Appendix A - Quality Control

Note: Quality control is a critical component of digitization initiatives. Scanning equipment should be periodically tested in accordance with the ANSI/AIIM MS44 (1993) Recommended Practice for Quality Control of Image Scanners. Images should be periodically checked during the digitization process and after access copies are uploaded to the Archives Catalogue or other platforms.

1. Project managers should ensure archives digitization projects have appropriate quality control measures to assess:
   
   
   1. Image quality
   2. Optical character recognition quality
   3. Names of files to be uploaded to Libraries’ digital preservation environment
   4. Organization of files to be uploaded to Libraries digital preservation environment
   5. Perform quality control measures during digitization process and after access copies are uploaded to the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections.
   6. Follow the instructions Section 6 of the ANSI/AIIM MS44 (1993) Recommended Practice for Quality Control of Image Scanners.

Scan targets before each scanning job

1. Use Scan2Net reference scan targets.
   
   
2. Create reference scans using the technical specifications for the material that will be digitized as part of the scanning job. For example, if the scanning job involves colour letter-size documents, then scan the targets with the technical specifications for colour letter-size documents.

Quality control as part of digitization process

1. Spot-check each batch of TIFFs to ensure images are correctly oriented:
   
   
   1. Rotate TIFFs 90 or 180 degrees as necessary
   2. Load inverted images into Photoshop and “flip horizontally” or “flip vertically” as necessary
      
      
2. Spot-check TIFFs to ensure the images are correctly organized and named:

1. 1. Use Adobe Bridge to batch rename files as necessary.
   2. Copy/past files into correct directories and rename directories as necessary.
      
      
2. Rescan slides if necessary.
   
   
3. Implement workflow changes to correct and prevent future errors.

Quality control in access platforms

1. Perform routine quality control checks on access copies uploaded to the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections or DalSpace to ensure:
   
   
   1. JPEG images are oriented correctly
   2. Pages are not skewed or incorrectly split
   3. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is successful
   4. Colour is not distorted
   5. PDF is not excessively large
   6. Sound recordings and moving images have good quality sound and video
   7. Produce and upload new access copies necessary.
   8. Implement workflow changes to correct and prevent future errors.