Digital Archives: Creating a Regional Hub in the North East

纽卡斯尔大学的特别收藏馆是一家经过认证的档案馆，收藏了200多件独特而独特的档案收藏品，包括联合国教科文组织世界记忆格特鲁德·贝尔档案馆。我们与七个故事（国家儿童图书中心），泰恩和威尔档案馆和博物馆以及国家信托基金（沃灵顿）建立了合作伙伴关系，为该地区的档案景观提供了核心，围绕收藏开发，管理和参与提供了必要的互惠支持。在过去的5年里，我们的战略发展领域集中在图书馆内的数字化和数字保存设施（数字化套件）上。这个核心功能服务于这些集合和相关的研究和参与大学内部，外部研究人员和该地区的合作伙伴组织。与其他罗素集团研究图书馆英国机构一样，我们已经回应并继续回应“数字化转变”的必要性。这对于研究密集型背景下的独特材料尤为重要。它需要在4个关键领域采取行动，技能，奖学金，空间和利益相关者，总体目标是以创新和直观的方式为尽可能广泛的受众提供高质量的代理人。在过去十年中，通过这种在线交付和专注于访问策展，以及由于我们越来越注重开发有影响力和创新的产出，访问我们数字化档案的用户翻了两番。我们致力于以两种方式进一步推动数字创新：（1）我们在纽卡斯尔大学支持的大部分人文研究都以数字奖学金为基础，以创造性实验和新知识为基础。我们的目标是支持我们的研究人员，并促进与外部合作伙伴分享他们的专业知识和见解。(2)通过我们建立的本地和区域合作伙伴关系，我们有能力成为一个区域中心，通过获得技能，设备和能力，将合作伙伴LMA持有的独特和独特的收藏品数字化。(1)机会越来越多;（2）当前紧迫：我们的区域合作伙伴缺乏资源（设施和技能），无法将其馆藏数字化到所需的程度;这阻碍了他们尽可能广泛地与观众互动，发展馆藏，从大学的创新数字奖学金中受益，并吸引资金。为达致上述目标（1）及（2），我们的首要需要是扩充现有的数码化套件，使容量增加一倍。这一扩展将包括符合ISO 12646（图形技术-彩色打样显示器）的建筑工程，工程，电力和数据以及银行照明，以及用于处理和捕获高分辨率和符合保护要求的替代品的设备和软件。扩张意味着Special Collections可以提供商业服务，超越自己的收藏，为区域合作伙伴自己的战略驱动因素生产高质量的替代品，但也可以将该设施用作技能实验室，合作伙伴可以在这里学习和使用设备。我们的目标是成为一个积极的催化剂，打破收藏之间的界限，消除与创建数字代理访问相关的技能，空间和基础设施挑战。在当前不确定的金融环境下，文化部呼吁档案部门发挥创造性，以确保其生存，这将使合作伙伴能够以可持续和规模化的方式应对“数字化转变”和利益攸关方对在线访问的期望，同时也有助于特别收藏解决资源问题和进一步发展。

Newcastle University's Special Collections, an Accredited Archive Service, curates over 200 unique and distinctive archival collections, including the UNESCO Memory of the World Gertrude Bell Archive. We are central to the archival landscape within the region with working partnerships with Seven Stories (the National Centre for the Children's Book), Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, and the National Trust (Wallington), providing essential reciprocal support around collection development, management, and engagement. Over the last 5 years, our areas of strategic development have focused on our digitisation and digital preservation facility (Digitisation Suite) based within the Library. This core function services these collections and associated research and engagement from within the University, external researchers, and partner organisations in the region. As with other Russell Group Research Libraries UK institutions, we have responded and continue to respond to the 'digital shift' imperative. This is particularly vital for unique material within research intensive contexts. It requires action in 4 key areas, skills, scholarship, space, and stakeholders, with the overall objective to provide high quality access to surrogates for the widest possible audiences in innovative and intuitive ways. Users accessing our digitised archives have quadrupled over the last decade through this online delivery and focus on curation for access, and as a result of our increased focus on developing impactful and innovative outputs. We are committed to further digital innovation in two ways: (1) Much of the humanities research we support at Newcastle University is underpinned by Digital Scholarship, to creative experimentation, and new knowledge. We aim to support our researchers and to facilitate the sharing of their expertise and insights with external partners. (2) Through our well established local and regional partnerships, we are well situated to become a regional hub for the digitisation of the unique and distinctive collections held by partner LMAs through the access to skills, equipment, and capacity. (1) is an increasing opportunity; (2) is now urgent: our regional partners lack the resources (facilities and skills) to digitise their holdings to the extent required; this is hindering their ability to engage as widely as they would like with audiences, to develop their holdings, to benefit from the University's innovative digital scholarship, and to attract funding. To achieve objectives (1) and (2) our primary need is an expansion of our existing Digitisation Suite to double the capacity. This expansion will include building work, engineering, power and data, and bank lighting compliant with ISO 12646 (Graphic technology - Displays for colour proofing), as well as equipment and software for processing and capturing high resolution and conservation compliant surrogates. Expansion would mean Special Collections could undertake both a commercial service to think beyond its own collections and produce high quality surrogates for regional partners' own strategic drivers, but also use the facility as a skills lab where partners can learn and access equipment themselves. We aim to be an active catalyst in breaking down boundaries between collections and removing the skills, space, and infrastructure challenges associated with creating digital surrogates for access. In the current uncertain financial climate, where the Department of Culture has called on the archives sector to be creative to ensure its survival, this would allow partners to be responsive to the 'digital shift' and stakeholder expectations of online access in a sustainable and scaled way, while also helping Special Collections address resourcing and further development.