Digital Readiness (AADRAC)

The Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to support Assessing and Addressing Digital Readiness for Audiovisual Collections (AADRAC), a collaborative project with Wisconsin Library Services and Recollection Wisconsin. This work builds on the Digital Readiness Community of Practice developed by WiLS, Recollection Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Historical Society by adapting it to include digital audiovisual collections. The new survey and documentation will be piloted with twelve CAW partner organizations in four regions: the Midwest, the Southeast, the Southwest, and California. The project will also support a partner-driven Community of Practice – a space in which organizations can support and learn from each other in order to further the mission of becoming better stewards of their collections. When complete, in September 2023, the survey will be made available online for any organization to use.

The collaboration produced an updated version of the Digital Readiness Toolkit. The Toolkit is a robust guide with resources for organizations and individuals creating and caring for digital collections of all kinds. This version is nearly two years in the making and has new and expanded resources for audiovisual collections. Explore the Toolkit, use the Audio Visual Digital Readiness Self-Assessment to determine your priorities, use the Digital Project Planning Worksheet to develop a plan and budget, and mark your progress using the Digital Readiness Levels.

The Toolkit is a project of Wisconsin Library ServicesRecollection Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Expanded audiovisual resources in this version are developed by the Community Archiving Workshop in collaboration with twelve partners in geographically diverse regions of the US: 

  • African American Library and Museum at Oakland
  • Karuk Tribal Libraries
  • Sacramento Public Library
  • University of Texas at El Paso Library
  • Nashville Audiovisual Heritage Center
  • Fisk University
  • Huhugam Heritage Center-Gila River Indian Community
  • Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Library & Archives
  • Wyandotte Nation
  • University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Archives and Special Collections
  • History Museum at the Castle, Appleton, WI
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison University
Logo for Recollection Wisconsin’s Digital Readiness Toolkit, a complete guide to creating and tending a digital collection.
Logo for Recollection Wisconsin’s Digital
Readiness Toolkit, a complete guide to
creating and tending a digital collection.

Digital Readiness Toolkit

Access the Digital Readiness Toolkit on the Recollection Wisconsin website at http://www.recollectionwisconsin.org/drt. Pressbook and PDF versions are available.

by Emily Pfotenhauer; Vicki Tobias; and Kristen Whitson. Recollection Wisconsin’s Digital Readiness Toolkit is complete guide to creating and tending a digital collection. This eBook provides practical tools, guidelines, and templates for cultural heritage digitization projects, as well as resources for more in-depth learning.

Audiovisual Digital Readiness Self-Assessment

The Audiovisual Digital Readiness Self-Assessment was created by the Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) for use with the Digital Readiness Toolkit. The Digital Readiness Toolkit and the Audiovisual Digital Readiness Self-Assessment offer a suite of tools and resources that help you with a customized plan to create, preserve, and provide access to your digital collections. Go to Audiovisual Digital Readiness Self-Assessment, https://pressbooks.pub/drtoolkit/chapter/appendix-b-audiovisual-digital-readiness-self-assessment-survey/.


Acknowledgements

This project is made possible by funding from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC).

AMIA logo
Association of Moving Image Archivists
CAW logo
Recollection Wisconsin