I recently had the chance to sit in on the Digital Access workshop held by Glam Peak in Newcastle. These workshops will held at multiple locations nationally, are designed to assist GLAM organisations (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) in preparing and carrying out all-important collections digitisation projects. Digitisation, the process in which collection objects are scanned, photographed and recorded onto a digital format to preserve them for the future, can be a difficult long-term project. Glam Peak staff, the wonderful Wendy Quihampton and Lucinda Davison, were able to break the process down into achievable stages with a focus on planning, preparation, the actual digitisation process and finally sharing of the results of digitisation accessible online. By making your collection accessible online you can make your collection available to a much wider audience, increase visitation and promote the significance of your organisation’s collections.

The workshop also highlighted the importance of collaboration, focusing on the importance of sharing skills, resources and information in order to support other GLAM organisations in your local network in their digitisation projects. These projects can become much more manageable when approached collaboratively and your organisation will benefit by developing new skills and knowledge.

It should be noted that these workshops are not a hands on digitisation workshop but if your organisation is considering beginning (or have already started) a digitisation project, I would highly consider getting in touch with Glam Peak as they offer a range of valuable, in-depth information and resources that can assist you in carrying out a digitisation project.

For more information on Glam Peak and the work they do visit the website.

Image: Kate O’Neill, Woodford Academy, National Trust (NSW)