Project by Rachel Regelein (2019)
Technology has changed the way museums view their collections. Today, an increasing number of museums are digitizing artifacts which increases the accessibility of their collection and allows them to reach new audiences. Museums are also digitizing collect ions to preserve content on old media, such as floppy disks and VHS tapes. As a result, more and more museums are faced with the task of digitizing objects and finding effective and sustainable ways to preserve them. Unfortunately, digitization and managing digital collections are resource- intensive activities that require a high level of technical expertise. The guidelines and best practices put forth for digital preservation activities have not been scaled to a level attainable by small museums. This project created a Digital Collections Plan to fit the needs of the Log House Museum, a small history museum in Seattle, WA. This plan was built on research across the field of digital practices and scaled to a level that required little up-front cost and broken into tasks that could be delegated to volunteers with staff oversight. This plan will enable the Log House Museum to preserve their digital collections and carry out digitization projects in a sustainable manner for their available resources. This project can be used as a template for other small museums to develop strategies to manage their own digital collections.
Keywords: Class of 2019, collections, digital collections, digital collections plan, history museum, project, museology, museum studies
Citation:
Regelein, R. (2019). A Digital Collections Plan for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Unpublished master’s project, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.