Digitising My Collection
These guidelines are designed to help you get your photos and other printed material on the website for everyone to share. Please take time to read them so that the images you capture can be enjoyed by this new audience.
Download a pdf copy of these guidelines
It is simply the making of a digital copy of an original item. This involves simply scanning or photographing the physical material and transferring it to your computer. One of the main concerns when digitising material is the preservation of the original’s quality. These guidelines offer pointers to ensure you do not compromise on quality when sharing your memories over the web.
What is web publishing?
Web publishing is simply making material available over the Web, in this case through the DWS OGA website.
Before you start:
- Choose photos which are interesting and match with the themes
- Choose photos which are in good condition. If there are any ragged edges or folds flatten them
- Try and ensure that printed material is legible, avoid anything which is very faded
- Please make sure you have read the copyright guidelines and make sure you have the right to reproduce the material.
If you are using a scanner:
- Set up the scanner in a dust free environment
- Make sure the dust cover is removed and make sure there is no dust on the glass scanner bed
- Dust your photos using a microfiber cloth (a glasses cloth works well) to remove any dust. Any dust on the surface of the item will be included in the scanned image, affecting the quality. It is much easier to remove it now than from the scanned image
- Scan one item (photograph/page) at a time. Line up edge of the photograph with the edges of the scanner to ensure the image is straight
- Save the images in a folder and give each of them a unique and meaningful file name. This will be helpful later on when you are selecting which image to upload and describe.
If you are using a digital camera:
- Ideally try to use a good quality digital camera to capture an image of the highest quality, but any type of camera can be used as long as the captured image is legible
- Consider the light source; is it bright enough to see the item without its being obscured by glare from sunlight or electric lights
- Try to avoid camera shake as this will result in a blurry image
- Try to capture the whole item, this will give a better impression of its original context
- Transfer the image to your computer. This process will differ slightly depending on the camera used, but if you refer to your camera’s user guide it should list the necessary steps
- Review the image on your computer screen; ensure that anyone who does not know the original item
How to add your image to the site:
- Select “Add your story” or “Add your images”
- Fill out the descriptive fields (there are prompts explaining what is expected for each, or please see our separate cataloguing guidelines for further detail)
- Click choose file and select the file you want to upload and wait
- Pay special attention to the Creator and Owner fields as these are important for copyright reasons (please see the separate copyright guidelines for further detail)
- Click “Upload your story” or “Upload your image” once you’ve completed all the fields