Library Intelligencer

Traditionally, digitisation has been led by supply rather than demand. While end users are seen as a priority they are not directly consulted about which collections they would like to have made available digitally or why. This can be seen in a wide range of policy documents throughout the cultural heritage sector, where users are positioned as central but where their preferences are assumed rather than solicited. Post-digitisation consultation with end users is equally rare. How are we to know that digitisation is serving the needs of the Higher Education community and is sustainable in the long-term?

This project aimed to:

Identify priority collections for potential digitisation housed within UK Higher Education’s libraries, archives and museums as well as faculties and departments
Assess users’ needs and demand for Special Collections to be digitised across all disciplines
Produce a synthesis of available knowledge about users’ needs with regard to usability and format of digitised resources
Provide recommendations for a strategic approach to digitisation within the wider context and activity of leading players both in the public and commercial sector
The project was carried out jointly by the Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR) and the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM) and has taken a collaborative approach to the creation of a user-driven digitisation prioritisation framework, encouraging participation and collective engagement between communities.