Saving the Byrds: Reshaping Digitization Workflows for Photographic Materials

Abstract

From 2019 to 2022 the University of North Texas Libraries was awarded a TexTreasures grant to digitize materials from the Byrd Williams Family Photography Collection. The Collection includes film and prints documenting more than 100 years of North Texas history through four generations of photographers in the Williams family. Due to the uniqueness, fragility, and historical value of some film, it was decided the materials selected for digitization would be digitized at a higher standard than other university collections to meet partner requests. Over the multi-year project, new equipment was acquired and workflows were adjusted and customized to properly address all the uniquely sized and degraded film. The presentation will detail the customized workflow established for this collection, as well as the unique problems and solutions that arose throughout the course of the project.