Section 4500.70  Digital Reproduction

a)         Analog records may not be destroyed in favor of digital surrogates unless the digital surrogates are produced in compliance with this Section and unless done pursuant to a retention schedule approved by the Commission. Agencies must certify compliance by filing a Local Records Disposal Certificate with the Commission prior to the destruction of any analog records for which digital surrogrates are to be substituted.

b)         In submitting schedules of analog records scheduled for permanent retention for which digital surrogates are to be substituted, each agency shall certify that the copies will be made in accordance with the regulations of the Commission and will be authentic copies of the analog records.

c)         Analog records scheduled for permanent retention may not be destroyed in favor of digital surrogates unless those surrogates are maintained in compliance with Section 4500.80.  If the requirements of Section 4500.80 are not met, records must be additionally maintained either in original format or in a microfilm format that complies with Sections 4500.50 and 4500.60.

d)         File Integrity.  The integrity and authenticity of the analog records shall be preserved through the digitization process so that the images or surrogates will be authentic copies of the analog records.  They must serve the purposes for which the original records were created or maintained and the copies must contain all significant record detail needed for probable future reference.

e)         Digital surrogates of analog records must be created and stored in file formats approved by the Commission (see Appendix A).  These formats include, but are not limited to, PDF, PDF/A and TIFF.

f)         Access.  The digital surrogates shall be prepared, arranged, classified and indexed to readily permit subsequent location, examination and reproduction of individual records.  Hardware, software and documentation must be maintained to allow ready access to each file.

g)         External Vendors.  Agencies may contract with external vendors to perform any of the tasks involved with the digitization of records.  The vendors must comply with all State laws and rules governing the digitization process.  The contracting agency will remain responsible for the proper management of records in the temporary custody of the vendor.

h)         Technical Standards for Creation of Digital Surrogates

1)         Quality Control.  Prior to production, an agency shall assemble a sample set of source documents or records equivalent in characteristics to the source documents for the purposes of evaluating scanner results.  Scanner quality must be evaluated in accordance with current industry best practices at the time of production, such as, but not limited to, Riley & Whitsel's "Practical Quality Control Procedures for Digital Imaging Projects" and the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative's Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials:  Creation of Raster Image Master Files.  If agencies are uncertain as to whether they are following appropriate best practices, they should consult with the Illinois State Archives.

2)         Quality Assurance.  Before production, an agency shall develop written quality assurance procedures based upon the results of the pre-production quality sample.  Before the original documents are destroyed, quality assurance must be conducted in accordance with current industry best practices at the time of production, such as, but not limited to, Riley & Whitsel's "Practical Quality Control Procedures for Digital Imaging Projects" and the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative's Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials:  Creation of Raster Image Master Files.  If agencies are uncertain as to whether they are following appropriate best practices, they should consult with the Illinois State Archives.

3)         Scanning Resolution.  Scanning resolution must be adequate to ensure that no information is lost.  A scanning resolution with a minimum of 200 dots per inch is required for recording documents that contain no type font smaller than 6 point.  A minimum scanning resolution of 300 dots per inch is required for engineering drawings, maps and other documents with a type font smaller than 6 point or with background detail.  The selected scanning resolution must be validated with tests on actual source documents.

(Source:  Added at 39 Ill. Reg. 3094, effective February 11, 2015)