Abstract:
Objective: The present research aims to examine and compare the document digitization policies existing in the national archives of various English-speaking countries, if available and accessible (Australia, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Switzerland, and England), as well as other existing guidelines in this field, and to identify important common criteria and components across all archives in order to provide a proposed checklist for document digitization in Iranian archival centers. Research Method: To examine the concepts, the library method and study of sources and texts were used. Subsequently, by studying the guidelines and principles of archival document digitization, visiting the websites of the national archives of the studied countries, communicating with relevant officials, analyzing the content of each archival document digitization policy, and collecting and identifying important common criteria and components in all studied archives, a proposed checklist for document digitization in Iranian archival centers was compiled. Research Findings: The findings showed that some criteria are mentioned in more than 70% of the studied guidelines and archives and are considered essential as main common criteria for compiling a document digitization checklist in archival centers. These criteria include: project management, document selection, preparation for digitization, digitization location, and the like. Conclusion: The criteria obtained from reviewing the document digitization policies in the national archives of the studied countries and existing guidelines were determined in the form of checklists consisting of 14 criteria and 44 components to provide a proposed checklist for document digitization in Iranian archival centers.
Machine summary:
Therefore, the present research, with the aim of providing a proposed framework for document digitization in Iran's archival centers, has addressed the investigation and comparison of document digitization policies existing in the national archives of various English-speaking countries, if they exist and are accessible (Australia, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Switzerland, England), and other available guides in this field, and identifying common criteria and components for document digitization and introducing them as essential criteria and components.
Therefore, the secondary objectives of this research are: A complete study of the guides and document digitization policies of the national archives of English-speaking countries, if they exist and are accessible, and extracting the criteria and components included in them.
Although in the studies of "Hamooya" (2010), "Asogwa" (2011), and "Stephen and Lourdes" (2016) have addressed existing criteria in digitization projects such as legal and regulatory issues, resource selection, lack of specialized and trained staff, preservation, budget, infrastructure, and necessary equipment; however, to date, no research has been conducted in a complete and unique manner to formulate comprehensive outlines for how to digitize archival documents in the present manner.
After studying, reviewing, and analyzing the content of the guides and document digitization policies of English-speaking countries (if they exist and are accessible), the researcher succeeded in collecting and identifying the important common criteria and components for formulating a document digitization framework in Iranian archival centers.
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