Digital Projects Checklist

Before you get started with your proposal, think about the following elements of planning a digital project:

Who exactly will use my digital project? SIU students? K-12 students? Researchers? The public at large? How will I make sure this project is used?
What value will my project have for my anticipated users? Does this project give people access to something significant and unique? Does it give them access to content in a new way?
Who owns the copyright for the materials in my project? Was it made before 1923, and is therefore in the public domain? Can I identify the copyright owners for all of these materials?
Who owns the physical materials to be used in my project? Are they in Morris Library’s Special Collections or another institution? Have I contacted this institution to secure use of these materials?
How will my project be funded, short-term and long-term? Have I identified sources of funding for the cost of digitizing materials, the cost of saving them on a server, and the cost of the personnel needed to complete the project?
What software or web publishing platform will I use to make this project accessible in an interactive or user-friendly way? What example projects would I like to model my project after: what are they using to make their project accessible?
What metadata scheme will I use to make my project findable with search tools?* Metadata schemes are essential for "tagging" a digital project. Have I talked to a library faculty member about metadata?

Questions about these checklist items and what they mean? Contact the Digital Initiatives Groups at Morris Library at dig@lib.siu.edu.

Digital Projects Checklist | Morris Library | SIU