DIGITIZATION AND OPEN ACCESS POLICY OF ATATÜRK LIBRARY

Purpose

This policy aims to digitize the cultural assets and rare works in the collections of the Directorate of Libraries and Museums in order to make them freely available via the internet. The policy also outlines the rules and methods of this digitisation process, including defining the scope and use of the assets.

Atatürk Library aims to provide access to digital cultural assets and information resources in line with copyrights, in order to contribute to national and international research and support cultural development and education.

Scope

This policy covers Atatürk Library users and members, as well as Atatürk Library’s relevant units, archives, digitized and digitally born collections, publications, and tangible or intangible artistic, intellectual, and historical assets produced as a result of or within an event.

Jurisdiction and Policy Impact

In addition to rare works, maps, albums, postcards, documents, newspapers, newspaper clippings, books, photographs, audio-visual assets, and digitally produced assets, all Atatürk Library publications within the Atatürk Library collection of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), and all members within the museums are within the scope of this policy.

Rights, Duties and Responsibilities

• Managing the assets within the Directorate with the required policies, projects, and plans by following current and technological developments,
• Scanning and digitizing the ones suitable for digitization without causing data loss,
• Protecting the collections by keeping them in suitable physical environments and conditions,
• Creating accessible bibliographic records on the library automation system in accordance with international standards,
• Providing memberships to open access directories in order to provide ease of access and increase recognition,
• Planning and implementing collection development strategies,
• Arranging access conditions in accordance with copyright and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules,
• Determining the Creative Commons etc. licenses and terms of use of the assets opened to access,
• Troubleshooting use and access problems,

The Right to Benefit

The right to benefit from Atatürk Library Digital Archive is exercised under the following conditions.

• Anyone who wishes can freely access the archive resources that are open to access in the system by signing up on the website of the Atatürk Library.
• When the archive resource in the system is used, it is required and obligatory to comply with the copyright, license, and usage terms specified for the resource.
• In the use of assets belonging to the Directorate’s collection, it is required to refer to the relevant collection due to ethical, license, and use terms.

Storage, Protection and Access Standards

The IMM Directorate of Libraries and Museums undertakes to protect all assets with historical, cultural, artistic, and scientific value, and archive documents under suitable conditions in order to pass them on to future generations and make them accessible to researchers and interested parties.

To this end;

• To create storage conditions for assets in a suitable light and humidity environment,
• To perform conservation and restoration when required,
• To digitize sources to suitable formats and resolutions,
• To use metadata in accordance with international standards and complie with FAIR (Findable - Accessible - Interoperable - Reusable) principles,
• To establish infrastructures by working in compliance with the OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative - Protocol for Metadata Harvesting).

Removal from the Collection

The IMM Directorate of Libraries and Museums reserves its right to remove an asset from the collection that violates human values and ethical rules.