Wednesday, April 03, 2013

The Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval: a Consumer-oriented Standard

The Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval: a Consumer-oriented Standard.  James A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2013.
"Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval" (DSSOA) is a proposed way to describe the accuracy and completeness of digital objects that were created from printed books and other non-digital originals. It indicates that the original has been digitized completely and with 100% accuracy. This seal of approval may be applied to a digitized version of an analog original when it accurately replicates the original. To do this, two criteria must be met and verified:
  1. Completeness. All pages of the original are fully and completely reproduced.
  2. Accuracy. The original layout and appearance are preserved. All text is legible and there is no visual degradation when compared to the original.
The seal of approval, with a Statement of Verification,  can be applied by those responsible for the digital objects at any stage of the life cycle. The Statement of Verification must describe the methodology used and confirm 100% compliance. A "digital surrogate" in this context is a complete, accurate, digital replica of a bibliographically-identified, analog original item. The seal of approval  may be applied to a specific item or to a collection when all items in the collection meet the criteria.  The criteria may be used by organizations that create, manage, preserve, or deliver digital content. They may apply it to items that they curate as a way of communicating to their user-communities the completeness and accuracy of digital surrogates. The article also  addresses metadata elements, requirements and exceptions. This may not be appropriate or necessary for all digitization projects or collections.


1 comment:

Ruby said...

Though it mostly applies to printed works, it is a good standard to make sure that digital counterparts are completely identical to their printed originals. While some can be removed to lessen data consumption, such as filler pages and such, it is important that the copy be 100% accurate for the sake of people relying on the access to such materials.

Ruby Badcoe