Case Studies of Low Cost Digitization Projects

eIFL.net looked into digitization projects that are "low cost" by analyzing data collected through a survey and phone interviews with librarians in the eIFL network. The case studies included in this report collectively seek to answer this question: how can libraries in eIFL countries manage digitisation projects given the cost and policy requirements?

The main message from the reports is reflected in the following quotes: “we cannot afford to wait with digitisation because some of our collections are in bad condition"..... "we want to open up our cultural heritage to a new and broader audience" ..... "teaching and research need much more convenient electronic copies of publications." And in conclusion “therefore we [tried] a Do-It-Your-Self approach with our own staff and … not too expensive equipment” ....“maybe the results are scanned images only and don’t meet some of the standards … but we need digital content and need it quickly: our users and our collections are asking for it.”

To read the report prepared by Repke de Vries, please visit www.eifl.net