The challenges of preservation of archives and records

Archives and Special Collections

Archives and special collections are housed in cultural heritage institutions. They create, protect, and conserve these collections to ensure their long-term accessibility (Asogwa & Ezema, 2012).

Digitization

To address the difficulty of collection maintenance, various strategies are applied. Digitization, a widely used method, employs computer technologies to convert various forms of analog information into digital codes (Asogwa & Ezema, 2012). Digitization of collections has several benefits such as the provision of online access, reducing handling of delicate materials which successfully maintains them, enhancing the flexibility of the materials allowing for manipulation and change among others (Asogwa & Ezema, 2012).

Importing and Managing Digital Files

Importing and managing digital files is accomplished through the use of software tools (Asogwa & Ezema, 2012). “The Archivists’ Toolkit™” is an example of a valuable resource in the process of archival digitization. It is an open-source database application used in the management of archives and is accessible from the website www.archiviststoolkit.org (Shepherd, 2014). It is a data management system which supports the processing of archives and production of instruments to access cultural assets (Shepherd, 2014).

Also, it promotes standardization of data as well as developing efficiency and lowering the costs of training archivists. The application is useful for a wide range of operations such as the assessment or appraisal of collections, their accession and description, managing their locations and importation and exportation of legacy data (Shepherd, 2014). The application can be customized into, for instance, multiuser, multi-repository or even as a stand-alone desktop application to suit diverse work settings (Shepherd, 2014). Besides, the resource may help an archivist or a special collections curator to develop their professional skills through training workshops that are offered for the toolkit. It is thus an indispensable tool in digitization programs.

References

Asogwa, B. E., & Ezema, I. J. (2012). The challenges of preservation of archives and records in the electronic age. The Official Journal of the Pacific Northwest Library Association, 115.

Shepherd, K. (2014). The Archivists’ Toolkit: An Integrated System for Describing and Managing Archival Resources. 大学図書館研究, 77.