The Training for Audiovisual Preservation in Europe (TAPE) Project has just published an excellent Audio Tape Digitisation Workflow document here. It is authored by Juha Henriksson of the Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive and Nadja Wallaszkovits of Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Sciences. It is aimed at the newcomer but still addresses all of the major points without being overwhelming.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Nadja at length about her work and I was very impressed by her approach and knowledge — as well as her practicality in getting the job done.
This document is a must-read for anyone planning a digitization project. While it is not as detailed or comprehensive as the Sound Directions publication, it cuts to the heart of what we’re trying to do in digitization. Starting with as good a playback as possible is the key to obtaining a good digital representation of the original. It also provides excellent photographs of various failure modes — and some are truly spectacular.
I must provide a disclaimer here that this website graciously links back here as well.