Primary Research Group Publishes Survey of Academic Library Special Collections: Trends in Digitization, ISBN 979-8-88517-337-7
Primary Research Group has published Survey of Academic Library Special Collections: Trends in Digitization, a new report examining digitization workloads, media formats, future digitization priorities, backlog size, technology use, staffing, digitization-on-demand requests, and resource constraints in academic library special collections.
The report finds that digitization programs are active but constrained. Text and photographs/images dominate the workload. For text, 46.15% say it accounts for a significant percentage of digitization work and 11.54% say it accounts for the bulk. For photographs/images, 34.62% say they represent a significant percentage and 19.23% say they account for the bulk. Audio and video/film are less dominant, usually described as minimal portions of workload.
Future digitization work is concentrated in twentieth-century collections. For materials from 1950–2000, 42.31% say they will account for a significant amount of near-future workload, and 23.08% say they will account for most of it. For 1900–1950 materials, 38.46% expect a significant amount of work.
Backlogs are substantial and often poorly measured. 34.62% are not sure how large their current digitization backlog is, while 19.23% report backlogs of 1,000+ linear feet and 11.54% report 500–999 linear feet. Overall, 30.77% report backlogs of at least 500 linear feet.
Research demand is the leading factor shaping digitization priorities: 57.69% rank it first, and 76.92% rank it first or second. Preservation need follows as a strong secondary factor, with 42.31% ranking it second. Yet resources are limited: 42.31% are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with resources available to reduce digitization backlogs, and the median staffing level dedicated to digitization is only 1.00 FTE.
A PDF version of the survey is currently available from Primary Research Group for $85, and a print edition will be available for shipment on June 8th 2026 and can be pre-ordered. Site licenses are also available. To view an excerpt and table of contents, follow the following link https://primaryresearch.com/AddCart.aspx?ReportID=893