South Asia Open Archives (SAOA)

The South Asia Open Archives (SAOA), a subset of the South Asia Materials Project (SAMP), creates and maintains a collection of open access materials for the study of South Asia. This major collaborative initiative is aimed at addressing the current scarcity of digital resources pertinent to South Asian studies and at making collections more widely accessible both to North American scholars and to researchers worldwide.

SAOA (formerly SAMP OAI) addresses needs in all academic disciplines, from the humanities through the sciences. With an initial emphasis on colonial-era materials from South Asia, a carefully curated collection of resources will fill gaps in available online collections. Several criteria will be used to select and prioritize resources for digitization, including:

Value to research;
Utility for a broad population of users;
Uniqueness (not available through other credible, sustainable sources);
At risk – due to condition, environmental or sociopolitical factors, or other threats;
Complementarity to other resources.

The SAOA Plan [1] provides additional details.

To join SAOA, complete and return to Neel Agrawal [2] the form indicating whether the contribution will be financial [3], in-kind digital assets [4], or in-kind staff time [5].

To make a suggestion about content to digitize for inclusion in SAOA, please use this suggestion form [6].

Members only Workspace [7]

How to Become a Member of SAOA

Membership in SAOA is open to any institution or nonprofit organization whose interests coincide with the project.

Members participate in a collective of South Asia library specialists dedicated to digitizing and providing open access to South Asia related scholarly resources. There are three ways to become a SAOA member:

Contributing financially ($25,000 over 5 years)
In-kind contributions consisting of staff time (.2 FTE for 5 years)
In-kind contributions consisting of digital materials (500 digital volumes over 5 years)

SAOA membership may also be granted through a combination of these three types of contributions, and requests for consideration of this kind will be handled by the SAOA Executive Board as they are received.

Staff Time (In-Kind Membership)

Institutions may become SAOA members through a contribution of staff time to support the organization’s daily operations and activities. These contributions may include: creation or manipulation of metadata, program support, scanning of material, quality control of digital content, or other work that supports the SAOA program and has been discussed and approved by the SAOA Executive Board before membership is finalized.

Digital Content (In-Kind Membership)

Institutions may become SAOA members through a contribution of digital content. This pathway to membership is particularly encouraged for institutions that have existing digital content or current digitizing capabilities but which lack the technical infrastructure to make that content freely and publicly available. SAOA purposefully seeks to be as inclusive as possible when considering in-kind pathways to membership:

“In-kind Contributions” must align with SAOA Selection Guidelines. The Selection Guidelines are broadly outlined in the SAOA Plan [1] and are interpreted and implemented by the Digitization Working Group. All SAOA-branded content is subject to a proposal process [8], including “In-Kind Contributions”, and ultimately is reviewed and voted on by the SAOA Executive Board. Specifics about the content of in-kind Contributions (per the proposal process) must be communicated by the potential member and agreed to by the SAOA Executive Committee before membership is finalized.
“In-kind Contributions” must meet basic digitization specifications as outlined by SAOA. Digitization specifications of “In-kind Contributions” (per the proposal process) must be communicated and agreed to by the SAOA Executive Committee before membership is finalized at the time of membership.
“In-kind Contributions” cannot already be openly available.

To join SAOA, institutions must make a commitment for five years established by the appropriate Agreement (Financial Agreement Form [3]; In-Kind Staff Time Agreement Form [5]; In-Kind Digital Content Agreement Form [4]).

SAOA aims to include as many members as possible, and welcomes inquiries regarding membership possibilities from potential members. For further questions, please contact Neel Agrawal [9].

Members

Executive Board

The SAOA Executive Board consists of both elected and ex officio members.

Three representatives from SAOA members are elected to three year terms by the members of SAMP. The terms of office of these elected members are staggered, so that one seat on the SAOA Executive Board becomes open each year. Membership on the Executive Board is limited to two consecutive terms. The current SAMP Chairperson (ex officio) and a representative from the Center for Research Libraries (non-voting ex officio) are also members of the SAOA Executive Board.

The Executive Board selects a Chair from among its members for a one year term; reappointment is permitted.

Current Executive Board

David Faust [10](2019-2022), SAOA Co-Chair (2019-2020), University of Minnesota
Aruna Magier [11] (2018-2021), SAOA Co-Chair (2019-2020), New York University
David Magier [12] (2017-2020), Princeton University
Mara Thacker [13] (2019-2020), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Judy Alspach [14], Center for Research Libraries

Working Groups

Members of SAOA are encouraged to get involved in the project by joining one of SAOA's Working Groups. These three Working Groups are standing bodies of SAOA and report to the SAOA Executive Board. They work in close consultation with each other and with the Program Manager, Neel Agrawal (South Asia Digital Librarian, CRL).

The Digitization Working Group [15] provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with SAOA's core mission of digitizing resources for open access. These include, but are not limited to, selection of titles for inclusion, approaches to copyright clearance for titles, consultation with the Infrastructure Working Group regarding all technical specifications and standards (for example digitization and metadata), and contracting digitization work along with the creation of associated metadata.

The Funding Working Group [16] provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with the financial well-being of the SAOA. These include, but are not limited to, fundraising from external sources, development of cash flow projects, and solicitation of new members.

The Infrastructure Working Group [17] provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with the supporting framework of the SAOA. These include, but are not limited to, administration, staffing, strategic partnerships, standards for digitization and metadata, computing and other technology required for the SAOA mission, the initiative's Web presence, and intellectual property rights associated with resources.

Digitization Working Group

The Digitization Working Group is a standing body of the South Asia Open Archives, reporting to the SAOA Executive Board and working in close consultation with the Program Manager, the Infrastructure Working Group, and the Funding Working Group.

Members of the Digitization Working Group:

Aruna Magier, New York University (Chair)

Deepa Banerjee, University of Washington

Abhijit Bhattacharya, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

Gary Hausman, Columbia University

Jeffrey Martin, University of Michigan

Purpose:

The Digitization Working Group provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with SAOA’s core mission of digitizing resources for open access. These include, but are not limited to, selection of titles for inclusion, approaches to copyright clearance for titles, consultation with the Infrastructure Working Group regarding all technical specifications and standards (for example, digitization or metadata), and contracting digitization work along with the creation of associated metadata.

Rationale:

The Digitization Working Group contributes to one of the most central components of the SAOA. It participates in shaping the vision of SAOA as the project grows and develops over time.

Membership:

The Digitization Working Group is composed of at least three members from SAOA member institutions appointed by the Executive Board. At least one member will be from the Executive Board and that member will chair the Working Group. The SAOA Project Manager participates in meetings of the Working Group. The term of service on the Working Group, other than for the chair, will be one year to encourage broad participation over time by SAOA member institutions.

Tasks, Timelines, and Deliverables:

Tasks, timelines, and deliverables for the Working Group will typically be recommended by the Executive Board. The Working Group may also propose tasks within its purpose that contribute to the SAOA mission.

Reporting:

The Digitization Working Group will report to the Executive Board at least quarterly and more often if requested. The Executive Board will be responsible for reporting recommendations by the Working Group to the SAOA membership.

Approved by the OAi Executive Board on May 26, 2016

Funding Working Group

The Funding Working Group on is a standing body of the South Asia Open Archives, reporting to the SAOA Executive Board and working in close consultation with the Program Manager, the Digitization Working Group, and the Infrastructure Working Group.

Members of the Funding Working Group:

David Magier, Princeton University (Chair)

Ellen Ambrosone, Princeton University

Karen Farrell, Indiana University

Todd Michelson-Ambelang, University of Wisconsin

James Nye, University of Chicago

Mara Thacker, University of Illinois

Purpose:

The Funding Working Group provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with the financial wellbeing of SAOA. These include, but are not limited to, fund raising from external sources, development of cash flow projections, and solicitation of new members.

Rationale:

The Funding Working Group contributes to the financial stability of SAOA. It participates in shaping the vision of SAOA as the initiative grows and develops over time.

Membership:

The Funding Working Group is composed of at least three members from SAOA member institutions appointed by the Executive Board. At least one member will be from the Executive Board and that member will chair the Working Group. The Project Manager participates in meetings of the Working Group. The term of service on the Working Group, other than for the chair, will be one year to encourage broad participation over time by SAOA member institutions.

Tasks, Timelines, and Deliverables:

Reporting:

The Funding Working Group will report to the Executive Board at least quarterly and more often if requested. The Executive Board will be responsible for reporting recommendations by the Working Group to the SAOA membership.

Approved by the OAi Executive Board on May 26, 2016

Infrastructure Working Group

The Infrastructure Working Group is a standing body of the South Asia Open Archives, reporting to the SAOA Executive Board and working in close consultation with the Program Manager, the Digitizaton Working Group, and the Funding Working Group.

Members of Infrastructure Working Group:

David Faust, University of Minnesota (Chair)

David Magier, Princeton University

Mary Rader, University of Texas at Austin

Laura Ring, University of Chicago

G. Sundar, Roja Muthiah Research Library

Purpose:

The Infrastructure Working Group provides recommendations to the Executive Board on all matters associated with the supporting framework of SAOA. These include, but are not limited to, administration, staffing, strategic partnerships, standards for digitization and metadata, computing, and other technology required for the SAOA mission, and the project’s Web presence.

Rationale:

The Infrastructure Working Group contributes to the permanent framework underlying and making possible all SAOA activities. It participates in shaping the vision of SAOA as the initiative grows and develops over time.

Membership:

The Infrastructure Working Group is composed of at least three members from SAOA member institutions appointed by the Executive Board. At least one member will be from the Executive Board and that member will chair the Working Group. The Project Manager participates in meetings of the Working Group. The term of service on the Working Group, other than for the chair, will be one year to encourage broad participation over time by SAOA member institutions.

Tasks, Timelines, and Deliverables:

Reporting:

Approved by the OAi Executive Board on May 26, 2016

Proposals

SAOA is developing carefully curated thematic research collections in various languages by digitizing key print and microfilm holdings supplied by our cooperative network of Member Institutions across South Asia and the U.S. The Digitization Working Group encourages scholars and members of the public to use the online suggestion form [6] to submit suggested resources for inclusion in SAOA. Please contact Neel Agrawal [2] (South Asia Digital Librarian) with any questions or clarifications on using the form, or on any other query related to suggested items.

SAOA prioritizes the following types of out-of-copyright material for digitization:

Official Publications
- Gazetteers and Census Reports
- Statistical and Annual Reports
Serials and Newspapers
Literary and Monographic Sources
Non-Governmental Publications

Digitization Guidelines

These are the technical guidelines for materials originating from print (digitized from hard copies or microform) to be included in SAOA’s digital collections. Digitization providers (commercial entities as well as academic institutions) will be expected to conform to these specifications to ensure consistency of the digital materials for ingest into the SAOA digital asset management system. The following are the ideal specifications for ingesting image-based material into SAOA’s collections.

At the outset of each project, the digitization provider or content contributor should provide SAOA with the total number of images, total number of volumes (for serials and multi-volume monographs), and total file size (in MB, GB, or TB).
Descriptive Metadata – for cases where SAOA requests metadata from a content contributor, metadata should:
1. Use one of the following metadata schemes: Dublin Core, MARC21,
2. Be provided in one of the following metadata/catalog record file formats: MARC XML or CSV,
3. Use the correct standard metadata template (for example, for monographs vs serials),
4. Include accurate holdings information for serials or multipart titles,
5. Have been provided in a sample set of records for SAOA staff to review during the proposal phase, as specified above.
Structural Metadata – if available, appropriate structural metadata should be provided to help SAOA organize the image files and to allow navigation within the item (for example, by chapter).
Asset File Types – when requested, the following file types for each image of a given title should be provided:
1. Master image files for preservation: TIFF images,
2. Access files (image surrogates): JPEG or JPEG2000 (JP2),
3. OCR files (where available):
  1. .txt and,
  2. OCR XML or HOCR.
Image Capture
1. TIFF master image files
  1. Resolution: 400 ppi for new digitization (300 ppi may be acceptable in some cases if that is what is already available).
  2. Uncompressed, TIFF 6.0 images, in either “little endian” (IBM PC) or “big endian” (Mac) byte order.
  3. All files should be able to pass JHOVE format validation as valid and well-formed.
  4. 24-bit color for new digitization (8-bit grayscale may be acceptable for items already digitized or with no color content. Either no gray profile, or Gray Gamma 2.2). No proprietary scanner profiles.
  5. One page per image (in exceptional cases, two pages per image).
2. JPEG or JP2 Access files (image surrogates)
  1. Resolution: keep surrogate resolution the same as master TIFF file.
  2. Compression level: on average the access files should compress to about 500 kilobytes (compression level between 10:1 and 15:1, depending upon size and color of the original).
3. Image quality: images should meet the following characteristics, many of which may be available as automated settings on the scanner as part of the image capture option (e.g. microfilm scanning). In exceptional cases, manual post-processing or correction might be necessary:
  1. Achieve desired tone distribution
  2. Sharpen images to match appearance of the originals
  3. Crop and/or deskew the images, oriented to the text (not to the page)
File Naming
1. Monographs (Single Volume)
  1. Format: titleID_YEAR_sequential image #.tif
  2. Example: 986786411_1915_00135.tif
    1. This would be for a monograph (single volume) published in 1915, 135th consecutive image.
    2. For the Title ID, assign the OCLC# if available.
    3. Allow for 5 digits for sequential image numbering.
2. Monographs (Multi-Volume)
  1. Format: titleID_YEAR_VOLUME #_sequential image #.tif
  2. Example: 990512780_1918_003_00115.tif
    1. This would be for a monograph (multi-volume) published in 1918, volume 3, 115th consecutive image.
    2. For the Title ID, assign the OCLC#.
    3. Allow for 5 digits for sequential image numbering.
3. Serials
  1. Format: titleID_YEAR_VOLUME #_ISSUE #_sequential image #.tif
  2. Example: 990312980_1915_002_001_00253.tif
    1. This would be for a serial published in 1915, volume 2, issue 1, 253rd consecutive image.
    2. For the Title ID, assign the OCLC#.
    3. Allow for 5 digits for sequential image numbering.
4. FOR ALL THE ABOVE: file naming of the derivative access files must follow the same pattern. REQUIRED: the .jp2 or .jpg derivative must have precisely the same filename as its corresponding master .tif file, except for the filename extension, i.e. "990512780_1918_003_00115.jp2" is derived from (corresponds to) the image of "990512780_1918_003_00115.tif", and so on.
File Transfer
1. Acceptable methods of file transfer are via hard drive, USB drive, FTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, and CD.

Digital File Management

SAOA is committed to the preservation of, access to and discovery of resources (digital assets as well as the associated metadata) created by and facilitated through SAOA. The cooperative and federated nature of SAOA necessitates that this preservation, access, and discoverability may take many forms, differing timelines, and separately determined costs, depending on the nature and scope of each individual project. As such, each project may need to be interpreted and championed on its own terms but SAOA is guided by the principles below.

Preservation

The long term maintenance of digital content is central to SAOA’s mission but responsibility for it may be distributed depending on creator and institutional capacity. To the extent possible, SAOA strives to preserve its digital files according to established digital preservation standards for stable and flexible format (ex., tif image files). A long-term goal of SAOA is to preserve a dark archived master of every SAOA-affiliated resource in a SAOA-controlled repository.

Digital Files Created by SAOA (using SAOA funds)

Digital master files created by SAOA will be stored in a dark archive by CRL.

Digital Files Created by a SAOA Partner (not using SAOA funds)

If a SAOA partner has the institutional capacity to preserve digital files (a “trusted digital repository”), they will be maintained at the partner institution, pursuant to that institution’s policies and procedures. Any access and/or discoverability files will be required to point back to the preservation files in associated metadata.

If the SAOA partner does not have the institutional capacity to preserve digital files, they will be transferred to a dark archive at CRL.

Access

Free and open access to materials associated with SAOA is paramount to SAOA’s mission. Building upon SAOA’s distributed and federated nature, SAOA strives to avoid duplication and to encourage digital file accessibility (“hosting”) from multiple institutions. SAOA strives to provide access to multiple access file types (ex. JP2, JPG, PDF).

Digital Files Created by SAOA (using SAOA funds)

Digital files created by SAOA will be made openly accessible through SAOA platform(s).

Digital Files Created by a SAOA Partner (not using SAOA funds)

If a SAOA partner has the institutional capacity to make digital files accessible in a stable and sustainable way, with institutionally-supported permanent URLs for each item (i.e. to “host” them on their own repository servers), they will be maintained at the partner institution following that institution’s policies and procedures.

If the SAOA partner does not have the institutional capacity to make digital files they have created accessible in that fashion, or if in the future, they are unable to maintain their provision of access, the files will be transferred to SAOA for ingest on SAOA’s platform(s).

Discoverability

SAOA resources are made valuable through their discovery and use. The cooperative and federated nature of SAOA determines that this discovery may take many forms depending on the nature and scope of each individual project. The long-term goal of SAOA is to enable integrated discovery across the SAOA corpus of resources, encompassing materials hosted through SAOA platforms, partners, and other institutions.

Metadata

All SAOA resources have sufficient technical and descriptive metadata to be discoverable.
All metadata will be openly and sustainably maintained on web-based platform(s).
All metadata will follow established standards (ex. MARC, Dublin Core).
All metadata will be open and exposed for harvesting, by SAOA or other interested institutions.