Papers

Introduction
Christine Madsen, Judith Siefring and Daniel Wakelin
The introduction will set out the historical background to the use of DIY digitization in various disciplines and traditions and will sketch the importance of the topic.

I. Curating DIY

Learning to let go: Ownership, rights, fees and permissions of readers’ photographs
by Daryl Green
This chapter examines the current state of fees, permissions, rights and ownership of photographs taken by readers in special collection libraries. It presents the synthesis of a survey of over 150 international libraries on their current policies, and will consider, in particular, the legal questions of ownership and copyright of photography in the reading room.

Imaging beyond the institution(al): How DIY digitization impacts research
by Judith Siefring & Christine Madsen
This chapter will report the findings of a qualitative study of library users’ experiences of and attitudes to DIY digitization, conducted over the period 2015-2016, and will reflect on changes in research practice and their implications for digital collections delivery by research institutions.

II. DIY by Library Professionals

The Rise of the Virtual Manuscript Collector: DIY digitization and Asian archives
by Gillian Evison
This chapter will consider the problems with incorporating into library holdings collections of DIY digitizations made by scholars themselves on field trips to other countries, with special reference to Asian languages and religions.

‘DIY’ and developing digitization techniques
by Gwen Riley-Jones
This chapter considers the uses, benefits and risks of DIY digitization in contrast with professional heritage imaging within special collections; the value of a DIY approach to developing new techniques (such as Multispectral Imaging) and the opportunities for new research methods within Digital Humanities.

III. DIY for Research

“A Dangerous Weapon in the Researchers Armoury”: DIY Digitization in the Study of Social History
by Mark Rothery
This chapter considers the authors own experiences of the use of digital photography in the collection and analysis of sources for social history and the wider implications of this technology for historical research. In particular the discussion focuses on an AHRC funded project on landed gentry masculinities 1660-1914, which made extensive use of family correspondence and gentry family archives.

IV DIY in the Public Sphere

Bringing the crowd into the library
by Martin Poulter
To realise the potential of cultural heritage in supporting research and education will take a lot of work. DIY Digitization is an opportunity to crowd-source some of this work but, to get the benefits, institutions need to take on some of the practices of the open culture movement.

Not as simple as open or closed: exploring policies around online image use in libraries and cultural institutions
by Liz McCarthy
Although there is a growing assumption that libraries and cultural institutions will make their images available for use online, the decision to do so is not always an easy one, and must take into account copyright, legal status, the need for profit and even the conservation status of the items themselves. This chapter will explore photography and the use of libraries’ digital images online, and how libraries build their policies around it.