Free events and new guidance on digitisation launched by Heritage Fund

Throughout March, The National Lottery Heritage Fund is hosting a series of FREE webinars and panel discussions to help raise awareness of the need for greater digitisation across the UK’s heritage sector.

The free events include a panel discussion focused on Digitisation Leadership (31 March, 12-5pm, online and in-person at Hamilton House, London), which is open to the public and features experts from the UK’s leading digitisation organisations, discussing how the UK heritage sector can hope to get the best possible value from investment in digitisation.

The panel discussion will cover digitisation in the sector in relation to government priorities, funders and the challenges faced by small, volunteer-led organisations, that frequently  struggle with the complexity of digitisation,  but whose role is vital to ensuring digitised records represent the diversity of the UK.  Participants will be able to comment and vote on what they think the more important considerations are for government, funders and small and volunteer-led community heritage organisations.

Organisations represented include: British Film Institute, Natural History Museum, National Archives, Flickr Foundation, Scottish Wildlife Trust, National Library of Wales, Collections Trust and the Public Record Office for Northern Ireland.

The Heritage Fund is also publishing new, specially commissioned guidance designed to help small, volunteer-led organisations in the heritage sector better prepare for digitisation projects, while keeping their costs down.

Each guide is accompanied by a FREE introductory online seminar (see links below to register) to help organisations get the most out of the new resources while granting them direct access to the authors.

The two guides –  commissioned by The Heritage Fund as part of its Digital Skills for Heritage initiative and authored by Dr Andrea Wallace and Dr Mathilda Pavis – are:

Josie Fraser, Head of Digital Policy at the Heritage Fund, said: “As the UK’s largest funder of heritage we have a keen interest in ensuring the digitisation projects we support are well planned and properly resourced. The National Lottery Heritage Fund is an active member of DCMS’ Digitisation Task force, and the definition of digitisation we use is based on the one developed by the Task force, in its upcoming report to Government.”

“I am really pleased the Heritage Fund is able to make such a positive contribution to the current debate about ensuring the public gets the best possible benefit from investment in UK heritage digitisation.  We also need to ensure that digitised collections represent the diversity of UK communities, while supporting projects that meet our commitment to open knowledge, equity, diversity and inclusion.“

If you would like to learn more about digital transformation within the heritage sector, there is a Heritage Dot online conference scheduled for 22 March, run by the Heritage Fund and the University of Lincoln. Sign up here: HeritageDot – University of Lincoln.