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Digital solutions and process optimisation: A case study at a small university archive
Journal of Digital Media Management,
13
(3),
291-298
(2025)
Abstract
This paper describes a project undertaken at Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) Archives and Special Collections to migrate more than 12,000 digitised TIFF images, representing 0.6 TB of data, from multiple local network folders into a digital repository that could generate appropriately sized JPEG derivatives in an effort to alleviate performance issues. This paper also describes how improved workflows were implemented and altered in response to unforeseen challenges and describes collaborative efforts with campus Information Technology Services and open source community developers to integrate technical systems, notably Blacklight’s Spotlight plug-in, within the repository. It concludes with a reflection on how these new tools have improved the processing of born-digital and digitised materials and their discovery by patrons.
Keywords: digital preservation; digital repositories; file migration; Hyrax; Samvera; Preservica
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Emily Ping O’Brien is the Digital Repository and Metadata Librarian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She manages the institute’s digital repository and enjoys data wrangling and building digital exhibits. She is interested in enhancing discovery through meaningful metadata and improving interoperability across repositories and collections.
Arthur L. Carlson is the Senior Archivist at Revs Institute. He was previously a University Archivist and Assistant Director of Gordon Library at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In that role, he oversaw the library’s manuscripts, rare books, institutional archives and art collections, while also serving on the institutional digital repository steering committee. He is committed to increasing representation and inclusion in archival repositories and the profession and enhancing access via the use of technology.
