Introduction
Cultural institutions like museums, archives, historical societies and libraries home reasonable collections of various artifacts and documents. These institutions are endorsed with the responsibility of preserving, protecting and providing mature stewardship for all available materials so as to ensure a continued long period accessibility. Advanced technology allows institutions to offer expanded education and access but there are essential priorities which ought to be addressed before embarking on the digital conversion of archival management. Digitization and archival management includes doing a physical job on top of analoging items. Digital documemts are imported to other files and controlled with the usage of software programs. Report indicates that digital files might be read, transferred,retrieved and compressed over electronic devise networks which could be viewed on the computer monitors. However, the resulting products are determined by the efficiency through which digitization process is performed. Governmental agencies, entertainment industries, commercial sectors and colleges are fast in designing technological infrastructures which accommodate the required access of the Internet. This is because advanced technology has become an agora for teaching, expression, research, communication and publication. Several people, especially the young generation, consult archives and libraries as their resort (Canadian Council of Achives 10). Hence, institutions should adopt digitization to simplify archival management.
Digitization in archives and libraries
The usage of technology is slowly becoming core portion of libraries and archives in various parts of the globe. Currently computer structured systems are regarded as essential aspects for several operational dimensions like memory institutions. These covers collections management and control with reference to administrative databases as well as online catalogues that exhibit planning. This entail coordinating loaned objects like the administering paper duty for transit and insurance and user outreach services. For example, the provision and delivery of online cataloging and referencing materials has become very common. Additionally, using technology for reasons of administering projects has become an added value since institutions unleash their collections through devising digitization initiatives (Karen et al., 41). Collections are made accessible and available by digital surrogates through enhanced format which allows browsing and searching of both new and traditional audiences while using the internet. Institutions have witenessed that these services have been multiplying since when they embraced upcoming technology irrespective of their sizes.
Consequently, several organizations have transformed to hybridized institutions whose objective is to manage and control both digital and analogue cultural resources by supporting and anticipating the needs of the linked patrons for the new and old resources. Nevertheless, the dichotomy through which preservation and accessing the resources is made is still advancing as learners struggle to provide high resolution data of main collection items. Otherwise managing, controlling and regulating digital assets has never been an easy task because it strains resources in institutions(Canadian Council of Achives 14).There has been a notable significant growth and development of diverse international and national digitization projects within the last few years as most libraries around the globe have funded main aims to showcasing their riches in scientific and cultural heritage.This is because digitization promotes the preservation and conservation of scientific resources and heritage which generates new learning opportunities. For instance it encourages promotion of tourism by offering means of improving accessibility by the citizens towards their patrimony. The integrity of digital programs in archival management contain artifactual value. This holds only if the initial software is associated with the image or document in libraries. If the library softwares are enhanced or updated the integrity of information may be altered since digital constancy fluctuates in accordance to advancing computer technologies. The records administration systems and the national archives of most nations have suggested on the procedure for establishing and designing value for the digital objects such as the web. They argue that contextual quality and value of digitalized objects like functionality, metadata and layout should be improved because they defines the message content of various object. This is because removing or changing properties of an object like its format or appearnce is known for affecting artifactual values of information.
Despite increased emphasis on modernizing virtual library and digital collections, presence of physical collections is still prominent in the society especially in archival management and in unique collection of material. The usual traditional means of stabilizing varied physical objects for sorting documents are very important in aiding wellness of research and collections. Conservators are continueing to operate on objects, books, textiles and papers in struggle to retard and repair the natural deterioration by providing an appropriate housing to aid storage. Thefeore the legend of preservation has addressed main issues pertaining the wellness of physical artifact. The literature has exposed the challenges of conservators and preservationists to integrating the needs of digital and digitization preservation with following duties which mechanical preservation role presents already. Digital progress in the archives compete and contribute with the traditional maintainance of work through sorting resources. All in all, new projects not only stand in as seclusion concerns of physical state of materials but also as reformation for longevity which is paired with the digital aspects of acrhive management. Of late cultural institutions have been investing on various digital projects due to many reasons like providing access and decreasing the physical handling with aim of promoting the value of collections in institutions. Most conversion to digital projects are mainly driven in section as strategic goals of institutions. Unfortunately, these institutional objectives are oftenly in fight with the essential structures of the real digital conversion projects.Otherwise resources are generally useless if they cannot be accessed(Karen et al., 200). Therefore, archival institutions should embark on the digital conversion projects by thinking sufficiently on how to plan, risk and manage infrastructures both technologically and professionally.
Advantages of digitization
Digital imaging of various archive projects offer specific advantages because content and information could be delivered to the end users directly, and could be retrieved by use of remote. Image quality is good, and this is enhanced with capacity to improve continuously. Therefore, it is an added merit which has probability of text searching and cross collecting indexing of the newly created user interfaces which permits for different uses of content. The other advantage is flexibility in managing digital material because the information is easy to print, edit and reformat. Moreover, the capacity to offer a huge number of accessibility which is an attractive feature when regulating digital archives is very appealing because it makes historical and literary research easier (Gorman 56). Also, permitting several audience to see digital surrogates of initial material increases utility to historical collection because of being cost effectivenes for no travel expenses are incurred. This form of interaction allows for the designing of undiscovered knowledge. Also, profound transformations in the availability electronic communications and reproduction technologies in archival institutions have facilitated reconstruction of their targeted audience leading to service development. Participating in digital projects permits for the professional development because the staff acquire new skills, expertise and knowledge while dealing with the projects. Finally, digitization is known for decreasing tackling of older or fragile materials and this extends the shelf life of the initial materials(Leggett& Elizabeth 99).
Demerits of digitization
Conclusion
Cultural and educational institutions home unique artifacts and documentations and this provide great accessibility to collections that bring together all the disparate and vast collections which could inspire future scholarly work. Prioritizing these projects and working together assist cultural institutions to offer utility to the collections whereby advancing technology design unfamiliar workloads and challenges for institutions and staff because they find problems in preservation or conversion to digital material.Therefore, professionals have no option other than working together to solve problems which are stemming in. Even after addressing the legal, technical, professional and ethical issues which surround the digital conversion projects. Therefore, digitization and archival management should be embraced by by various instituions if they hope to offer access to collections within an unmediated surrounding for the current environment has been possing challenges continuosly. To end with, Systems operaters must learn the frequent changes which take place in related software by understaning its nuance of museology in the discipline.
Works Cited
Canadian Council o Achives. "Digitization and Archives." Declaration of Principles Concerning theRelationship of Digitization to Preservation of Archival Records . 2002. Print.
Karen,Gracy,Miriam B. Preservation in the Digital Age.Berlin: Springer, 2010. Print.
Gorman, G. E. Preservation Management for Libraries, Museums and Archives. London, UK: Facet Pub., 2006. Print.
Leggett, Elizabeth R. Digitization and Digital Archiving: A Practical Guide for Librarians. , 2014. Print.
