Digitisation at Scale – Automating the mass acquisition of digitised content

Abstract

This paper will set out to illustrate how the Wellcome Library has created an end-to-end workflow that manages the acquisition of digitised content from numerous sources through the use of workflow tracking middle ware, a virtualized IT environment, providing for the storage of master images in a repository and final public access via the web. It will briefly talk to the use of a cloud based solution for storage and dissemination. It will show how acquisition can only work by the careful control of all stages of the process and by the application of high levels of automation. This paper will talk specifically about the use of management and tracking middle ware and to the design of processes and the relationships necessary to make the mass acquisition of digital content successful. The presentation will set out the processes of acquisition but also how to build on principles of digital preservation and life cycle management. The presentation will show that managing the high volume of the acquisition of digitised content is a matter of controlling each step of the process and learning 'on-the-job'.