Successful digital projects start with an understanding of their intended archival audience. From the beginning, archivists determine whether they are designing an endeavor for specialists, general users, or researchers somewhere between. That decision shapes the project’s scope.
Scholars prioritize granular metadata and high-resolution images for analysis, while conventional researchers seek interpretation and intuitive navigation. Digitization enables access and reuse rather than being an end in itself. Therefore, the fundamental question is: What new capabilities will a digital project enable users to have?
The institutional mission is tied to the audience. Digital initiatives should align with the repository’s goals, reinforcing rather than diluting its strengths. Because digital projects are high-value, resource-intensive efforts for repositories, they must align with institutional principles. Establishing purpose early ensures that subsequent decisions remain coherent.
Selection as Intellectual Work
Selection is the most intellectually demanding aspect of a digital project. Archivists evaluate whether materials reflect the institution’s strengths and whether they have sufficient informational and evidential value to justify digitization; they may also possess artifactual value, providing visual data. Frequently requested materials are strong candidates because digitization reduces the need to handle fragile originals. In addition, the popularity of these items has demonstrated research interest, which will increase when they are available online. Uniqueness also plays a crucial role; materials that cannot be found elsewhere may warrant particular investment.
Digital projects tend to favor prevalent themes, and archivists should guard against overrepresenting well-recognized subjects while neglecting less visible, but equally substantial, materials. For example, Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices, supported by the Mellon Foundation and managed by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), fills archival gaps by prioritizing the digitization of materials documenting underrepresented communities. Since archivists should not and cannot digitize everything, archival selection and representational balance are acts of interpretation that shape how researchers encounter collections in digital environments.
Characteristics and Rights
Archivists assess selected materials for characteristics that will affect the planning of digital projects. Format, size, condition, and volume influence workflow design and cost. Fragile items require careful handling, while oversized or unusual formats may necessitate specialized equipment or vendors.
Archivists assess whether the materials contain enough information to form compelling metadata as they currently are, or whether research into the materials is required to add missing meaning. Captions require a significant investment in intellectual labor to provide representational descriptions.
Equally critical are rights considerations. Determining copyright status can be challenging for unpublished or orphan works. Archivists must evaluate legal and ethical risks, including privacy and cultural sensitivity. There is little point in digitizing archival materials for which the institution either does not hold the copyright or does not have permission to digitize.
For example, I once worked with an organization that put considerable effort into digitizing a collection they physically possessed but did not have permission to make accessible (or any deed of gift). The corporation asked for the materials back, and the digital project was no longer available online. The time and effort that went into that project should have been invested in collections that the repository owned and that made it unique.
Funding and Resource Alignment
Digital projects require sustained financial investment from the outset. Institutions identify funding sources to determine how they will allocate resources across the project’s phases. Costs extend beyond scanning to include metadata creation, digital infrastructure, and maintenance. Organizations should project ongoing costs to ensure the project remains affordable throughout its stages.
For a comprehensive guide to resource alignment and budgeting in archives, download your free copy of Margot’s new book, Funding Your Archives’ Future: How to Secure Support and Budget for Success.
Archivists must also evaluate whether the project’s anticipated benefits justify the expense, which involves articulating short-term outputs, such as increased access to high-demand materials, and long-term strategic value, such as enhanced teaching opportunities and integration with institutional systems.
Planning for Impact and Ongoing Assessment
Digital projects reflect institutional priorities and professional values. By basing their decisions on resource realities, archivists create meaningful digital projects. Ongoing evaluation of the project can strengthen future archival work by incorporating user feedback and system performance metrics into future planning cycles. Continuous assessment enables institutions to refine their priorities and ensure that digital projects remain responsive to evolving audience needs.
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