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Where Do We Go From Here? Assessing the Use and Future Development of Digital Archival Collections

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Abstract

Digital archival collections have become indispensable for historical research, classroom use, and other forms of transformational reuse. Despite their increasing availability and functionality much remains unclear about how they are used, how they may be used, and how archivists and librarians may further enhance their access and use. In this session, we will consider the current use and future development of digital archival collections. This presentation will explore some of the challenges associated with the use and creation of these collections, as well as some of the opportunities available to archivists and librarians to enhance their discovery and use. The panel will present three different perspectives about these resources.

Donald Force, will discuss the findings of a user-based research project where he examined the metadata associated with digitized objects. He interviewed over 20 academic historians from Research 1 institutions to determine what metadata helps these users understand the objects. Next, Ann Hanlon, will discuss some of the challenges of creating and implementing digital archival collections, such as the lack of standardization for description; and opportunities, such as the emergence of IIIF as an image standard and using a “collections-as-data" approach in building and making collections accessible. Last, Caitlin Perry, Community and Communications Coordinator of IIIF Consortium, will provide an introduction to IIIF for digital archives, including discussion of how IIIF contributes to resource discovery, and examples of the new and emerging ways archives are using IIIF to make their content more accessible and relevant.

How to Cite:

Force, D., Perry, C. & Hanlon, A., (2023) “Where Do We Go From Here? Assessing the Use and Future Development of Digital Archival Collections”, MAC Annual Meeting Presentations 2023(1).