What do we mean by Digital Material?
Born Digital Records
Modern Special Collections held at the University of Manchester (UoM) Library often include content which was created in a digital format. This includes: text-based documents; digitally produced images; webpages and social media sites; videos; digital correspondence like email, and, even more recently, message platforms like WhatsApp.
This is a natural result of the evolution in digital technology, and its influence on our working practices. The papers of a famous writer, for example, are likely to contain records like manuscripts and letters. For a 20th or 21st century writer, the same genre of records will be found, but the format in which they are created is likely to be text documents and emails.
Born digital records bring new challenges for preservation and providing access. The medium on which they are created and stored is less stable than a physical/material one, and likely to become obsolete at a far quicker rate. For example, a text file record created in an early version of Microsoft Word 97 can no longer be opened and read on a computer without specialist intervention.
Another potential barrier to access is that born digital records are by their nature a relatively recent addition to Special Collections, and therefore may contain personal information about living individuals which is protected by the General Data Protection Regulations.
Additional data (metadata) is required to ensure that born digital records remain authentic, and retain their correct context. As well as describing digital content, we also provide information about how that content has been processed to show its authenticity and integrity as a record. At UoM Library, born digital archive records are stored in our digital repository, Preservica, to ensure their continuing preservation.
Preserving digital content is a dynamic and evolving field and we are exploring innovative ways of making digital content and supporting information available to users.
Formats Available at the University of Manchester
Digital records held at UoM Library include:
- Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
- Film files
- Image files
- Sound files
The storage devices on which these files are stored when transferred to Special Collections include:
- Computer
- External hard drive
- Memory stick
- Compact disc
- Floppy disc
- Direct electronic file transfer (via Dropbox or similar service)
Digitised Material
An additional form of digital material are records which were created in a physical medium, and of which digital representations have been made. At the University of Manchester Special Collections, for paper records this process is carried out by our world-class Imaging department. The digitisation of audio and film material is carried out by external specialists.
Benefits for Study
The primary resources in Special Collections offer the potential for new and unique contributions to theses, dissertations and study. Digital records in Special Collections also enable new Digital Humanities research techniques to be explored, with the benefits of big, anonymised datasets and their potential for data visualisations and to augment qualitative Humanities research.
Access
Access to digital records is arranged via the collection’s curator. Some archives, especially more recent ones, are not fully open to researchers. In particular, legal and other restrictions apply to information about living individuals found in archives. Documents may be closed to researchers or only available conditionally, for example, personal information has to be anonymised. In other cases, such as digital archives, technical processing is required before they can be used for research. Recently-acquired collections may not be accessible until they have been assessed and processed, and researchers may need to give extra notice if they wish to consult any documents in such collections. The archive catalogue will indicate where restrictions exist and how they are applied.
Digitised Special Collections material can be accessed on two platforms, Luna and our image viewer Manchester Digital Collections.
Special Collections
Introducing Special Collections
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Digital Collections:
