In archives, we are often asked if items or collections are available to view as digital files, or when they will be digitised. Although there are great benefits in having some items digitised, there are many considerations before undertaking a project to ensure it is done correctly and that files are managed well and will be of benefit to the repository and for researchers.

Projects to digitise collections have meant archives have been able to reach wider audiences online and allow archives to be used in a variety of different ways. In some cases, the quality of images can mean handwriting can be read more easily or hidden details can be seen. 'Spectral imaging' can reveal things that have been covered by an image, and metadata can be added to files so staff and researchers can search and use them effectively. 

Another benefit of digitising is to make material available that is difficult to access due to the format it has been produced on or how fragile it is, especially if these items are requested often. Producing these items for people to use in a reading room may cause further damage and so a surrogate copy is created. Newspapers are notoriously fragile due to the high acid content and this was a reason to digitise the first 10 years of the Co-op News which allows increased access whilst still preserving the original bound copies. 

Co-op News first issue front page - September 2nd 1871

The item may be on a format that needs specialised equipment to view and this may not always be available at all repositories. The Tameside Local Studies and Archives 'Smile' Project received funding to digitise the glass plates that were in the photograph collection of the local Reporter newspaper as they were unable to be viewed without a lightbox and the glass plates are extremely fragile. Lower resolution copies were then added to Flickr (an open source platform), and volunteers and community groups are now able to add details and comments to the images.

Text heavy items may be searched using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which helps enormously in archive research by allowing specific words to be searched across documents.  This can be seen, for example, on the digitized version of George Holyoake’s Sixty years of an Agitator's Life which was made available by the University of Michigan. 

Copies of 'Sixty Years of an Agitator's Life' (George Jacob Holyoake)

Digitising can bring material together which is scattered across different collections within an archive and also across different repositories. Exhibitions have been created which promote archive collections such as the  Penn /Cambridge Genizah Fragment Project This project has allowed small pieces of documents held in different places to be browsed using AI, which would take a person years and years to study.

Do it once, do it properly.

Most repositories have a huge amount of material are always receiving new materials, not all of which can be digitised or will be useful for researchers and so decisions have to made to prioritise items to digitise. Digitisation creates a surrogate. The original is always kept.

Undertaking a successful project at any level requires planning, a workflow development and long term management of the digital assets that will be created. Physical items are checked and housed in archive material and stored in environments to ensure the long term preservation. Digital files have to be checked regularly to ensure they have not been corrupted and the format does not become obsolete. Correct metadata (descriptions about the image) needs to be added. Items recorded without proper descriptions can be lost over time if the original materials cannot be located easily.

Purchase of software, setting up and maintenance of equipment, the cost and security of storage space for what can be large files, staff training, platforms for access and the time needed to manage digital collections are all things to consider when planning a digitisation project. 

Archivists have learned important lessons from the past; one famous example being the BBC 'Doomsday Project' of 1986. The technology to store the information became obsolete after just 15 years. This resulted in the  CAMiLEON  project which highlighted the need for managing digital archives and toolkits were produced to support more sustainable projects.

Current legislation needs to be adhered to and this is subject to change and some material cannot be digitised or shared. The Co-operative Heritage Trust will not hold copyright to all the items in the archive and permissions need to be sought in order to make things digitally available. Within one collection, there may be some items where copyright is also held by different parties. Scrapbooks with cuttings and letters can mean many different copyright holders may be involved. In correspondence collections, it is the writer of the letter, or their descendants who may hold copyright and unpublished letters, no matter how old they are, are currently under copyright legislation until 2039. 

Crumpsall Biscuit Factory artwork, (CWS) 1920

The environmental cost of keeping records, the cost of insurance and IT provisions to prevent data loss and cyber attacks are also things to consider. When digitising material from archives, more repositories feel it might be good enough to take an image at a high enough resolution to which can be used for most purposes. Labelled and correctly stored, as the item is a surrogate, the original item can be revisited if needed.

This will be different for ‘born digital’ material that is given to an archive. The original files need to be preserved in order to future proof the digital files and it is best to have more than one version saved including one stored offline. If there is corruption or damage to one of the files then there is a 'back up'. Lower res surrogates can be produced for access

Even if files are digital, there may be restrictions on their use. Creative Commons licenses can allow images to be used in particular ways and users should always check the image licenses carefully.

Propaganda cartoon - Co-operative News 1930s

The images in this post are from our collections unless otherwise stated. We have undertaken some digitisation projects to share images which can be viewed on Flickr such as the image above.

We work with partners in the sector and share best practice. Some funding can be available for digitising projects, but we rely heavily on charitable funds and donations can offset the costs. To support our work, go to Donate on our website. 

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Further advice and reading

The National Archives provide guidance for digitisation on their webpages.

The Digital Preservation Coalition has produced a Digital Preservation Handbook and a Digital Asset Toolkit for repositories of all sizes, including community archives.

The Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) has developed guidelines for community archives. 

TownsWeb Archiving provide advice on planning and workflows for digitisation projects.