‘The Digitisation Agenda’

Public Services Quality Group Forum

3 November 2010

Alexandra Eveleigh

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award Holder

UCL Department of Information Studies / The National Archives

alexandra.eveleigh.09@ucl.ac.uk

Participatory Digitisation:The 21st Century Archive as Conversation

If digitisation is the answer, what is the question?

Delivery ““The idea of the The idea of the twenty-first century twenty-first century historian sitting in his historian sitting in his or her study in or her study in Australia calling up Australia calling up files from Kew is files from Kew is perhaps fanciful…”perhaps fanciful…”

Edward Higgs, Assistant Edward Higgs, Assistant Keeper of Public RecordsKeeper of Public Records

P.R.O. 150P.R.O. 150thth Anniversary Anniversary Conference, 1988Conference, 1988

Significant mass of digitised Significant mass of digitised archives ‘content’ (images)archives ‘content’ (images)

Digital ‘shop windows’ – digital Digital ‘shop windows’ – digital publication & exhibitionpublication & exhibition

Questionable sustainabilityQuestionable sustainability

Heavy reliance on short-term Heavy reliance on short-term grant funding and/or commercial grant funding and/or commercial sectorsector

‘‘Add-on’ productAdd-on’ product

Poorly integrated into core Poorly integrated into core archival systems / archival contextarchival systems / archival context

User experience at a removeUser experience at a removehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/468265643/

Status Quo 2.0?

Archive Service

User

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shealo/2367885496/

Digitisation in the Balance

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captkodak/272746539/

Enclosure

Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service

• One-way access road from supplier to passive One-way access road from supplier to passive

recipientrecipient

• Digitised archives silosDigitised archives silos

• Stockpiles of high-resolution imagesStockpiles of high-resolution images

• Highest bidder wins?Highest bidder wins?

• Appropriation of IPR over metadata derived from Appropriation of IPR over metadata derived from

documents in the public domaindocuments in the public domain

• Proprietary & subject-based presentation platformsProprietary & subject-based presentation platforms

http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/2636903303/

Collaboration

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffhester/165316370/

Archives Organisation

Contributors

Information Seekers

Co-creators

http://www.oldweather.org © Zooniverse 2010

National Archives of Australia Series Browser. Thanks to Mitchell Whitelaw http://visiblearchive.blogspot.com/

Creative Culture

• Internet as a tool for sharingInternet as a tool for sharing

• Users as active participants – contributors & co-creatorsUsers as active participants – contributors & co-creators

• Quality of user experience - personalisationQuality of user experience - personalisation

• Move away from industrial 'mass' digitisationMove away from industrial 'mass' digitisation

• On-demand access, sharing & re-mixingOn-demand access, sharing & re-mixing

• Users as archives champions – sustainability in-builtUsers as archives champions – sustainability in-built

• Policy directions – Archives for the 21Policy directions – Archives for the 21stst Century, Big Century, Big

Society etc.Society etc.

Examples of Collaborative Digitisation

http://militieregisters.nl/Digitizing Simplified: http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/over_ons/projecten/index.nl.html

http://www.scanningleague.org/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nationalarchives

http://www.parallelarchive.org/

Digitisation Networks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominocat/7375722/

““Archives need a dialogue with users over Archives need a dialogue with users over priorities for digitisation to develop a priorities for digitisation to develop a

strategic approach that maximises the strategic approach that maximises the value of public and voluntary involvement value of public and voluntary involvement

in such work.”in such work.”

Archives for the 21Archives for the 21stst Century Century 3.143.14