Royal Academy of Arts Tender Submission - UK Archiving

Invitation to tender
Digitisation of the Royal Academy
Annual\Summer Exhibition Catalogues
31 st July 2017
David Knox : Director

Company
SNMU Limited T/A UK Archiving Telephone: 0131 453 6872
4 Bankhead Medway Fax: 0131 442 1505
Edinburgh
EH11 4BY
Email: david@ukarchiving.co.uk
Website: www.ukarchiving.co.uk
Director: David Knox Mobile : 0772 550 9514
Company Number : SC261572
david@ukarchiving.co.uk
Technical Manager: Sharon Doolan Office : 0131 453 6872
Background
Sharon@ukarchiving.co.uk
The company started its life as The Scottish Newspapers Microfilming Unit (SNMU) which was established
in 1994 as a joint initiative between the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and the National
Library of Scotland (NLS) to provide a newspaper microfilming service of reputable quality reliability.
In 2001 SNMU was purchased by Heritage Microfilm Inc. and continued to trade as Heritage Microfilm
Limited. Due to a restructuring of the parent company, a management buyout was required to ensure the
company’s future. On 1 st March 2004 began SNMU Limited T/A UK Archiving.
SNMU Limited T/A UK Archiving became part of the GT4 Group Limited (SC226642) , Operating as a
separate company within the group with following people as directors, Ian Johnstone (Chairman GT4
Group & Director of SNMU Limited), Tom Brown (CEO of GT4 Group & Director of SNMU Limited),
Stephen Cumming (Group Finance Director), SMNU Limited)
In its short existence SNMU has established as one of the leading archival microfilming and digital services
in the United Kingdom and now serves all of Scotland’s public library services as well as national libraries,
universities, archives, galleries, museums and newspaper publishers.
UK Archiving was the only commercial company that sat on the Microfilming Committee of The National
Preservation Office.
UK Archiving is carrying on this quality for both microfilming and digital preservation. We are not a
document management company or a scanning bureau. UK Archiving only operate in this niche market
sector of preservation.
The management of UK Archiving knew that digital would be the future of the company and decided to
make a huge investment into the digital equipment that would assist in this field but also keep to UK
Archiving mission statement.
“Our aim is to excel in the delivery of preservation and archiving services through the use and
development of microfilming, scanning and digitisation techniques”

Equipment
Digital: Mamiya 645 AFD medium format camera with a Phase One P30 “one shot” digital back (32
megapixel)
Phase One 645 AFD medium format camera with a Phase One P45+ “one shot” digital back
(39 megapixel)
2 x Phase One 645 AFD medium format camera with a Phase One P65+ “one shot” digital
back (60 megapixel)
Three ICAM Vanguard A2 – Desktop digital capture stations which include Canon EOS D5
21mp digital cameras
Various high quality lenses (55mm, 80mm, 45mm & 120mm Macro)
Various cantilever beds/Book cradles
Cool Lighting systems
Various portable capture stations for client onsite capture
Various light boxes
Software
Capture One Pro Version 7.4.1
Adobe Photoshop CS4
Arcapture
Standards
UK Archiving work to, and in some cases exceed the National Preservation Office standards for
microfilming. Our quality control document adopted by the above standards office and is still used today.
We take this high level of working practices into our digital studio to ensure preservation quality image and
to ensure that the client receives the service and quality they require.
Our standards are very important to us; one of our main strengths which go to support our desire to supply
our clients with the best service is our staff based in Edinburgh. Our staff stay with us for a long time
ranging from one @26 years, one @ 23 years, two @15 years, one @ 8 years and three @ 5 Years. This
loyalty allows UK Archiving to develop our staff to the highest levels and enables us to provide a high
consistency of service.

Material condition
UK Archiving understands the importance of handling and care. Our quality criterion is to ensure that
handling is kept to the bare minimum. Handle Once Capture Once
Material Handling
As we have a close working relationship with The National Library of Scotland and British Library. All our
members of staff have been trained in the handling of old, fragile and valuable material by the above
parties. Although we deal with this type of material on daily basis, we ensure that we are kept up to date
with our continuous staff development programme.
Insurance
Our Insurance Company – Hiscox. On request UK Archiving will supply our full insurance document details
including certificate.
Employers Liability £10,000,000
Public and Products Liability £5,000,000
Goods in Trust £1,000,000
We have an arrangement with our insurance company that should we have to increase our Goods in Trust
coverage for a short period this can be organised very quickly.
Collection
UK Archiving will arrange the collection and return of the material by a specialised Museum and Art Gallery
transportation company:
Artlink Transport: Will Mulholland
Office Telephone: 0141 956 5932
Mobile Telephone: 07850 451883
Email: will@artlinktransport.com
Artlink Transport provided a specialised transportation service for museums and art galleries all over
Europe. Their specially equipped van and two man team ensures that a safe and secure service is provided
and that the material is never left unattended. A member of UK Archiving staff would be there for the
initial collection should you require.
Artlink will uplift and return the labelled boxes from any address supplied by the Academy. The boxes
will be loaded on to a purpose built large van which will then transport the material non-stop to UK
Archiving’s premises in Edinburgh. The material will then be stored in a large fire proof safe. The return
trip will be the reverse. A UK Archiving representative will be in attendance.

Security
UK Archiving premises are within a National Library of Scotland building with all the necessary security
precautions that a crown building requires. There is a full intruder alarm system with security call out in the
event of activation.
Twelve foot security fencing surrounding the buildings with entry controlled access to the building
In UK Archiving area, we have another level of security access to limit the number of persons gaining
access to the capture and storage areas: Security fob access control.
Should the material be captured within the premises of UK Archiving, the material will be stored within
in a very large CHUBB fire standard safe. The safe is in a separate building from UK Archiving but within
the safe area. The material will transported to the capture studio in large sealed plastic containers.

The building that the safe is contained is secure and has a constant temperature 15 degrees Celsius and a relative
humidity of 43%
Digital Images
The material will be stored and captured in UK Archiving premises in Edinburgh.
In the capture stage of this project we would use our Phase One digital cameras along with the appropriate
lens as this shortens the time under the camera. This is the same equipment as used by the National
Archives in London and the National Archives of Scotland.
When capturing the images on our Phase One digital cameras a RAW file is created. From this image we
will process the Master full colour 24-bit sRGB uncompressed TIFF images. We would process to a
resolution appropriate to the size of the material. We would anticipate a resolution of 300/400ppi for this
type of material. The tender requirements stipulate 400ppi and UK Archiving are happy to provide the
images at this level. Other surrogates can be created including the JPEG2000 files.
After the capture stage, the post production stage would be completed using Capture One Pro or Adobe
Photoshop CS4. This would be to crop, colour management, contrast, de-skew, inverting, etc. The images
would be loaded on to our server from which our operators can select, manipulate and re save back to the
server. We have a number of work stations which allow us to quickly complete this stage.
UK Archiving will endeavour to create an image to reflect a true representation of the original material.
The resultant images will be outputted to 100% of the original size.
UK Archiving will work with the client to produce images best suited for their purposes. This may mean
multiple images at varying resolutions or file formats. Due to the RAW image being available the different
level of images can be created fairly easily. The only issue that may arise is the size of the created file
depending on the resolution and file format.
Brightness:
Proportions:
Orientation:
The levels that will be set to ensure that all of the details of the image are visible
The created image will be 100% of the size of the original document unless
previously agreed to be a different size. When cropping the image no part of the
page will be removed and a small border (5mm) created for the integrity of the
individual image edge or cropped to the edge of the individual image.
We will ensure the correct orientation of the created images.
Shadows/reflections: The digitised images will be free of any reflections and shadows introduced as part of
the capture process or equipment.
Blemishes:
The created image will be a true representation of the source material which would
include any stains, mould etc.

Calibration
At UK Archiving we always strive to deliver quality at every stage of our processes, we calibrate the camera
software and hardware to ensure the consistency of capture images. We also calibrate our monitor within
the post production suite again to ensure that all monitors are viewing the captured material with the
same level of colour and sharpness.
Munsel Colour X-Rite ColorChecker: To calibrate software and hardware
X-Rite One Eye Display Two: To calibrate our monitors to ensure our operators are looking at the same
quality of image when completing the post production.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
UK Archiving use the following OCR programs to ensure that the client receives the best level of
Search ability. We will sample a number of pages across the varying volume to enable then highest quality
And at a level of 95% or greater
Adobe Acrobat 8.1 Professional
Omnipage 18 Professional
Quality Control and Quality Assurance Procedures
It is very important to UK Archiving, that we provide the highest quality of service as possible from our
quality of preparation, quality of our equipment and most importantly quality of our images to our clients.
UK Archiving will quality check at every stage of the capture process.
By checking the source material and creating a manual report of the condition and size of the item
By checking the material to ensure the best settings for the optimum image
By ensuring the camera and software are calibrated on a material/project/daily basis
By checking the capture criteria is set up correctly, lens, height, folder names, file names, etc.
By checking the RAW images as they are being produced on our calibrated monitors
By checking the images as they are processed from RAW to TIFF (Other image formats can be
supplied such as JPEGs, JPEG2000 or/and PDFs)
By checking the quality and quantity in post-production
By checking the created images are as per the client’s specification including inverting to positive.
And a final Production Manager sign off before loading on to the hard drive before dispatch.

UK Archiving will ensure that all images and files will be in the required format, orientation and resolution.
Any errors that are identified through your own quality control process will be corrected by UK Archiving at
no additional cost to yourself.
Delivery of Images
UK Archiving preferred method of transfer is on hard drives. UK Archiving will supply a hard drives which
will contain all of the captured TIFF & JPEG2000 images. The specification of the hard drives will be advised
to the client.
UK Archiving will store the images on their internal for 90 days to allow for the client quality check images.
Staff members
UK Archiving employ eight members of staff who are all trained in the required elements of digital imaging
and material handling. The members of staff that will be responsible in the provision of the necessary
quality of service and quality of images.
David Knox : Director of UK Archiving
Sharon Doolan : Technical Manager/Project Manager.
24 years within the preservation imaging both microfilming and digital.
File Naming Convention & Structure
The file naming will be as per the instructions set out as per the clients instructions.
Folder names:
RA-SEC_Vol1_1769-1782
RA-SEC_Vol30_1996
Image files within the folders for the individual catalogue pages, should follow the following naming
strategy:
File names
RA_SEC_Vol1_1769_0001.tiff / jp2
RA_SEC_Vol30_0024.tiff / jp2
And created searchable PDF and Text files will have the following
RA_SEC_Vol1_1769_0001.txt
RA_SEC_Vol30_1996_0024.txt
RA-SEC_Vol30_1996 [complete catalogue]
RA-WEC_Vol30_1996_0123.pdf

Experience
Please find listed examples of projects that we have been involved with which should show our expertise in
delivering a quality service.
UK Archiving currently have a client base of 97. As per the tender requirements these are clients are
broken down into:
Not for Profit, Charity or Cultural institution = 47
Commercial = 50
Shropshire Archive Centre: UK Archiving worked with Shropshire Archive (Andrew Davidson) to capture
70,000 plus images of their Registers. Collecting and returning material from the Archive. Capturing and
providing the highest quality images as well as the highest possible service.
National Media Museum: UK Archiving were commissioned to capture 30,000 images within the
photographic area of the museum. The Types of material were negatives, photographs, Daguerreotypes,
glass plates etc. This was an on-site project over a number of separate weeks. The collections included
William Henry Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Julia Margaret Cameron, Samuel Bourne and many more.
Bradford Industrial Museum: We have captured and supplied many images from photographic collections
for the Industrial Museum including CH Wood and currently 15,000 glass plate negatives from the Mintex
collection.
Reference - John Ashton Tel : 01274 435900, Email : john.ashton@bradford.gov.uk
Royal Archive: UK Archiving are currently working in the Round tower within Windsor Castle capturing
approximately 350,000 pages of 17 th /18 th manuscripts for a client. This involves two portable capture
stations with high resolution cameras and cool light setup.
The Science Museum @ Wroughton: UK Archiving successfully captured all of the Charles Babbage
Collection on the premises of the Science Museum. This included notebooks, plans and other
documentation. We setup a studio within their archive and worked with the archive team to produce high
quality images. This project would be very similar to the one proposed in this submission.
Russell Library in Maynooth Dublin: Capturing the Morpeth Roll for Ancestry. This project was based
within the library of the University at Maynooth and entailed the capture of a 400 metre long petition
created in the 1830’s. This document was made up of 650 separate paper documents of various conditions
The Scotsman Archive: Although this was a microfilm project for UK Archiving we arrange all the collection
and return of all the material from four different sources to ensure best possible image. The material was
newspapers of varying sizes and condition. The number of pages involved was 650,000.
The Everton Collection: This is a current digital project which we have been commissioned to supply digital
images of various types of material, minute books, programmes, photographs, medals, strips, trophies, etc.
The National Library of Scotland: We have completed many projects over the years both in microfilm and
digital. These are normally the rare and fragile collections to ensure preservation and accessibility.

Parliamentary Archive: This project involved the digital capture 12,500 photographs taken by the Staff
Photographer from 1990 to 2009. This included master TIFF files and surrogates JPEGS.
Other Clients
Glasgow School of Art includes glass plate negatives, slides and photographs
Reference – Peter Trowles, Tel : 0141 353 4592, Email : p.trowles@gsa.ac.uk
Canal & River Trust included slides and photographs
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
British Museum included Photographs
British Library
National Library of Scotland
Royal Fusiliers within the Tower of London
Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh
Ancestry
Glenmorangie
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Museum included negatives and photographs
University of Glasgow – Cullen Papers
University of Edinburgh – Special Collection including the Lothian Health Board Archive.
Punch Magazine
Chatham House Publications
All the Libraries in Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland
London School of Economics
Wiener Library
And many more,

Timescales
UK Archiving could uplift the material on Thursday 31 st August or possibly sooner if the need required. We
anticipate that the capture of the pages and quantity check will take 15 days to capture. Once we are sure
that all the pages have been captured the material can be returned.
The post capture work including the cropping, deskewing, OCR, QC, etc. will take the remaining time with
delivery of the digital images on the 26 th October
Pricing
The pricing below is based on the information supplied and includes the uplift and return of the source
material, the capture, quality checking, quantity checking, post capture processing and OCR.
a
A
1769 – 1917 25cm x
19cm
61 149
B 1918 – 1997 13.5cm x
10cm
C 1998 – 2008 17.5cm x
11cm
2009-2018 15cm x
11.5cm
130 80
166 11
193 10
The approximate page count is 23,500 pages.
Capture of 23,500 pages £0.15 per page £3525.00 + Vat
Processing of 23,500 pages £0.20 per page £4700.00 + Vat
OCR of 23,500 pages £0.30 per page £7050.00 + Vat
Total
£15275.00 + Vat
Uplift/return of material/Images and hard drives will be supplied free of charge.

Answers to Appendix 2 : Technical and Qualitative Response
1. Having dealt with the Royal Academy before on a similar but smaller project UK Archiving do not
perceive any major/key challenges. We see the opportunity of building a mutual working
relationship which would hopefully lead to more work for the Royal Academy of Art.
2. UK Archiving is a very small organisation only working within the heritage sector. Our staff have
been with us a long time and have the skill and the experience in working with fragile and
important historical documents. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality and service to
all of our clients whether they have one manuscripts or 350,000 pages of documents. UK Archiving
will work with the client to ensure the solution is exactly what is required. Dedication to provide
quality at every turn. From the uplift to the return
3. Cumberland & Westmoreland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society: The capture of approx. 45000
pages of the transaction volumes and providing the Society with a fully searchable resource.
The List Magazine: The capture of the List Magazine in Edinburgh. This was a 75,000 page project of
a modern magazine each page shown as a single image and OCR’d to a high level.
Royal Academy of Art: The Academy gave us the opportunity to complete a similar project. The
capture and the creation of searchable PDFs.
All three projects were captured using our high resolution Phase One cameras, our experienced
staff carefully handling the material. The images then processed to try ensure that the image on
the computer closely resembles the source material. We used our OCR software to create the
searchable PDFs which we quality checked again to a high level. For the work we did for the
Academy I hope you saw that first hand.
4. All of the UK Archiving team are experienced in the digitisation of heritage material. The person
that will be managing the project will be Sharon Doolan. 24 years within the reprographic industry,
both microfilming and digital imaging. Janet Wilkie will assist due to her experience with this type
of material
David Knox will oversee the full process but the day to day running of the project will be with
Sharon and her team.
Artlink Transportation Services will be our only partner as they will provided an excellent and
secure transportation solution. They only work within the museum and art gallery sector. They
provide this service all over Europe.
5. Our approach to achieving and maintaining excellent customer service standards, is our pride in our
work and the knowing that this responsibility has to be shared with the client. We are a small
company and we need a high quality of product and service to survive. UK Archiving constantly
looks at ways to improve our technical skills, our handling skills and our customer service skills.
A number of years ago we wrote a quality assurance document for ourselves. Sharon Doolan sat on
a standards committee of the British Library. This document was shown to them for approval. The
British Library not only approved the document, they added to their own standards. We try to
excel.