Digital reformatting is the process of converting analogue materials into a digital format as a surrogate of the original. The digital surrogates perform a preservation function by reducing or eliminating the use of the original. Digital reformatting is guided by established best practices to ensure that materials are being converted at the highest quality.

Imaging Standards

The Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 has been actively reformatting materials for its American Memory

American Memory

American Memory is an Internet-based archive for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. It is published by the Library of Congress...

 project and developed best standards and practices pertaining to book handling during the digitization process, scanning resolutions, and preferred file formats. Some of these standards are:

• The use of ISO 16067-1 and ISO 16067-2 standards for resolution
  Image resolution
  Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
  
   requirements.
• Recommended 400 ppi
  Pixels per inch
  Pixels per inch or pixel density is a measurement of the resolution of devices in various contexts; typically computer displays, image scanners, and digital camera image sensors....
  
   resolution for OCR
  Optical character recognition
  Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...
  
  'ed printed text.
• The use of 24-bit color when color is an important attribute of a document.
• The use of the scanning device's maximum resolution for digitally reproducing photographs
• TIFF as the standard file format.
• Attachment of descriptive, structural, and technical metadata
  Metadata
  The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
  
   to all digitized documents.

A list of archival standards for digital preservation can be found here: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/digi_preserv.pdf

Audio standards

The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives

International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives

The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives was established in 1969 to serve as a forum for international co-operation between archives, libraries, and individuals interested in the preservation of recorded sound and audiovisual documents...

 (IASA) has produced guidelines on the creation and preservation of digital from analogue originals. The guidelines cover:

• selection and preparation of best available copy for digitising
• optimising signal extraction
• analog-to-digital converter
  Analog-to-digital converter
  An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
  
   technical specifications
• audio digitised at 24-bit word length and a minimum 48,000 samples/sec
• target audio format: linear PCM Broadcast Wave Format
• storage recommendations

Cost benefits

Digital formatting programs can be costly and have huge start-up costs, especially if done in-house. A hypothetical case study presented at the 2003 National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH) Symposium quoted a small digitization project as costing $16,332, if outsourced to a vendor, or about $100,000 (to purchase software and hardware for an in-house program). These prices are worth it when one considers the long-term financial benefits of digital reformatting. A cost-benefit study presented by Lee (2001) found that it costs about $5.40 to digitize a 10-page article (with unlimited free duplicates), much less than the total accumulated cost of repeatedly duplicating the physical master with a photocopier.

Function as a preservation strategy

Digital reformatting is not unanimously accepted as a viable, long-term preservation strategy. The Association of Research Libraries

Association of Research Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...

 recognized digitization as a viable preservation method because of its capture capabilities, reproduction of “the navigational experience of a book,” enhanced accessibility, and the creation of “virtual collections that will support new and creative research made possible only in a digital environment”. As of September 12, 2007, however, OCLC

OCLC

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...

had not recognized digitization and digital reformatting as preservation standards.

Digital Reformatting Programs

The Library of Congress has constituted a Preservation Digital Reformatting Program. The Three main components of the program include:

• Selection Criteria for digital reformatting
• Digital reformatting principles and specifications
• Life cycle management of LC digital data