The 20th Century saw many would-be revolutions, and none more significant than the digital revolution that resulted from technological advances made during WW II.
The impact of digital technology on cultural and heritage institutions worldwide has been compared in scope, longevity and profundity to the invention of the printing press.
Government policies, both in Europe and the United States strongly support the creation of digital libraries, museums and archives. The main reasons given for digitization are to improve preservation and conservation of important works, and to improve access to material. Essentially digitization is the conversion of images and information into a format that can be read and disseminated by machines.
The potential benefits brought about by digitization are wide-ranging. For the public being able to access museum collections is a useful tool in learning about culture, from famous events to specific areas of minority subcultures such as the Inuit. Regular web surfers will be familiar with the extraordinary wealth of information available that enables individuals anywhere in the world to be the authors of their own cultural/intellectual development programs.
For academic researchers digitization has made it possible to group and compare large data sets in ways that were not possible in the pre-digital (or analogue) era. The technology is also helping to uncover new information about cultural treasures. An interesting example is the Archimedes palimpsest that is being reconstituted using state of the art digital imaging techniques. When the project is complete the priceless palimpsest will be made available online. Before digitization such a document would only have been accessible to very few serious academics.
Digitization has also benefited many smaller scale projects beyond the walls (virtual or otherwise) of renowned cultural institutions. Following the terrorist attacks on America the September 11 Digital Archive was established as a global focus point in the aftermath of the tragedy.
In Australia, digital technology has been used to preserve historic Aboriginal rock carvings for the memory of the descendants of the original artists to visit.
Whilst much digital information is available virtually, there are very real costs associated in creating digital archives.
The money spent on digitization can easily run into tens of millions per institution. In 2002 the UK government set aside more than £50m of National Lottery money on an inaugural scheme to digitise vast amounts of previously unseen museum collections. This proved to be the tip of an enormous iceberg, yet whatever the cost and scale of the problems to be overcome, the digital future is viewed by many through rose-tinted glasses. Michael S. Shapiro, Secretary and Consul General of the International Intellectual Property Institute, says “the public response [to digitization] has been overwhelming. The international virtual museum audience is estimated to be over 1 billion.”
Numerous initiatives, University of California, Santa Barbara Digital Cultures Project, have been set up to tackle the issues relating to digitising the enormous quantities of information and physical works held by hundreds of cultural and heritage institutions worldwide. And digitization is now a key subject in undergraduate and postgraduate courses for those considering a career in curating, librarianship or museums.
Given the newness of the technology there is clearly some way to go before digitization techniques are perfected. For example, a survey undertaken by the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2000 found that whilst 90% of recorded images were taken using digital cameras, the work was done by relatively inexperienced photographers who spent a lot of time manipulating and editing images. The study found there would be significant benefits and cost savings if the imaging process could be improved to deliver quality images directly.
A report based on libraries’ experience of digitization throughout the 1990s found that ‘digitization often raises expectations of benefits, cost reductions, and efficiencies that can be illusory and, if not viewed realistically, have the potential to put at risk the collections and services libraries have provided for decades.’
Like any advance in technology, there is always the danger of throwing out the benefits of the old as you bring in the new.