Right from the Start: The Digitization Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

Before opening, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture established a program to create digital collection records and surrogates, which play a critical role in collection care, collection accessibility, and enhancing the meaning of collections. The program is off t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Public historian 2018-08, Vol.40 (3), p.292-318
Main Author: Coyle, Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
CASE STUDIES
Collections
Digitization
Museums
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Before opening, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture established a program to create digital collection records and surrogates, which play a critical role in collection care, collection accessibility, and enhancing the meaning of collections. The program is off to a good start because it supports the museum’s mission, the museum has established a dedicated ‘‘Digi Team,’’ the program has leadership buy-in and financial support, and other Smithsonian units have been generous with time and expertise. Also explored in this article are digitization program activities and results, the impact of digitization, and plans for the future.
ISSN:0272-3433
1533-8576
DOI:10.1525/tph.2018.40.3.292