Digital Archives: Creating a Regional Hub in the North East
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of English Lit, Lang & Linguistics
Abstract
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.
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.
Organisations
Description | The Collaborative Learning Hub, enabled through the AHRC Capability for Collections grant, has provided a purpose-built space for collaborative research for unique and distinctive collections within a blended environment. The audio visual set up provides the only such virtually enabled, fully flexible space within the University to have high spec ceiling mounted visualisers for remote integration and engagement with most archival material held within Newcastle University Special Collections' accredited archives service. As well as the flexible room set up, the space also allows for a capacity of 40, doubling the potential for collaborative sessions using collections while still maintaining collections care standards. |
Exploitation Route | The Collaborative Learning Hub serves as research infrastructure to facilitate work with our 200+ unique and distinctive collections for all researchers at all levels. This includes remote access to collections via high spec visualisers for multiple geographically dispersed researchers working in collaboration, as well as other Galleries, Librairies, Archives and Museums (GLAM) institutions wanting to bring their collections together virtually with Newcastle's for audiences through similar infrastructure. It also facilitates engagement as research impact by providing a venue for discovery and interpretation. The Collaborative Learning Hub now serves as a benchmark for the GLAM sector and those with unique and distinctive collections hoping to achieve similar integrated solutions to diverse research experiences. This includes its function as a Virtual Reading Room (VRR), which Newcastle University took a leading role in helping to define a toolkit for through the International Alliance of Research Library Associations (IARLA) and Research Libraries UK in 2022 (https://www.rluk.ac.uk/vrr-toolkit/#vrrtk). We now represent an advanced example for others in developing a mature service enabled by CapCo funding. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
Description | The Collaborative Learning Hub, enabled through the AHRC Capability for Collections grant, has provided a purpose-built space for collaborative research for unique and distinctive collections within a blended environment. The audio visual set up provides the only such virtually enabled, fully flexible space within the University to have high spec ceiling mounted visualisers for remote integration and engagement with most archival material held within Newcastle University Special Collections' accredited archives service. As well as the flexible room set up, the space also allows for a capacity of 40, doubling the potential for collaborative sessions using collections while still maintaining collections care standards. As envisaged, we have been able to collaborate with regional, national, and international partners and GLAM institutions on joint events, including Historic England, the Wordsworth Trust, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, New York Public Library, and Keats-Shelley House. In the six months since the space was completed at the end of October 2024 it has so far hosted 149 hours of collaborative research and teaching; 81 hours of external engagement through education and community outreach; and 9 hours of virtual research facilitation. Highlights include: 6 Virtual Reading Room sessions for geographically dispersed researchers unable to view unique and distinctive material in person; Digital Humanities Showcase for visitors Professor Masahiro Shimoda (Professor and Dean of the School of Buddhist Studies, Musashino University; Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo), Dr. Daigo Isshiki (Kyoto University), and Dr. Kiyonori Nagasaki (International Institute for Digital Humanities) Postgraduate Romantic poetry workshop, involving guest speakers from the Wordsworth Centre in Grasmere Palaeography workshops for Faculty level Research Methods postgraduate training Engagement event for families on poster design linked to Chinese Independent Film Archive (AHRC funded) exhibition CPD for Historic England staff on education outreach methods and evaluation Northumbria University Fine Art sessions with Newcastle University's poetry archives Education Outreach sessions across Key Stage 2, and Key Stage 3 on mining archives Writing Liberty in Romantic Poetry Module Engagement event for Friends of the University Library on Experiencing Political Text (AHRC Funded) exhibition. Blended Research Library UK Associate Directors Meeting TEI for Developers workshop Collections showcase for Newcastle University's Experience Week aimed at connecting staff with collections and research North East School Librarian Conference First in series of videos Connected Collections placing experts together with collection items for dissemination and knowledge creation. First on Thomas Nashe's 'Have with you to Saffron-Walden' (1596), part of the Honresfield Library, saved by the Friends of the National Library |
First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |