The heritage’s digitation plays basic role in original documents preservation, since it allows the access to its content, avoiding unnecessary handling. For the capture of digital archives, standards and norms are adopted which will guarantee its preservation for a long term, as well as the quality of the access through the derived images produced for transmission on the Internet.
The capture is made from the original document or microfilm in a modern and well-equipped Digitation Laboratory, endowed with planetary scanners, that do not cause damages to the collection, digital backs, scanner for large size material and scanners for microfilm. The wide range of equipment meet the diverse types of materials specificity present in the Brazilian National Library’s collection.
For the safely storage of digital archives, allowing its use by future generations, a data processing center was created, sheltering the institutional database, as well as the archives produced by BN Digital and by the digitation projects.
The criteria for digitation are:
- Need of security for technical reserve creation;
- To be in Public Domain or to have authorized reproduction by the rights holder;
- Rarity, uniqueness, chronology, deterioration or fragility;
- Demand of users;
- Use in editions, expositions, institutional researches and other national or international events;
- To be restored or microfilmed;
To complement or to be complemented by digital collections of other institutions.