READIT-2007 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

7. POLICIES FOR DIGITIZATION
1. Meghnad Saha Archive will not digitize its entire collection.
2. Digitization and the management of digital objects are undertaken in the
efficient and effective manner possible. Digitized collections are arranged
in proper ways that are easy for public to access and navigate.
3. Digital project also cover the management of storage space for digital
online products.
4. In addition to converting materials to digital format for access in the world
wide web, Meghnad Saha Archive also present digital material to public
domain by means of Online Exhibition and Publications.
5. Digitization activities are integrated into Publication & Documenta-tion
Unit’s routine activities
6. Digitization is undertaken in accordance with the copyright act and other
relevant legislation. Physical ownership does not automatically mean that
an institution owns the rights to reproduce it. In the past it was thought that
when an object was transferred to an institution, so too were the legal
rights to reproduce the object. Institution can no longer count on the fact
that legal rights are transferred.
7. Authentication of an object is one of the most important issues in archive
administration So Archive will keep all administrative information
protected.
8. The digitization of items in the collection is not diminish commitment to
the preservation and care of these items, while the resulting digital
surrogates will reduce the need for future handling of the items. If it is
essential to digitize an item that is unstable due to its chemical and
physical structure, digital camera is used for the scanning phase.
9. Digital version of materials will represent originals as closely as possible.
Image will not be manipulated or improved, except to compensate for
defects in equipment or in the original.
10. There is a commitment to migration and/or conversation technologies to
enable long term future for digital products.
8. CONCLUSION
Preservation keeps materials alive, intact and available for use so that they can
be authoritatively used as long as possible (1) to document our heritage and our
society and (2) to guide to others who will come in the future. As Philip Ward
poetically states-
“Our heritage is all that we know of ourselves; what we preserve of it, our
only record. The record is our beacon in the darkness of time; the light that guides our
steps.”
Digital information forms an increasingly large part of our cultural and
intellectual heritage and offers significant benefits to users. At the same time
preservation and access to this information is dependent on impermanent media and
technologies; retaining metadata on the provenance and context; and retaining the
authenticity and content of the resource. Although experience in creating and
managing specific forms of digital data has been built up over a number of decades in
the sciences and social sciences, in many areas it is a relatively new medium where
much of the future life-cycle, activities and cost models are currently unknown. These
factors have led to increasing concern about the potential loss of our "collective
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