Digitizing criminals: web delivery of a century on the cheap

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the process, challenges and lessons learned from carrying out a small digital project to create a web resource of unique historic materials related to crime in New York City. All aspects of digital project management are discussed, including selection, infrastructure, budgeting, workflow and delivery.

Design/methodology/approach

Experiences from project administration, including management of a combination in‐house and outsourced digitization and metadata are discussed. Formation and management of the resulting web resource is explained, which is the product of a creative amalgamation of commercial and open source software. Challenges encountered are presented with suggestions for practical solutions and considerations for future projects.

Findings

This grant‐funded pilot project presented foreseen and unforeseen problems. Lessons learned and solutions suggesting best approaches for a small‐scale digitization project are presented here.

Practical implications

In this paper best practices and suggestions for managing a small digital project are presented, including financial, staffing and technical considerations.

Originality/value

Unlike many other discussions that focus on management of large institutional projects, this study presents an incremental approach for small‐scale digitization projects. Presented here are practical uses of available applications for establishing project infrastructure to sustain and continue growth of digital content for small institutions.

Citation

Belcher, E. and Sexton, E. (2008), "Digitizing criminals: web delivery of a century on the cheap", OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 116-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650750810875467