Master's Degree in Library Science and Information Studies.
"Automation applied to Information Services”

Module 3. Digital Libraries. Basic technology:

Introduction Specific subject objectives Teaching strategies
3. Digital Libraries. Basic technology.

3.1 Basic knowledge of various technologies involved with collections.

3.2 The analog world and the digital world.

3.3 Formats used for text, image, audio and video. Resolution and quality.

3.4 Compression; on and off-line storage; costs of digitizing and storing.

3.5 Design of own portal or website.		 Upon completion of this item, the student will get knowledge about various interesting technologies, essential for the proper development of collections:

Digitization, storage, formats, resolution, quality, usability, permanence, accessibility, compression, etc., its role and costs. Conceptual design of a digital library portal. 		The student will research trough the literature and the sites listed down below to prepare material for discussion in class about the following:

1. Describe the process for digitizing documents of different natures.
2. Describe types and costs of storage: online, offline.
3. Describe the characteristics of the main ditizing formats for: text, still image, audio, video.
4. Conceptual design of a library Web site.
5. - His knowledge and experience on the subject from work, discussion with colleagues, readings, or projects.

Description:
This module try to teach how to develop digital collections, with digital born or digitized material. The student must understand the importance of establishing a Policy of development for a digital collection. Studies the criteria about when, how, and why a certain collection of analog material should be digitized, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. When to scan to preserve and when to scan to distribute, along with the implications that each of these processes implies. It is very important that students understand that one of the approaches under which the digital library can be analyzed is obviously the technology approach. Under this topic the first aspect the librarian has to learn is related to storage formats and distribution of digital documents,due to the decisions that must be taken at this stage, on which the success of development projects of digital collections will depend. Which are the characteristics of a good digitized document? This question must be answered from the computational and the bibliographic aspects. Students need to know in detail how these elements are going to get a good digital object and thus a good digital collection; the study of the process and characteristics of digitization, the various formats for text, image, audio and video formats to preserve or distribute; the mechanisms of storage and compression of digital documents and their associated costs.

Students must learn which are good practices to build the main portal or web site for a digital library, as this is the windowscreen through which users will look to the digital library, and these pages often falls into serious design flaws that spoil a good job in the development of collections and services.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUPPORTING READINGS MODULE 3:
1. Galina, I. y Ordoñez, C. 2009. “Introducción a la edición digital”. UNAM : Biblioteca del Editor.

2. Harvard Library Preservation. 2000. “Standard File Formats. Digital still images”. See document

See the links inside this page to other similar subjects: Digitization of texts; of still images; of sound; of video.

3. Tutorial Básico para HTML (Spanish). See document

4. W3Schools. Basic HTML tutorial (English). See document

5. Romo Z., Fabián. "Entre lo analógico y lo Digital". México UNAM - DGSCA. 2004. See document

6. Voutssás M, Juan. 2009. “Preservación del Patrimonio Documental Digital en México”. México : UNAM: Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Bibliotecológicas. 218 p. ISBN: 978-607-02-0583-5. Capítulos 2 y 5. See full text of book in pdf:

7. Voutssás M., Juan. 2012. "Cómo Preservar Mi Patrimonio Digital”. México: UNAM: Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Bibliotecológicas. 240 p. ISBN: Capítulo 2. Ir al texto completo del libro en formato pdf: