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Collecting Cultural Histories: Digital Archiving at the State Library of Queensland
Visitors to the Queensland Digital Library can access
images, as well as music files and other items of
interest to Queensland history
Libraries everywhere are working to make previously unavailable collections accessible to interested researchers and searchers wherever they are. One of the cornerstones of the State Library of Queensland (SLQ)’s Strategic Plan is to provide access, through Web services, to unique Queensland materials.
In June 2003, SLQ launched the Queensland Digital Library, one project in a series of initiatives to develop a “Smart Library Network” – an integrated network of resources to link diverse groups of Queenslanders to information, knowledge and each other. The project brings together current library materials and regional digital collections to form a publicly accessible, collected cultural history of our region.
The Queensland Digital Library currently includes four major collections:
1. The catalogues of the State Library of Queensland and a range of Queensland Government libraries.
2. The Picture Queensland collection of historic photographs, sketches and images from Queensland.
3. The Music Queensland collection of scores and audio files of music by Queenslanders and about Queensland.
4. The Johnstone Art Gallery Archive containing finding aids for archival materials including scrapbooks, photograph albums and correspondence files of a nationally significant Queensland art gallery.
During 2005, we’ll be adding the Manuscript Queensland collection of finding aids and images of original written materials significant to Queensland history. Once this wide variety of content becomes live in early 2005, a researcher will be able to perform a search and obtain diverse results — a book, picture, manuscript or even music related to the topic researched.
Electronic presentation of these materials means researchers can access vast collections — some of which were previously unavailable even to guest users visiting the physical library. Images now electronically available in the Queensland Digital Library were difficult for users to access: delicate historic materials are stored in boxes under a single heading, so access to the collection is limited to a single subject heading. With this single subject storage structure, a photograph of a Greek wedding in the city of Toowoomba may be kept in a file under “weddings.” Someone searching “Greek immigrants to Australia” would not find this photo. Now, through the digital archive, a researcher can enter a search term such as “wedding,” “Greek,” “Toowoomba” or the couple’s name to discover images related to the search term — meaning many more relevant and possible results. Now photographs are handled once during the scanning process, yet viewed and studied by hundreds of researchers over the Web. Online access not only benefits preservation efforts — searching photos is much easier as well.
Besides the obvious benefits of opening up access to historic materials and revealing previously hidden connections, we found that this project offered tremendous opportunity for collaboration, both with in individual libraries with independent working areas (such as our own), and between libraries and organizations across the state.
At the State Library of Queensland, we have more than 250 staff members across a number of units. Collaboration began between the project team, the curators, and the information technology group. It extended to resource discovery librarians who offered input to the end-user experience and advised on digital standards, and the image production unit who captured the images.
The State Library’s own holdings of over one million photographic resources (negatives, plates, slides, etc.) are not the only content in the repository — other groups throughout Queensland are also contributing images. We are currently working with public libraries, historical societies, community groups and other cultural institutions to share resources and increase the breadth of the collection. The Picture Queensland Outreach program has created widespread interest in developing the repository, giving public libraries the opportunity to join as trial sites –- by early 2005, we’ll have content from six pilot sites distributed throughout Queensland. Through the outreach program, we encourage active engagement with all communities linked to the Picture Queensland project and respond to requests from community organizations wanting to learn more about the Queensland Digital Library. Our responses include giving local presentations at museums, galleries and history conferences.
Reaction to the Queensland Digital Library has been overwhelmingly positive. Each image or record in the collection is linked to a feedback form where viewers can leave additional information about the image or note a personal relationship to the record. Response is not limited to Australian viewers — feedback forms contain comments from viewers in Brazil, Canada and the United States.
Our digital library continues to grow in size as it connects an ever-increasing eclectic range of physical and virtual communities i.e. historical societies, schools, tourist sites, and so on. At the same time, we’re implementing a growing range of innovative services that make our project distinctive. Already our visitors are able to purchase prints of images featured on the website, send e-greeting cards using digital library images, and personally comment on the items featured in our collection. The collection has also been used to create online games for children and a series of screensavers. We’re sure there will be more to come. 
For more information or to search the Queensland Digital Library, visit http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au
