Digitization on demand

The University Library is now offering a new service for books from the collection of the University of Groningen: digitization on demand.

Which books can be digitized?

Users can request the digitization of books from the UB collection. The following rules apply:

• There may be no copyright provisions against digital publications; this implies that in general only older works can be digitized. The UB will investigate copyright matters for each request. (Copyright generally applies for a period of 70 years after the author’s death.)
• Vulnerable and valuable material will not be digitized if the library is of the opinion that the digitizing process will form too great a risk of damaging the work.
• In exceptional cases a user may request digitization of books that are not part of the RUG collection, on condition that the library receives permission to include a copy of the work in its collection after it has been digitized.
• Only complete works can be digitized (not separate chapters or pages).

Who can request digitization?How should requests be submitted?

Every registered user of the library can in principle submit a digitization request.

• Requests must be submitted in written form to
  University Library Groningen
  Digital Library Services Department
  Mr. H.W.A. Krafft
  PO Box 559
  9700 AN Groningen

How much does it cost and what will I receive?

The costs amount to € 0.35 per digitized page.

The requester will receive the digitized book on a CD and the library will make the digital version of the book accessible via the Web. The requester may be mentioned and thanked in the digital publication if he/she wants.

• The repository in which the digitized books are made accessible

The requester will be sent an offer for the digitization costs for approval upon acceptance of the assignment by the library.

Who will handle the digitization process?

The digitization process will be handled by Strata Preservation NV in The Hague, a specialized digitization company. The process will result in images in the format TIFF 600 dpi, which will then be converted via OCR into non-corrected, non-formatted but searchable text (‘dirty ASCII’).

How long will it take to process the assignment?

Processing times vary and your request will take at least three weeks to be processed, and possibly longer during busy periods. The library will provide a time estimate in advance.

For more information, please contact:

• dr. A.C. Klugkist, university librarian
• or Mr. H.W.A. Krafft digital library services