Originally Presented: Oct 14, 2020
The Emerging Professionals Network is pleased to bring you the Conservation for Digitisation Webinar. The event will be led by Emma Skinner showcasing a personal reflection on the emerging discipline of Conservation for Digitisation based on her internship experience at The British Library, The National Archives and Bodleian Libraries over the last two years. Emma will explore what the digitisation of cultural heritage is and why it is important, as well as exploring what is Conservation for Digitisation and what skills are needed to be a Digitisation Conservator. She will divide the complex, multi-disciplinary digitisation workflow into its component parts in order to aid understanding. Each stage will look at how the Conservator's role is integral to project delivery, ensuring material is digitised safely and the best image possible can be captured. The talk will conclude with some lessons learnt, hopes for the future and an overview of what are perceived to be some of the key challenges that lie ahead for the heritage sector in terms of access to and the preservation of heritage collections. The conception of the internship will be discussed by Virginia Llado-Buisan, Head of Conservation & Collections Care at the Bodleian Libraries.
The Conservation for Digitisation Internship, generously funded by the Clothworker's Foundation, was a joint venture between three leading UK library and archive institutions who are all leading the way in the digitisation of cultural heritage. It consisted of complimentary, yet distinct experience, over two years and consisted of nine months at The British Library, nine months at The National Archives and six months (extended to nine due to lockdown) at Bodleian Library. The aim was to provide an emerging conservation professional with the necessary skills to support digitisation work, demonstrating the need for and value of experienced conservators in the digitisation field, but also to highlight that a new conservation career pathway has emerged in recent years, as a result of the ‘digital shift’.