When the Data hits the Fan!

Written Artefacts: Research and Ethics Let's consider some of the contemporary challenges addressed by digital tools & methods in terms of research ethics and strategy Social role of cultural organisations Evidencing climate change Demographic shifts Staging social justice activity Combating cultural object trafficking Decolonising

  Nope, of course not!. But back in 2008, I did lead a team to digitise the Dea Sea Scrolls. It got so much press coverage at the time that it led to this charming parody news story. I'm sat bored at the airport when Facebook memories suggest this from 14 years ago today, so I checked it out and it still makes me laugh.

A report was released this week that is the single most important piece of research conducted on the subject of copyright and cultural heritage in the UK. Conducted by Dr Andrea Wallace this work needs to signal the start of an evolution in practice for UK museums, libraries and archives with a revolution in access and re-use for the general public. As the report states, we need policy that breaks down " the barriers existing between the UK’s outstanding cultural collections, including public access to and reuse of them ".

There is a lot of digitized newspaper out there in the world but it still seems to be a small fraction of the total newspaper collections worldwide (possibly less than 5% of all English language content by my guesswork). This blog highlights some sources and seeks more information on how much newspaper is out there and yet to be digitized?