Access and preservation are two of the main reasons for digitising your archival collection:

1. Digitisation improves access to your archives
   It provides the opportunity to reach a worldwide audience through online access and simultaneously promotes your organisation – some users may never have known you existed and what interesting, useful and amazing content you hold in your environmentally controlled repository.
2. Digitisation is a preservation strategy and protects the collection
   Every time an original item is moved or handled it is at risk of damage, especially those that have already suffered wear and tear and have become fragile. Offering a digital surrogate in place of the original archive means your collection can stay safely stored away.

Next week we start a new blog series that is all about digitisation. We’ll talk about: project planning; technical specifications; handling the archives; scanning tips; file storage; metadata, and; access.

State Records NSW has presented talks and written articles and guidance on digitisation. This series encompasses all these tools and resources (and links out to other experts) for a comprehensive look at the process from start to finish.

You’ve had the big ‘digitisation’ idea, now where to start? Find out next week.