By Team Lead Marcia Spicer
How many times have you encountered good work that didn’t quite meet your needs?
I recently spoke with an organization that just concluded work with a digitization vendor. The vendor performed high quality digitization work—I can confirm. However, the manner in which the files were delivered made them essentially unusable by the organization. File names had no clarity and weren’t sorted, with folders buried in folders.
Another organization I’ve spoken with thought they were purchasing quality digitization from a vendor, but what they got was missing pages, a lack of quality assurance, and overall, a project that needed to be redone.
Digitization isn’t just a box that gets checked off. Digital files need to be functional, accessible, searchable, and ready to be used for any purpose that an organization can dream up.
Vendors frequently tick a box and consider their work done. A partner, however, is in the relationship for the long haul.
A true partner is not only interested in creating quality digital files, but helping to plan out how those files will be accessed and used. One-size-fits-all solutions do not actually fit all, and finding the perfect pieces, putting them in place, and ensuring they work in harmony is the job of a partner.
A partner knows when to reach out to resources like a paper conservator or software developer to get the job done right. A partner thinks and acts on your behalf because they get to know you, your collection, and your needs.
The gap between delivery and needs met is what Anderson Archival was founded to fill. If your digitization vendor isn’t helping you look at the big picture and fill the gap between a checked box and a true solution, maybe it is time to look again.
