Introduction

Document preparation as described in Chapter 7 ‘Preparation of document, formats and fastenings’ and Chapter 8 ‘Preparation of damaged documents’ is an indispensable part of an imaging operation not only to obtain the best possible image, but also for the sake of document welfare. However, there are numerous other aspects of the image capture operation that will have a bearing on document welfare. The use of original documents in a reading room would usually be subject to many restrictions and, similarly, imaging should be carried out in controlled conditions. Activities such as cleaning of equipment or use of marker sheets are seemingly minor but do have preservation implications. The collection manager should therefore be involved during the planning and setting up of the imaging operation so that they can advise on these issues.

A large-scale operation can involve hundreds if not thousands of documents and a team of project staff working to a tight timescale. A poorly designed operation is potentially inefficient but also poses the risk of accidents to documents or staff, or the risk of items becoming mislaid or out of sequence. The operation should therefore take account of the processing and imaging requirements, and the preservation requirements of the documents, and balance this with the comfort and safety of the project staff.

Working environment

The choice of working on-site or off-site has been discussed in Chapter 2 ‘Before you digitize: resources, suppliers and surrogates’. From a preservation perspective an on-site operation is preferable because it will utilize existing systems, for example systems for document ordering, delivery and security, and because the transport of items to an off-site location poses a fresh set of risks. However, the factor that is common to both off-site and on-site operations is the need for appropriate environmental conditions. When establishing requirements for environmental conditions the institution should balance the needs of the collection with the needs of the imaging operation, in particular the need for human comfort.