Managing digitisation programs and projects
Digitisation is the process of converting physical records into digital formats. This can be done by photographing or scanning the original documents.
Types of digitisation
There are 2 main types of digitisation: business process digitisation and back-capture digitisation projects:
- business process digitisation: ongoing digitisation of records for daily business use, such as incoming mail, invoices, and applications
- back-capture digitisation: retrospective digitisation of paper records, often to streamline systems, preserve records, or make them more accessible.
Guidance for NSW public offices
This guidance helps NSW public offices manage digitisation projects and ensure compliance with record-keeping standards. It promotes the reliability and authenticity of digital images and supports long-term retention strategies.
Key considerations for managing digital records
- Ensure digital images are authentic, reliable, and legally admissible.
- Make sure digital images are accessible for as long as needed.
- Have a strategy in place to maintain digital images for long-term retention.
- Properly manage original paper records.
General guidance for digitisation programs and projects
- Staffing digitisation programs and projects
- Managing the 'people' factor
- Policies, procedures, standards and documentation
- Legal admissibility of digital records
- Benchmarks and quality assurance
- Technical specifications
- Metadata requirements
- Equipment for digitisation
- What are the official records?
- Managing digital images as records
- Managing original paper records
- Disposal of original paper records after digitisation
Specific guidance for business process digitisation
- Benefits, costs and risks of business process digitisation
- Planning for business process digitisation
- Business process digitisation checklist
Specific guidance for back-capture digitisation
Exclusions from this guidance
This guidance does not cover:
- the digitisation of analogue audio or video records
- the digitisation of microfilm or microfiche (although much of the back-capture guidance is still relevant)
- the management and preservation of ‘born digital’ records
- the specific technical details for different types of paper records (organisations should seek advice from digitisation software and hardware vendors)
- systems network architecture issues related to digitisation (organisations should refer to their existing computer systems administration procedures).
If your organisation plans to digitise records required as State archives, follow these guidelines and contact Museums of History NSW for further advice.
State Records NSW does not endorse any specific digitisation equipment, services, or hardware/software.