Find in Library

Over the past three years the British Library has brokered mass digitization partnerships with Google, Brightsolid, Find my Past, Cengage Learning and others. This article explores some of the major challenges underlying digitization partnerships, particularly public-private, covering many of the important aspects to be considered such as ownership, access, control and standards. It also covers topics like term (length of time), the importance of flexibility, maximizing use/re-use of digitized material and market penetration. Legal and other aspects of such partnerships are also detailed, with sections on the type of partnership that needs to be entered into (non-exclusive) and the role of the commercial partner. Finally, there is sound advice about risk assessment and cover. These lessons learned from experience are itemized in a handy ten-point checklist for anyone considering entering into a digitization partnership, and recommendations are made based on a wealth of acquired knowledge.