By Melissa Valenzuela
In 2023, it’s impossible to avoid the reach of technology. Nearly every part of our daily lives depends on a small rectangle that fits in the palm of your hand and has access to the internet. We’re living in a world that expects, now more than ever, convenience, speed, and accessibility—and archives are no exception. Which is why archivists are increasingly thinking about how to maximize digital technology to make our collections more accessible and engaging to a wider audience. Over the last couple of years, we’ve found several ways to incorporate innovative digital technologies into archival work in hopes of increasing access, outreach, and preservation.
One of the ways we’re making an effort to digitize our collection is through digital exhibits. We currently have ten virtual exhibits that utilize a variety of materials from our collections, including photos and historic documents, that are relevant to Lowell’s history. Moving forward, we plan to accompany every physical exhibit with a digital counterpart in hopes of broadening our reach and increasing the lifespan of our exhibits. Another benefit to this approach is that the digital sphere allows us to go into more detail and include more artifacts than our physical space allows, which means that more of our collection is available to the public. Digital exhibits are also much easier to update than physical displays, which makes it possible to keep adding new layers to the stories we want to tell. Click here to check out our virtual exhibits!
Social Media has also been a great tool for highlighting our digitization projects. Through platforms like Instagram and Twitter, we’ve been able to share objects from our collection with audiences that might otherwise never engage with our content. We’ve also recognized the increasing popularity of TikTok and formed a small presence there to grab the attention of younger viewers. Our participation in social media trends, like the monthly Archives Hashtag Party hosted by the U.S. National Archives, and our own weekly highlights from the archives have been great ways to showcase what’s in our collection and learn what our audiences are most interested in.
Another project we’ve been working on for over a year involves switching to a new content management system, ArchivEra, which will house all of our digital records and make it easier for researchers and the general public to find what’s in our collections. In addition to making our collections more accessible, ArchivEra offers extra methods of preservation, especially for our more fragile materials. Papers and photographs can be viewed and shared online countless times without the added risk of damage through UV light exposure, water, or even the natural oils in our skin. Additionally, switching over to this new content management system makes it possible to house even more data, which means—you guessed it—more access to our collections! Our new website and catalog will be launched through ArchivEra and will be available June 1, 2023.
While we’ve found creative, engaging, and practical uses of digital technology to support our work here in the archives, we’ve only just scratched the surface of what is possible. We are constantly thinking about how digital tools support our work as archivists and ways to incorporate them into our practice. As we’re all aware, the lifecycle of digital tech is extremely fast and it isn’t long before a newer, better model of any system comes along, which is another challenge we must consider in our digitization efforts. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the tech wizards behind the screen who make this digitization effort possible. A huge thank you goes out to all of our volunteers and staff who have helped us over the years by scanning photos and old books, filling out metadata, putting it all together in our virtual exhibits, and so much more!
A Signal from Mars 