THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL ARCHIVING by Guest Blogger, Nancy Chamberlain-Strupp
As a museum, the Heard-Craig Center acts as a protector and conservator of important data, documents, and artifacts of cultural, scientific, and historical significance. The museum ensures that with the passage of time, Collin County artifacts remain properly preserved to be exhibited, viewed, explored, and enjoyed by future generations.
In years past, a museum’s primary function was just as a repository of information and/or artifacts.
Today, however, museums are becoming vibrant centers of knowledge and experiences. They are becoming more instructive and interactive to better facilitate learning. They are intentionally morphing from places that act only as physical object and data storage facilities, with employees manually performing tedious analog cataloging, to modern, technologically enhanced multi-functional institutions.
Digital Evolution
This evolution is transpiring, in part, by modern digital archiving initiatives that are now being exercised and integrated within museums across world. These initiatives assist museums to develop and implement their newest strategies and plans for modernizing their conservation and preservation techniques, for planning public museum exhibitions, and for successfully reaching requisite financial goals. Museums are increasingly utilizing and incorporating modern digital technology to build easier and more effective archiving systems to preserve, store, catalog, and share their collected and stored data and other museum treasures.
Digital archiving entails the conversion of physical artifacts, records, artworks and other cultural and historic treasures into modern digital formats. This digital system ensures preservation, accessibility, and efficient usage and management of a museum’s stored data and its stored artifacts and collections. To accomplish its goals and objectives, digital archiving requires cross-disciplinary collaborations - between museum curators, researchers, data scientists, and technology experts.
The Benefits of Archiving
Once implemented, digital archiving provides enhanced accessibility to the museum’s collections, permits easier access and sharing of stored data, and allows researchers easier and faster methods to access the museums collections and displays. It also provides opportunities for cross-referencing from diverse collections and for sharing vast amounts of information globally. Digital archiving also allows museum curators to determine audience trends to better plan future exhibitions and shows.
Museums derive great benefits from enhanced digital archiving methods. However, during this technology transition, museums face many interim challenges. Examples of these challenges are developing uniform data standardization; costs to upgrade infrastructure and train staff to maintain the digital data bases; the need to keep digital information and formats continually updated, and the time and effort needed to combine and transfer information from old analog systems to new modern digital ones.
Eventually, museums around the world will complete implementation of currently available digital archiving technology. With the modernization of museum systems, AI and Virtual Reality will play a more prominent role. We can look forward to museum technological advancements that will result in a more intellectual and sensory experience each and every time we visit a museum.
Volunteer for the Technology Transition
The Heard-Craig Center for the Arts accepts volunteers who want to provide meaningful support to the community and at the same time, learn something new. Our digital archiving opportunities are numerous and you can support them by the hour, by the month, or by the year. Scanning is the most popular volunteer option at the present time however we are always open to working with volunteers who have a background in app development, immersive video creation, projection show development, filmmaking, and live-event technology. Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Lynn Mayle, (Email: volunters@heardcraig.org) to share your special skills and talents.
The Heard-Craig Center is open for tours of the Museum on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:00 PM or by appointment: 972-569-6909. www.heardcraig.org
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