How do we enable safe and global access to the whole of our material collection, including where it is hazardous; and comprehensive access to our heritage science and conservation data?
Background
Our next responsibility is to provide access: to “arrange that reasonable facilities are available to the public for inspecting and obtaining copies of those public records in the Public Record Office”. The nature of what this entails has evolved through time, and it now encompasses both physical and digital access to our collection. We believe that access should be global, for the many communities around the world represented within the record of the British state; and computational, to provide meaningful ‘big’ data for emerging technological approaches to the archive. We must become a ‘genuinely inclusive, collaborative and available national archive’.
This research theme captures our ambition to unlock our collections in new ways, for example through AI, optical character recognition (OCR) and handwritten text recognition (HTR); to foreground global majority voices in our collection and centre the communities represented therein, working in partnership with other global institutions; and, closer to home, to overcome the immediate challenges of hazardous materials in our collection and distributed data within our heritage science and conservation practice.
The above must be underpinned by a secure and sustainable digital estate, for our collection and research work, ensuring that every output we create is open, accessible and has a permanent digital legacy.
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Topics
No topics assigned yet
Research fields
No research fields assigned yet
Related UKRI funded projects
-
The National Archives Centre for Heritage Science and Conservation Research
The National Archives (TNA) is the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. Our mission is to collect and preserve the record, to use our expertise and knowledge to connect people ...
Funded by: Infrastructure Fund
Lead research organisation: National Archives
Why might this be relevant?
The project specifically addresses the need for safe and global access to the material collection, including hazardous materials, and emphasizes the importance of heritage science and conservation data.
-
Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS)
The Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS) will provide key Digital Research Services enabling RICHeS to transform heritage science and conservation research (HSCR) and its capacity to advance understanding, preservation a...
Funded by: AHRC
Lead research organisation: University of York
Why might this be relevant?
The Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS) aims to transform heritage science and conservation research, providing global access to data and advancing understanding and preservation of UK heritage.
-
Capability for Collections Urgent Replacement and Upgrade of Equipment for The National Archives - Heritage Science and Digitisation
The National Archives (TNA) are the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. Our mission is to collect and preserve the record of Government, to use our expertise and knowledge to ...
Funded by: Infrastructure Fund
Lead research organisation: National Archives
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on urgent replacement and upgrade of equipment for digitisation and heritage science research, partially addressing the question of enabling safe and global access to material collection and data.