Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Digitizing the past: next steps for public
sector digitization
Alastair Dunning
Where we are now
Barely a week goes by without news of the digital publication of some
sparkling cultural resource being splashed across the media - 2009 has
been a particularly rich year. 'World's oldest Bible published in full
online', reported the
Daily Telegraph
in July 2009, as the website with
the Codex Sinaiticus was introduced to the general public (
Daily
Telegraph
, 2009).
1
'Frozen in time: historic images of polar exploration
made public', proclaimed the
Daily Mirror
, as the University of
Cambridge published its stunning collection of images of early voyages
to the Arctic and Antarctic (
Daily Mirror
, 2009).
2
And the
Independent
newspaper marked the launch of the University of Kent's online archive
of 20th-century political cartoons by reporting on 'a century of satire,
wit and irreverence' (
Independent
, 2008).
3
Beyond the early blaze of publicity, some digitization projects have
proved wildly spectacular, maintaining a considerable audience over
time. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, which provides
access to numerous digitized documents relating to the naturalist
(including several editions of
The Origin of the Species
), claimed 90 million
hits between October 2006 and July 2009.
4
The Old Bailey Online,
giving extensive details of criminal trials in London's Central Criminal
Court from 1674 to 1913, averages 6000 unique visitors a day, which
means yearly visitors of just under 2.2 million.
5
More notoriously, the success of some sites in capturing widespread
interest has caused some teething problems. The Vision of Britain site,
