The Liverpool Record Office is planning to create a new online archive and digitally preserve records going back to the 13th century.
It has chosen Preservica’s cloud based active digital preservation software for the task, which is aimed at improving access to its digital collections.
Currently many requests to the archive are handled manually with material transferred and made available on CDs and memory sticks.
The Records Office – which is based in Liverpool’s Central Library – plans to begin with its large photography collections. It will be followed by the wider collection, which includes oral histories stored on a combination of VHS, audio cassette and other obsolete mediums.
Some of the analogue material has not been accessible for many years and the Record Office and Preservica will work on ensuring the council’s digitised (and born digital) materials are not only usable by future generations but readily accessible online.
The software includes an out-of-the-box connector to the existing Calm collections management system catalogue and an online portal that can be customised for controlled public access to digital collections and records.
Showcase
Liverpool City Council’s digital archivist Carl Kenneally said: “Previously, public access to digital collections was limited but, as the collections are uploaded to the cloud, Preservica will enable us to showcase and drive interest in them online to a much larger audience than ever before.
“This will help us to really demonstrate the value of the archive and the role it plays in highlighting the incredible cultural history of the City of Liverpool.”
Image from Preservica
