How many books are being digitized?
For the first year of the project, we are targeting to digitize around 100,000 monographs - English language and in public domain.
How was the selection process made?
We continue to work on refining our selection policy. The first batch of materials sent were public domain monographs from Olin Library and Engineering Library that are in English. They cover a range of subjects.
How can I tell if a book is charged out to digitization?
The general public will able to tell that items are charged out, but it will not be apparent from the public catalog that these items are charged out for digitzation. Public service staff can assist users by accessing the MARC record in the online catalog. The 903 field in the MARC record will reflect that the book has been sent to be digitized. It will have "Kirtas" and the barcode in the field. For example: 903 __ |a Kirtas |d 20060901 |p 31924029885658
How long will books be unavailable?
Books will be checked out for the project for up to 3 months. We hope as the workflow processes become smoother that the actual time the books will be out of the library will be shorter. If you request (hold/recall) a title that is checked out for this project, your request will automatically be transerred to Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct ensuring that you receive the title you need as quickly as possible.
Will books be damaged or destroyed during this process?
No. The scanning vendor for this project uses a digitization process that does not damage the book. A bound book is placed in a book cradle, which allows the book to be digitized with out damaging the spine. Pages are digitized by overhead digital cameras. So, books remain intact. A mechanical arm then turns the pages as the are digitized, and this process is probably more gentle then turning pages by human hand. We expect all our books to be returned to the shelves in the same condition they were in before scanning.
There is a 2006 book I need to place on course reserve. Is that likely to be charge out to digitization?
No. During the first year of the project we are only digitizing books in the public domain. We are currently focusing on books published prior to 1923.
When will digitized images be available for us to use?
We expect to start receiving the digitized images in February. The LSDI Access group is in the process of assessing different delivery options. One of the scenarios reviewed involves linking the PDF versions of the books to the Voyager records as they start arriving.
Will there be a cost for using the digitized images?
No. Access to the books both from Microsoft and Cornell site will be free of any charges.