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Guidelines: Content Categories & Digitization Objectives: Reformatting Historical
Printed Matter, Documents and Manuscripts, and Pictoral Materials
— Content Categories and Subcategories table
Still Image Working Group

Also see Content Categories and Subcategories Overview and Explanatory Notes.

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Category SubCategory
T Textual and illustrated printed matter (books, journals, manuscripts, some maps). Visual-arts elements of limited significance and generally consisting of printed halftones, line art, explanatory tables and drawings, and the like.
T.1 Clean, high-contrast book pages and documents with clearly legible type, e.g., evenly printed typeset or laser printed pages without background discoloration. Illustrations limited to monochromatic (one color) line art. Informational and artifactual value.
T.2 Similar to T.1. Informational value only.
T.3 Documents with poor legibility or diffuse characters, e.g., carbon copies, Thermofax/Verifax, etc.; manuscripts or printed/typed pages with handwritten annotations or other markings; items with low inherent contrast, staining, fading, printed halftone illustrations, or included photographs. Informational and artifactual value.
T.4 Similar to T.3. Informational value only.
T.5 Items similar to T.1 or T.3 where color is important to the interpretation of the information or content. Informational and artifactual value.
T.6 Similar general description as T.5. Informational value only.
T.7 Printed matter on microfilm, similar to T.1.
T.8 Manuscripts and documents with poor legibility or diffuse characters, or numerous illustrations, on microfilm, similar to T.3.
PR Visual/pictorial items (photographs, prints, some drawings and paintings, some maps). Generally greater visual-art significance than category 1. Two-dimensional, many with continuous tone images (and occasional halftones). Viewed by reflected light.
PR.1 Curator or end users determine that grayscale reproduction is acceptable for items in this subcategory.
PR.2 Curator or end users determine that color reproduction is required for items in this sub-category.
PT Photographic negatives and transparencies. Significant visual-arts elements. Viewed by transmitted light.
PT.1 Curator or end users determine that grayscale reproduction is acceptable for items in this sub-category.
PT.2 Curator or end users determine that color reproduction is required for items in this sub-category.
AR Special-purpose images produced by reformatting aerial, medical, and scientific images, architectural and engineering line drawings and blueprints, where the originals are viewed by reflected light.
AR.1 Aerial photographs, monochrome.
AR.2 Aerial photographs, color.
AR.3 Medical and scientific imagery, monochrome.
AR.4 Medical and scientific imagery, color.
AR.5 Architectural and engineering line drawings, diagrams, and blueprints.
AT Special-purpose images produced by reformatting aerial and medical images, where the originals are viewed by transmitted light.
AT.1 Aerial photo negatives, monochrome.
AT.2 Aerial photo negatives or transparencies, color.
AT.3 Medical and scientific transmitted light imagery, monochrome.
AT.4 Medical and scientific transmitted light imagery, color.
3D Objects, artifacts, and three-dimensional works of visual art encountered in archives, galleries, and museums (medals and badges, physical evidence from legal archives, some works of art).
3D.1 Objects with limited aesthetic value.
3D.2 Objects with significant aesthetic value.
SPA Specialized imaging of works of art and other objects and artifacts. For future development. To include such examples as two-and three-dimensional works, art in a frame, items with and without gilding, three-dimensional objects in history and science museums, etc.
No subcategories
SPR Special-purpose imaging for research and analysis (multi- or hyper-spectral, X-ray, other technologies). In libraries and archives with a cultural heritage emphasis, this category pertains to the creation of specialized images for the analysis of the physical properties of item the institutions' collections. This category is also a placeholder for the large and important category of born-digital (i.e., not reformatted) scientific and medical imaging, carried out by a number of federal government agencies. For future development.
No subcategories

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Working Groups

Still Image Working Group
This group is involved in a cooperative effort to develop common digitization guidelines for still image materials.

Audio-Visual Working Group
The goal for this working group is to identify, establish, and disseminate information about standards and practices for the digital reformatting of audio-visual materials by federal agencies.

Last Updated: 11/07/2016