Challenges of Digitization: A Look into the University of Arkansas’ Start to Digitization

by Jamie Bradley

Like many other Special collections and informational centers, the University of Arkansas museum decided to digitize its collections during the pandemic. The website states 7 million objects are within its collections, covering archeology, ethnography, geology, history, and zoology. Since the museum primarily focuses on research, there are no public displays or exhibits. The already limited public events and tours ended with the pandemic. Laurel Lamb, curator of the museum, with the help of the student museum advisory council, decided to push forward with digitizing the collections (L. Lamb, personal communication, June 25, 2021).

In a recent discussion with Laurel, we went over the goal she hoped to accomplish and the challenges she encountered with the decision to digitize the collections.

The main goal for digitizing the collections was to provide access to information by creating an online database. The database is to serve as a catalog of what is in the museum's collections. In addition, it would allow users to narrow down artifacts of interest before requesting to see the artifacts in person.

To accomplish this goal, Laurel had to consider and work around different funding, technology, and labor challenges.

Funding

The biggest challenge Laurel had to consider was funding, as there was none set aside in the museum's budget for digitizing the collections. The student museum advisory council has been looking into grants and other aid to help with the project. Still, in the meantime, Laurel is having to be realistic with how to move forward. Because of the lack of funding, other needed resources for digitizing the collection are difficult to obtain, such as labor and technology.

Labor

Acquiring the labor needed to move forward with the project was challenging due to the lack of funding. While the museum has excellent back-end facilities, the museum's front end is reminiscent of a small local museum. There are only two full-time employees on staff, two graduate assistants, and four work-study students. The rest of the help provided in the museum is dependent on volunteers. With the pandemic, Laurel has found it hard to retain volunteers and have them assist on the digitizing project in a way that does not include constant training.

Technology

Technology is another challenge Laurel is facing. Fortunately, because the museum is connected to the university, resources such as a website, online storage, and the space to create the online database is free. The museum is also already in possession of a digital camera and computer workspaces. The decision was made to buy a lightbox to provide higher-quality photos for research. Another department within the university allows the museum to borrow their 3D scanner when needed. In the future, they hope to obtain a grant that will enable them to purchase their own as well as a microCT scanner.

Conclusion

After assessing the challenges presented, the museum still decided to push forward with the digitization of its collections as best as possible. However, knowing she had to be realistic with the funding and resources provided, Laurel decided that providing access to the museum's collections was necessary. With this endeavor, the University of Arkansas museum will be able to reach a much wider audience and is willing to continue putting forth the time and effort needed to complete the project.

References

Breeding, Marshall. (2014). Ongoing Challenges in Digitization. Computers in Libraries 34 (9). 16-18.