There's more to digitizing data than just the business case. While the justifications for digitization projects often center on the hours and dollars saved finding critical information, the case sometimes transcends dollars, particularly with some of the historical collections that are being digitized around the world. Digitization makes these unique collections findable and accessible to people who would never be able to travel the thousands of miles to see the originals. So, why would anyone want to look at an old index from the 1939-40 World's Fair, or photographs of glaciers taken in the 1890's? Read on.

Wall Riders, ca., 1938-39. John Oscar Luck, grandfather of Rose Ami, farthest on the right. Photo courtesy Luck-Ami family collection

Rose Ami spent a significant portion of her life wondering about her father's family. When she reached her twenties, she began to seek them out. That's when she first heard the story of her paternal grandfather, a motorcycle stunt rider, who was killed while riding the "Wall of Death" at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair.

That news sent Rose on a quest to find out more about that stunt rider, though all she had to start with was a clipping about the accident from The New York Times. But thanks to some help from the New York Public Library (NYPL) and other interested researchers, Rose has found an extended family she never knew existed. Her search stretched over many years and had numerous "twists and serendipitous turns," but the last two years has turned up more and more information about her family, largely due to the greater accessibility of information.

Sometimes there is no way of knowing what's valuable until the materials actually become available.

Now, a new digitization project at the NYPL Manuscripts and Archives Division (performed by DCL) makes information from the 1939 New York World's Fair even easier to find, and more accessible to people all over the world. The goal of the project is to digitize the index cards from the Fair that catalogue contracts, memos, letters and other correspondence related to individuals and companies who worked for or exhibited at the Fair; individuals like Salvador Dali whose "Dream of Venus" pavilion remains both applauded and controversial, and companies like General Motors, and RCA (who introduced television at the Fair).

Click here for enlarged view of Salvador Dali index card from the NYPL collection.

The index cards are scanned and converted to digital images and tagged with XML metadata (e.g. individual and company names) to create a searchable online database of information. The database is available to everyone, both serious researchers and casual collectors, who has access to the Web. For individuals who may not want, or be able, to spend thousands of dollars on travel and research, digitization projects like this can mean all the difference between dead end research and historical discovery.

"This saves researchers at least two steps in the research process," says William Stingone, Curator of Manuscripts, New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division. "First, they can search the index from home to see if there is anything in the Fair's Central Files on the person or company without having to take a trip to the library and request the index cards themselves. Second, in combination with our guide to the records, the image of the index card will lead researchers to the exact box and file the letter, contract, or correspondence is in, and we can go directly there and retrieve it for them."

IDC studies have found that the cost of searching for -- but not locating -- information costs an organization of 1,000 workers about $6 million USD a year.

Digitization projects are usually undertaken for one of three reasons: 1) Records Management, 2) Preservation, or 3) Research. From a records management perspective, the endless searching for documents creates unnecessary costs that most organizations can't afford. According to research from International Data Corporation (IDC), "the amount of time wasted in futile searching for vital information is enormous, leading to staggering costs to the enterprise." IDC studies have found that the cost of searching for -- but not locating -- information costs an organization of 1,000 workers about $6 million USD a year. According to IDC, "that's not including opportunity costs or the costs of reworking information that exists but can't be located. When these costs are added to the calculation, an extra $27 million USD a year is lost."

Those are compelling reasons when forming a business case for a digitizing documents and records. But there are other reasons to consider a digitization project, ones that may not have immediately obvious monetary benefits. Preservation alone has been the driving force for many digitization projects , such as those that preserve brittle photos, documents, and maps. Preservation and research can be closely tied in many cases, such as the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, which makes available the images and content of cuneiform tablets dating from ca. 3350 BC. It preserves the fragile tablets through digital imaging, but also makes these artifacts available to scholars and researchers throughout the world through an on-line, searchable database.

Many times, though, it's hard to determine exactly what should be converted to a digital format. What do users demand? What kind of information might be needed in the future? Sometimes there is no way of knowing what's valuable until the materials actually become available.

Donjek Glacier, source: Natural Resources Canada. Photograph by Douglas Hodgson. Copyright Terrain Sciences Division, Geological Survey of Canada.

In the late 1800s pioneer glaciologist Harry Reid began photographing glaciers with the idea that future generations might want to see how glaciers changed over time. A project by the National Snow and Ice Data Center has digitized those, and other images, and made them available to modern glaciologists via their web site. Technology now lets scientists overlay new images over older ones to clearly show glacial progression over time. These images weren't widely available until the digitization project.

"We digitized the materials because the analog images weren't available unless you came here to our archive. As a result they were rarely used," says Florence Fetterer, project leader. "Since they've been digitized, they are used quite frequently. We have 2000-7000 unique users per month."

"Since (images) have been digitized we have 2000-7000 unique users per month."

There are many other hidden resources that, if made available, could prove to be highly useful to an organization. Could archived scientific studies help today's researchers avoid old mistakes? Could they uncover radical ideas of the past that might be products of today? What about making internal documents, forms, and reports available to everyone in the company through a searchable database? What about all those proposals people have written over the years?

If an organization has an expansive company history, digitizing legacy documents preserves historical company information often sought by media and news groups. Founders' photos, product images, and historic documents can be archived so when an organization celebrates a milestone, such as a 25, 50, or 100-year anniversary, there is ready access to historical data.

In organizations such as insurance providers or government entities, customer files can be converted to digital files and tagged with customer information fields such as name or account number making them easily accessible. Then claim forms, signed documents and policies, tax records, and even accident appraisal photos can be retrieved by both customers and staff members in a matter of seconds.

Whether digitizing images for preservation and scientific study; or converting legacy documents for better records management or company history; it's a good idea to think about your needs for better accessibility, greater reuse, and even the marketing opportunities that such a project could provide-imagine adding 7000 users a month to your site.

Making information easier, faster, and less expensive to find is the real goal-for whatever the reason. Just ask Rose Ami. She's now looking for her paternal grandmother, Claudia Hall, perhaps married to the "wall rider" killed in the tragic World's Fair accident. "She's now the mystery woman," Rose says. "She had an adoptive family in Alabama." But that's pretty much all she knows. Much like in your organization, the more accessible the information, the more likely she will find what she's looking for-without spending thousands of dollars in the process.

DCLNews Editorial
May 2007