What is an advantage of the scan-first preservation approach?

• A. It eliminates the need for metadata
• B. Adjustments can be made prior to conversion
• C. It guarantees original document integrity
• D. It reduces staff training time

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that scanning first creates a digital surrogate of the item that you can work with before committing to final archival formats. This lets you make improvements directly on the digital copy—adjusting color and contrast, cropping margins, deskewing pages, and cleaning up readability—before you convert the file to long-term preservation formats. By refining the digital image first, you ensure the preserved representation is clear and accurate without requiring any irreversible changes to the original material. This flexibility to adjust before conversion is the clear advantage.