This report brings together data and commentary about film digitization from 23 institutions, primarily research universities but also museums, and special libraries and film archives. The highly detailed data in this 130-page report helps its readers to answer questions such as: what is the stock of undigitized and digitized file held by universities, museums and film archives? How much have they digitized recently? How much do they plan to digitize? Are they digiting in-house or outsourcing? How much as they spending and plan to spend? Who are their suggested outsourcing partners and what advice can they give their peers on digitization processes? What is the size of the backlog to digitize? Is this backlog growing or shrinking? How many employees are involved in film digitization and what is the outlook for use of staff labor in this area?
The study looks at rights management issues, including use of Section 108 exemptions under the US Copyright Act and the need for rights management services.
The report also delves into the nitty-gritty of the kinds of services survey respondents feel that they need with; data and commentary specifically measuring the need for mold removal, colorization and color restoration, metadata assistance, rights clearance, film cleaning, film baking and restoration and sound synchronization.
The study also breaks down the need for help by film types with data for 16mm, Super 8, 35mm, 28mm and other types. It also looks at the use of various resolution sampling schemes and at the use of various data file compression formats including but not limited to API, Flash, Motion JPEG 2000, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media Video and others.
Finally, the report explores revenue producing activities of the survey respondents with data on revenues accrued.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are:
- More than 26% of respondents needed to digitize Super 8 film formats.
- A plurality of 43.48% of respondents felt that staff labor spent on digitization would increase in the next two years.
- The average number of hours of film digitized over the past year for the overall sample was 157.12.
- 66.77% of the college and university respondents had digitized film under Exemption 108 of the US Copyright Act
Data in the report is broken out by type of institution and other variables to enable easier benchmarking.
Table of Contents
THE QUESTIONNAIRE
PARTICIPANTS LIST
- Characteristics of the Sample
SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS
- Spending on Equipment for Film Digitization
- Spending on Outsourcing Services for Film Digitization
- Outlook for Raising Money for Film Digitization
- Probable Course of Institutional Spending on Film Digitization Over the Next Two Years
- Stock of Film Reels Held by Survey Participants
- Percentage of Film Reels Also Available in Digital Formats
- Percentage of Undigitized Reels that will be Digitized Over the Next Three Years
- Number of Hours of Film Digitized Over the Past Two Years
- Expected Volume of Hours of Films Digitization Over the Next Year
- Change in Size Over the Past Year of the Backlog of Films to be Digitized
- Number of Employees Involved in the Film Digitization Effort
- Expectations of Use of Staff Labor on Digitization Over Next Two Years
- Number of Bidders Attracted in Film Digitization Outsourced Projects
- Effective Outsourcing Partners Named
- Film Digitized Under Exemption 108 of the Copyright Act
- Level of Confidence in Ability to Identify Materials Eligible for Digitization Under Section 108 Exemption
- Digitization Skills Most Interested in Acquiring or Furthering
- Perceived Need for Mold Removal
- Perceived Need for Color Restoration Services
- Perceived Need for Rights Management Services
- Perceived Need for Metadata Services
- Perceived Need for Film Baking & Restoration Services
- Perceived Need for Treatment & Cleaning Services
- Perceived Need for Sound Synchronization Services
- Digitization Needs in Different Film Formats
- 16mm
- Super 8
- 35mm
- 22mm
- 28mm
- All Other Film Types
- Use of Various Resolution Sampling Schemes
- 4:2:2 Resolution Schemes
- 4:2:0 and all other sampling schemes
- Use of Various Digital File Compression Formats
- AVI
- Flash
- Motion JPEG 2000
- MPEG-1 & MPEG-2
- MPEG-4
- MFX
- QuickTime
- Real Video
- Windows Media Video
- Revenue from Licensing, Renting or Selling Film Assets
List of Tables
Table 1 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for each of the following over the past two years in the aggregate?
Table 1.1.1 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for equipment purchase or rental for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate?
Table 1.1.2 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for equipment purchase or rental for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by organization type
Table 1.1.3 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for equipment purchase or rental for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 1.1.4 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for equipment purchase or rental for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 1.2.1 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for outsourcing services for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate?
Table 1.2.2 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for outsourcing services for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by organization type
Table 1.2.3 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for outsourcing services for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 1.2.4 How much did your institution spend (in US $) for outsourcing services for film digitization over the past two years in the aggregate? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 2.1 How would you describe the outlook for raising money for digitization projects from sources outside of the main library museum or other main institutional budget?
Table 2.2 How would you describe the outlook for raising money for digitization projects from sources outside of the main library museum or other main institutional budget? Broken out by organization type
Table 2.3 How would you describe the outlook for raising money for digitization projects from sources outside of the main library museum or other main institutional budget? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 2.4 How would you describe the outlook for raising money for digitization projects from sources outside of the main library museum or other main institutional budget? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 3.1 Which phrase best describes the probable course over the next two years of your institutional spending for film and video digitization?
Table 3.2 Which phrase best describes the probable course over the next two years of your institutional spending for film and video digitization? Broken out by organization type
Table 3.3 Which phrase best describes the probable course over the next two years of your institutional spending for film and video digitization? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 3.4 Which phrase best describes the probable course over the next two years of your institutional spending for film and video digitization? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 4.1 How many reels of film (including those in storage) does the unit you provide data for currently hold?
Table 4.2 How many reels of film (including those in storage) does the unit you provide data for currently hold? Broken out by organization type
Table 4.3 How many reels of film (including those in storage) does the unit you provide data for currently hold? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 4.4 How many reels of film (including those in storage) does the unit you provide data for currently hold? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 5.1 Approximately what percentage of these reels are also available in digitized formats?
Table 5.2 Approximately what percentage of these reels are also available in digitized formats? Broken out by organization type
Table 5.3 Approximately what percentage of these reels are also available in digitized formats? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 5.4 Approximately what percentage of these reels are also available in digitized formats? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 6.1 Approximately what percentage of undigitized reels do you feel will likely be digitized over the next three years
Table 6.2
Table 6.3 Approximately what percentage of undigitized reels do you feel will likely be digitized over the next three years Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 6.4 Approximately what percentage of undigitized reels do you feel will likely be digitized over the next three years Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 7.1 Over the past two years how many hours of film has your university digitized?
Table 7.2 Over the past two years how many hours of film has your university digitized? Broken out by organization type
Table 7.3 Over the past two years how many hours of film has your university digitized? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 7.4 Over the past two years how many hours of film has your university digitized? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 8.1 Over the next year how many hours of film do you expect your university to digitize?
Table 8.2 Over the next year how many hours of film do you expect your university to digitize? Broken out by organization type
Table 8.3 Over the next year how many hours of film do you expect your university to digitize? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 8.4 Over the next year how many hours of film do you expect your university to digitize? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 9.1 Which phrase best describes the change in size of your film digitization back log over the past year?
Table 9.2 Which phrase best describes the change in size of your film digitization back log over the past year? Broken out by organization type
Table 9.3 Which phrase best describes the change in size of your film digitization back log over the past year? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 9.4 Which phrase best describes the change in size of your film digitization back log over the past year? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 10.1 How many full time employees are involved in your library's film digitization effort?
Table 10.2 How many full time employees are involved in your library's film digitization effort? Broken out by organization type
Table 10.3 How many full time employees are involved in your library's film digitization effort? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 10.4 How many full time employees are involved in your library's film digitization effort? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Please describe the overall staff used including student assistants in the film digitization effort specifying, when possible, number and type of workers. Broken out by organization type
Table 11.1 Over the next two years do you expect that staff labor on film digitization will increase, decrease or stay the same?
Table 11.2 Over the next two years do you expect that staff labor on film digitization will increase, decrease or stay the same? Broken out by organization type
Table 11.3 Over the next two years do you expect that staff labor on film digitization will increase, decrease or stay the same? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 11.4 Over the next two years do you expect that: Broken out by type or Carnegie class
What resources or process have you used to help you to calculate the costs of various forms of film digitization? Broken out by organization type
Table 12.1 If your organization outsources film digitization how many bidders did you have for the last outsourced project put out to bid?
Table 12.2 If your organization outsources film digitization how many bidders did you have for the last outsourced project put out to bid? Broken out by organization type
Table 12.3 If your organization outsources film digitization how many bidders did you have for the last outsourced project put out to bid? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 12.4 If your organization outsources film digitization how many bidders did you have for the last outsourced project put out to bid? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
What companies or other organizations have you found to be effective outsourcing partners for any kind of digitization work and that you would recommend to others? Broken out by organization type
Table 13.1 Over the past two years has the library digitized any material under exemption 108 of the copyright act (or similar laws in other countries) that allow for digitization of copyright materials when their formats are extremely out of data or they are damaged or destroyed.
Table 13.2 Over the past two years has the library digitized any material under exemption 108 of the copyright act (or similar laws in other countries) that allow for digitization of copyright materials when their formats are extremely out of data or they are damaged or destroyed. Broken out by organization type
Table 13.3 Over the past two years has the library digitized any material under exemption 108 of the copyright act (or similar laws in other countries) that allow for digitization of copyright materials when their formats are extremely out of data or they are damaged or destroyed. Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 13.4 Over the past two years has the library digitized any material under exemption 108 of the copyright act (or similar laws in other countries) that allow for digitization of copyright materials when their formats are extremely out of data or they are damaged or destroyed. Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 14.1 Are your reasonably confident in your ability to identify materials in your collection which are eligible for digitization as a result of qualifying for the section 108 exemption under US Copyright law (or similar laws for other countries)?
Table 14.2 Are your reasonably confident in your ability to identify materials in your collection which are eligible for digitization as a result of qualifying for the section 108 exemption under US Copyright law (or similar laws for other countries)? Broken out by organization type
Table 14.3 Are your reasonably confident in your ability to identify materials in your collection which are eligible for digitization as a result of qualifying for the section 108 exemption under US Copyright law (or similar laws for other countries)? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 14.4 Are your reasonably confident in your ability to identify materials in your collection which are eligible for digitization as a result of qualifying for the section 108 exemption under US Copyright law (or similar laws for other countries)? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15 Which three of the following capabilities do you feel that you will need to acquire or furthermost in the coming years? (check no more than three)
Table 15.1.1 Will you need mold removal from film skills in the coming years?
Table 15.1.2 Will you need mold removal from film skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.1.3 Will you need mold removal from film skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.1.4 Will you need mold removal from film skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.2.1 Will you need color restoration skills in the coming years?
Table 15.2.2 Will you need color restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.2.3 Will you need color restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.2.4 Will you need color restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.3.1 Will you need rights management skills in the coming years?
Table 15.3.2 Will you need rights management skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
15.3.3 Will you need rights management skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.3.4 Will you need rights management skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.4.1 Will you need metadata development skills in the coming years?
Table 15.4.2 Will you need metadata development skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.4.3 Will you need metadata development skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.4.4 Will you need metadata development skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.5.1 Will you need film baking and restoration skills in the coming years?
Table 15.5.2 Will you need film baking and restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.5.3 Will you need film baking and restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.5.4 Will you need film baking and restoration skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.6.1 Will you need cleaning and treatment skills in the coming years?
Table 15.6.2 Will you need cleaning and treatment skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.6.3 Will you need cleaning and treatment skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.6.4 Will you need cleaning and treatment skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 15.7.1 Will you need sound synchronization skills in the coming years?
Table 15.7.2 Will you need sound synchronization skills in the coming years? Broken out by organization type
Table 15.7.3 Will you need sound synchronization skills in the coming years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 15.7.4 Will you need sound synchronization skills in the coming years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16 How great is your need for digitization for each of following types of film?
Table 16.1.1 How great is your need for digitization for 16 mm type of film?
Table 16.1.2 How great is your need for digitization for 16 mm type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.1.3 How great is your need for digitization for 16 mm type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.1.4 How great is your need for digitization for 16 mm type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.2.1 How great is your need for digitization for regular 8 type of film?
Table 16.2.2 How great is your need for digitization for regular 8 type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.2.3 How great is your need for digitization for regular 8 type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.2.4 How great is your need for digitization for regular 8 type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.3.1 How great is your need for digitization for super 8 type of film?
Table 16.3.2 How great is your need for digitization for super 8 type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.3.3 How great is your need for digitization for super 8 type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.3.4 How great is your need for digitization for super 8 type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.4.1 How great is your need for digitization for 35 mm type of film?
Table 16.4.2 How great is your need for digitization for 35 mm type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.4.3 How great is your need for digitization for 35 mm type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.4.4 How great is your need for digitization for 35 mm type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.5.1 How great is your need for digitization for 9.5 mm type of film?
Table 16.5.2 How great is your need for digitization for 9.5 mm type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.5.3 How great is your need for digitization for 9.5 mm type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.5.4 How great is your need for digitization for 9.5 mm type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.6.1 How great is your need for digitization for 22 mm type of film?
Table 16.6.2 How great is your need for digitization for 22 mm type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.6.3 How great is your need for digitization for 22 mm type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.6.4 How great is your need for digitization for 22 mm type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.7.1 How great is your need for digitization for 28 mm type of film?
Table 16.7.2 How great is your need for digitization for 28 mm type of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.7.3 How great is your need for digitization for 28 mm type of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.7.4 How great is your need for digitization for 28 mm type of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 16.8.1 How great is your need for digitization for all other types of film?
Table 16.8.2 How great is your need for digitization for all other types of film? Broken out by organization type
Table 16.8.3 How great is your need for digitization for all other types of film? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 16.8.4 How great is your need for digitization for all other types of film? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 17 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for by each of the following resolution sampling schemes?
Table 17.1.1 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for 4:2:2 resolution sampling schemes?
Table 17.1.2 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for 4:2:2 resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by organization type
Table 17.1.3 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for 4:2:2 resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 17.1.4 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for 4:2:2 resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 17.2.1 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for 4:2:0 resolution sampling schemes?
Table 17.3.1 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for all other resolution sampling schemes?
Table 17.3.2 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for all other resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by organization type
Table 17.3.3 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for all other resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 17.3.4 About what percentage of your digitization work is accounted for all other resolution sampling schemes? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18 How commonly do you use each of the following digital file compression formats in your digitization work?
Table 18.1.1 How commonly do you use AVI (Audio Video Interlaced) in your digitization work?
Table 18.1.2 How commonly do you use AVI (Audio Video Interlaced) in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.1.3 How commonly do you use AVI (Audio Video Interlaced) in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.1.4 How commonly do you use AVI (Audio Video Interlaced) in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.2.1 How commonly do you use Flash in your digitization work?
Table 18.2.2 How commonly do you use Flash in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.2.3 How commonly do you use Flash in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.2.4 How commonly do you use Flash in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.3.1 How commonly do you use Motion JPEG 2000 in your digitization work?
Table 18.3.2 How commonly do you use Motion JPEG 2000 in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.3.3 How commonly do you use Motion JPEG 2000 in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.3.4 How commonly do you use Motion JPEG 2000 in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.4.1 How commonly do you use MPEG-1 or 2 in your digitization work?
Table 18.4.2 How commonly do you use MPEG-1 or 2 in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.4.3 How commonly do you use MPEG-1 or 2 in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.4.4 How commonly do you use MPEG-1 or 2 in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.5.1 How commonly do you use MPEG-4 in your digitization work?
Table 18.5.2 How commonly do you use MPEG-4 in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.5.3 How commonly do you use MPEG-4 in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.5.4 How commonly do you use MPEG-4 in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.6.1 How commonly do you use MXF in your digitization work?
Table 18.6.2 How commonly do you use MXF in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.6.3 How commonly do you use MXF in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.6.4 How commonly do you use MXF in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.7.1 How commonly do you use QuickTime in your digitization work?
Table 18.7.2 How commonly do you use QuickTime in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.7.3 How commonly do you use QuickTime in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.7.4 How commonly do you use QuickTime in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.8.1 How commonly do you use Real Video in your digitization work?
Table 18.8.2 How commonly do you use Real Video in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.8.3 How commonly do you use Real Video in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.8.4 How commonly do you use Real Video in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 18.9.1 How commonly do you use Windows Media Video in your digitization work?
Table 18.9.2 How commonly do you use Windows Media Video in your digitization work? Broken out by organization type
Table 18.9.3 How commonly do you use Windows Media Video in your digitization work? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 18.9.4 How commonly do you use Windows Media Video in your digitization work? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Table 19.1 If the Division licenses rents or sells any aspects of its film and video digital collections approximately how much revenue (in US $) did it accrue from these activities over the past three years?
Table 19.2 If the Division licenses rents or sells any aspects of its film and video digital collections approximately how much revenue (in US $) did it accrue from these activities over the past three years? Broken out by organization type
Table 19.3 If the Division licenses rents or sells any aspects of its film and video digital collections approximately how much revenue (in US $) did it accrue from these activities over the past three years? Broken out by participants providing aggregated data vs those that supply data for particular projects
Table 19.4 If the Division licenses rents or sells any aspects of its film and video digital collections approximately how much revenue (in US $) did it accrue from these activities over the past three years? Broken out by type or Carnegie class
Sources / Contributors
- Albuquerque Museum
- American Craft Council
- Arewa House Archives Ahmadu Bello University Kaduna
- Berklee College of Music
- Center for Sacramento History
- Clarke Historical Library Central Michigan University
- Digital Archive
- Earlham College
- Georgia State University
- McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- Michigan State University Libraries
- OpenEdge Media
- Rhode Island School of Design Library
- Seattle Art Museum
- Smithsonian/Human Studies Film Archives
- Stanford University
- The National WWII Museum
- Thronateeska Heritage Foundation
- University of Florida
- University of Iowa
- University of North Texas
- University of Pennsylvania Libraries (Penn Libraries)
- University of Waterloo
Methodology
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