Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative

The Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative site went live on September 30, 2008. The initiative represents a collaborative effort between U.S. government agencies to establish a common set of guidelines for digitizing historical materials. Participants include the Defense Visual Information Directorate, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Gallery of Art, the National Library of Medicine, the National Technical Information Service, the National Transportation Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Government Printing Office, and The Voice of America.

The Still Image Working Group is focusing its efforts on books, manuscripts, maps, and photographic prints and negatives. There are draft "Digital Imaging Framework" and "TIFF Image Metadata" documents available. The Audio-Visual Working Group effort will cover sound and video recordings and will consider the inclusion of motion picture film as the project proceeds. That group is still at the document drafting stage.