Attachment 1 Salient Characteristics.pdf

Attachment 1 – Salient Characteristics

USAFA Herbarium Digitization Project

General & Scope:

Provide a complete, end-to-end digitization solution for approximately 1,800-2,400 herbarium specimens housed in approximately 600 folders.

Create high-quality, research-ready digital surrogates paired with structured, searchable metadata to enhance discovery and accessibility.

Collection Handling & Preparation:

Implement a barcoding system to digitally track the collection at a minimum of two levels: individual specimen and the folder housing the specimen.

Ensure the collection is returned in the exact same condition and arrangement as it was received.

Employ trained technicians who will wear gloves at all times, maintain clean workstations, and are knowledgeable in handling fragile archival materials.

Digitization Equipment & Image Quality:

Utilize photographic-based imaging systems (e.g., tabletop setups with digital cameras). The use of sheet-fed scanners is prohibited.

Employ equipment capable of achieving, and calibrated to meet or exceed, Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) 4-star image quality metrics.

Validate equipment calibration daily using standard color and resolution targets (e.g., X-Rite Digital SG ColorChecker, ISA Device Level Target).

The imaging system must support custom metadata tagging during the digitization process to note characteristics such as condition concerns or to denote folder separations.

Digitization Process & Workflow:

Digitize each specimen one at a time to ensure proper handling and image quality.

Achieve a minimum reflective resolution of 600 PPI.

Provide a team of digitization technicians with demonstrated experience in photography and archival handling.

Metadata & Data Transcription:

Provide complete transcription of specimen labels.

The resulting data output must be structured and compatible with a future online collection portal.

Attachment 1 – Salient Characteristics

Facility & Security:

Maintain a dedicated, secure digitization studio for the duration of the project.

Provide a climate-controlled working and storage environment maintained at approximately 70°F and 50% relative humidity.

Possess a general liability insurance policy that covers any risk to the collection while in the vendor's care.

Guarantee the security of project data through a recognized information security certification, such as ISO/IEC 27001.

Quality Control:

Implement and maintain a Quality Control (QC) plan that includes both automated and manual checks of all digital images.

The QC process must check for image quality, cropping accuracy, file naming conventions, and other potential errors, with a clear process for flagging and recapturing insufficient files.

Deliverables & File Formats:

Deliver digital files via a secure method, such as a Secure FTP (SFTP) connection, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Provide archival files in TIFF format (16-bit uncompressed or 8-bit with LZW compression) with an Adobe RGB 1998 color profile.

Provide access and derivative files as needed, such as PDFs and JPEGs.

The images created by the vendor will belong to the U.S. Air Force Academy.