Selection and Content Considerations
Mission and Scope
Callimachus: The Digital Collections of the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium, primarily supports the teaching, learning, and research activities of the member institutions of SCELC. We organize and maintain open access to the digital deposits of these institutions. Access to Callimachus is freely available to the public, encouraging use of the materials by researchers to enhance education and scholarship.
The functionality of the digitized items should be considered as part of the selection decision, i.e., the extent to which the items’ particular digital forms affect or extend their utility for specific scholarly or educational purposes. Additional evaluation elements, enumerated in subsequent sections of these guidelines, imply that a resource meets the standards of authority and relevance that characterize other segments of the library’s holdings.
With collections produced both by individual institutions and in collaboration with other educational and cultural heritage institutions, Callimachus produces digital resources that reflect the curricula, research, and unique resources of our member institutions that contribute to the pool of scholarly digital resources accessible to users worldwide.
Collection Definition
Collections submitted to Callimachus should be organized thematically, consisting of a minimum of 100 digital items (photos, documents, manuscripts, maps, etc.) with their corresponding metadata. Institutions are encouraged to collaborate with other SCELC members to produce collections on themes or subjects for which no single institution has the required number of items to develop a collection.
Content/Functional Criteria for Member Deposits
Material should fall under one or more of the following content categories to be considered for inclusion in the digital library. Analog resources that are unique, rare, and/or of special regional interest and are deemed to warrant conversion to digital format Materials that support teaching or research Materials that support desirable collaborative projects
Selection Criteria
Once material is judged to meet content criteria, it should be further evaluated to determine its need, suitability, and priority for digitization. Technical and legal issues will most likely be the determining factors in selection but content decisions may also come into play. While not restricting selection to materials that meet one or more of the following criteria, preference for deposit could be given to digital image materials that:
- Represent complete and credible versions of digitized resources
- Represent thematic or format-based aggregates, rather than idiosyncratic works
- Help create a comprehensive collection
- Enhance access to collections by making them easier to browse, search, and use Increase use of collections, by bringing little-known materials to light or by widening potential readership
- Help preserve, protect, store remotely, or replace materials by providing reliable surrogates for consultation
- Enable new kinds of research, not possible in the analog form
- Have sufficient information for metadata creation
- Complement or complete existing digital resources, either inside or outside SCELC
- Create opportunities for desired collaboration
Formats
Callimachus will include items such as manuscripts, diaries, letters, and published works; visual images such as photographs, illustrations, maps or artwork; and born digital documents.
Documentation/Description
Collections must include documentation about and descriptions of the digital objects to be included. This description can be item level or collection level.
Copyright
Participants are required to read and sign the copyright agreement included in the Agreement form.
Restrictions
Callimachus collections shall be made available for educational and fair use purposes, but SCELC does not claim ownership of the materials. Ownership remains with the contributing institution for the life of the collection.