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There are now major efforts being undertaken throughout the world to digitize and preserve significant materials. Digital acquisition, which is the conversion of physical materials into a digital format, allows the possibility of efficient dissemination, and serves as a means of preservation. This paper presents research focused on developing new techniques and algorithms for the digital acquisition, restoration, and study of damaged manuscripts. It presents results from an acquisition effort in partnership with the British Library, funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) DLI-2 (Digital Library Initiative Phase Two) program, designed to capture 3-D models of old and damaged manuscripts. It is shown how these 3-D facsimiles can be analyzed and manipulated in ways that are tedious or even impossible if confined to the physical manuscript. In particular, the paper presents results from a restoration framework developed for "flattening" the 3-D representation of badly warped manuscripts. (Contains 17 references.) (AEF)

This paper describes a realization approach to evaluate the best fitting service provider in the context of "The Digital Beethoven House" pilot project, involving the digitizing of a composer-referred collection of colored manuscripts and other sources at the Beethoven House Association (Germany). Practical hints for museums are provided on how to find the right scan service providers, how to do the digitizing of their museum's stock right, and how to receive useful output for the museum's Internet offer. The first section presents a methodology for finding the right scan service provider, including the following steps: (1) development of quality criteria for the whole digitization chain; (2) market analysis of scanning services and call for tender; (3) evaluation of the offers; (4) visits of the best qualified vendors; and (5) decision making. The second section describes quality criteria for digitizing paper related to the quality of scans, digital master, scan equipment, and experiences of the scanning service provider. The third section summarizes the most common publishing scenarios for managing digital documents, including digital library and Internet publishing, CD-ROM production, facsimiles and posters, and virtual reality. The fourth section highlights digitizing other media, including audio, video, and 3D objects. (Contains 19 references.) (MES)

The National Library of Australia has a small but interesting collection of rare books and manuscripts. These collections are the legacy of a remarkable period of growth in the library's history. Strengths are greatest in British and European materials, particularly from the 18th century. The present collecting activities of the library are concentrated on Australian and Asian materials. While very early imprints are now less likely to be collected, the library has a number of collections of scarce and unusual works relating to Asia and the Pacific. This paper provides background on the development of the rare books and manuscripts collection and then describes collections pertaining to the Asia-Pacific area. (Author/MES)

This paper reports on a project that involved the digitization of manuscripts from the Boswell Collection (i.e., personal papers of James Boswell) by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University (Connecticut). In this case, the digitization process was designed to serve a group of scholars already at work on a publication series, and so distinguishes itself from many others by its focus on the scholarly communication process rather than on giving broad access to collections through the Internet. The paper discusses the many reasons that a special collections library might undertake a digital conversion program, and shares the staff's insights into how digital technology has found its place in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Specifically, the paper discusses: background on the library and the Boswell collection; project origins; forming a digitization strategy, including choices regarding where the library should place its emphasis; getting the project underway; the scanning process; results and benefits for the library; results and benefits for the scholar-editors; and conclusions. (AEF)

Even though medieval manuscripts represent the most voluminous surviving artifact from the Middle Ages, the very nature of this resource presents challenges for usage. In an effort to preserve medieval manuscripts and to create broader and more economical access to their contents, many libraries have in recent decades sought to provide filmed copies of their manuscripts to users. Existing and emerging electronic technologies present numerous opportunities for overcoming challenges and underscore the need to create a long-term vision for "Electronic Access to Medieval Manuscripts." Computer cataloging projects and other databases from manuscript institutions around the world represent an enormous advancement in scholarly communication in the field of manuscript studies."Electronic Access to Medieval Manuscripts" is a three-year project to develop guidelines for cataloging medieval and renaissance manuscripts in electronic form. In addition to suggesting guidelines for content, the project will also develop standards for encoding both core-level and detailed manuscript descriptions in both MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloging) and SGML (Standardized General Markup Language). The emerging interconnectivity of MARC and SGML presents tremendous opportunities for "Electronic Access to Medieval Manuscripts." In structuring its program and goals, "Electronic Access to Medieval Manuscripts" also has sought to arrive at guidelines for encoding into MARC and SGML formats that will provide useful, economic and practical long-term alternatives to the libraries which select one of these options in the futures. (AEF)

Presents a literature review that covers the following topics related to the Internet and unrefereed scholarly publishing: conceptions of scholarly publishing and scholarly communication; research manuscripts and preprints; the growth of unrefereed e-script publishing; a hybrid publishing model; controversies about communication via unrefereed manuscripts; the slow transition to e-scripts. (Contains 53 references.) (MES)

This pamphlet, written from the point of view of the scholar rather than the librarian, was compiled to help scholars who are inexperienced in the use of manuscripts to overcome the difficulties they face in consulting and using manuscripts for their research. Topics discussed include: locating manuscripts, research from a distance, visiting a library, private collections, access to manuscripts (admittance, regulations, aids, photocopies, and permission to publish), and literary property rights (basic facts, copyright, common law protection, ownership of literary rights, unpublished letters, transfer of literary rights, infringement of literary rights, literary rights in other countries, and international copyright). (JM)

Describes the "National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States" (NIDS-US), a microfiche resource of finding aids for manuscript collections and archives. Discusses its companion, NIDS-UK (United Kingdom), the NIDS CD-ROM index, and the development of ArchivesUSA, a CD-ROM which will combine NIDS, the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC), and holdings information of archives and repositories. (PEN)

Describes projects launched in the 1990s (at Duke University and the University of Michigan, for example) that are attempting to digitize images of ancient papyrus collections and to provide indexed electronic access to them. The five largest American projects of this kind have formed a consortium which addresses issues of policy and user instruction. (BEW)

This first of a two-part series on resources in major university music libraries contains "Rare Resources in the Yale Music Library" (Harold E. Samuel) and "The Music Library, University of California, Berkeley" (John H. Roberts). Topics discussed include special collections, rare books and manuscripts, music archives, and early imprints. (Contains 48 references.) (LRW)

Discusses microforms of historical sources based on results of a questionnaire sent to historical researchers. Topics addressed include distribution from one site to another; the preservation of newspapers, manuscripts, and other sources; finding aids, including bibliographic control; standards; and new technologies for reproducing and delivering sources. (Contains eight references.) (LRW)

Introduced to aid writing, word processing can cause unexpected problems for those who use it. Describes four studies in which raters gave word-processed essays consistently lower scores than handwritten essays. Reasons for the discrepancies were higher expectations for typed essays, ease of spotting text errors in typed text, and more difficulty in identifying author "voice." (PEN)

Describes the holdings in the Bulgarian State Collection of Hebraica, currently under the jurisdiction of the General Department of Archives. The collection, consisting of printed books, manuscripts, and archival documents, includes rare premodern Hebraica reflecting Sephardic and Balkan collecting interests. Discusses bibliographic issues and the physical condition of the collection. (Author/AEF)

Examines the major depositories of Hebraic manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow, with emphasis on the Baron Guenzburg collection. Highlights include the history of the collection, access to the materials, microfilming, and catalogs. (Author/AEF)

Papers on rare and precious books and documents, which were presented at the 1983 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference, include: (1) "Report on the State of Work on the Union Catalogue of Incunabula (GW) and Progress in the International Cataloguing of Incunabula" by Ursula Altmann (East Germany); (2) "Survey of Incunabula in France--Progress So Far" by Ursula Baurmeister (France); (3) "Census of Italian XVIth Century Editions: A Progress Report" by Maria Sicco (Italy); (4) "The Central Catalogue of Historical Libraries in the Castles of Bohemia and Moravia" by Jaroslav Vrchotka (Czechoslovakia); (5) "Buchmuseen: Ihre Probleme und Ihre Beziehungen zu Bibliotheken" (Book Museums: Their Problems and Their Relationship to Libraries) by Jaroslav Vrchotka (Czechoslovakia--paper in German); (6) "Retrospektive, Maschinenlesbare Katalogisierung in Munchen and Gottingen" (Retrospective, Machine-Readable Cataloging in Munich and Gottingen) by Klaus Haller (West Germany--paper in German); (7) "Technological Advances in Librarianship and Printing and the Teaching of the History of the Book" by Richard G. Landon (Canada); (8) "Computer Technology as Applied to Rare Book Cataloging" by Stephen Paul Davis (United States); (9) "The Curator's Point of View," an outline by Karl Dachs (West Germany) of librarians' and curators' concerns related to rare book preservation and conservation; (10) "The Incunabula Catalog of the Bavarian State Library" by Elmar Hertrich (West Germany); (11) "Progress Report on the ISTC [Incunabula Short Title Catalog]" by L. Hellinga (United Kingdom); and (12) "Der Gegenwartige Stand der Handschriftenbeschreibung in Osterreich" (The Present Status of Manuscript Description in Australia) by Otto Mazal (Austria--paper in German). (ESR)