of digitized U.S. Government publications or include a substantial number of them.

Specification for Converted Content

A new 3.3 version is available. This version represents relatively few changes from the earlier version. Some GPO Future Digital System terminology has been included and clarified.
The specification has been developed through internal and external reviews by federal agencies and universities involved in preservation quality digitization. The specifications reflect proposed standards that were discussed at GPO's Meetings of Experts on Preservation, as well as the Digital Library Federation (DLF) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recommended standards.
The specification will continue to evolve as technological advancements and digitization requirements occur in the digital imaging industry.

GPO's Digitization Specification 3.3 (February 2006 - Final)

GPO’s Digitization Specification 3.2 (December 2005 – Draft)

GPO's Digitization Specification 3.0 (June 2005 – Final)

GPO's Digitization Specification 3.0 (June 2005 - Draft)

Meetings of Experts

The project to digitize the historical tangible publications in Federal depository libraries is proceeding with input from many in the information community. A GPO report entitled Priorities for Digitization of Legacy Collection has been released in final form. This document can be viewed at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/prioritydigitization_plan.pdf.

As steps toward building a national digitization plan, two meetings were held at GPO to assist in developing specifications for the digitization project.

The first meeting brought together practicing experts in the field of digital format conversion and digital project development to discuss the current standards and specifications for the creation of digital objects for preservation and to put forward a proposed set of minimum requirements for digitizing documents for this project. The Report on the Meeting of Experts on Digital Preservation: Digital Preservation Masters is located at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/preservation.html.

The second meeting focused on descriptive and preservation metadata, including a summary of the overall discussion of the experts and the necessary resources for the metadata package submission. Also included is a listing of metadata elements that is not meant to be viewed as a final list of required metadata elements, but a list of metadata elements, based on this discussion and the recommended readings as put forth in the meeting. It provides a common set of elements from which to build for digitization project. The Report on the Meeting of Experts on Digital Preservation: Metadata Specifications is located at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/about/reports/metadata.html.