Design, digitization, discovery: Enhancing collection quality

Abstract

This study explores decision-making based on the assessment of ‘collection quality’ with the objective of optimizing ‘accessible value’. The implications of digitization on ‘collection quality’ are considered by analysing the UK Board of Trade Representations and Registers of Designs, 1839–1991 at The National Archives, UK. The collection contains over one million unique ornamental designs, and includes the text record of the copyright registration and the design ‘representations’ (including cloth samples and whole garments). Public access to this resource has been limited due to the large size and weight of the volumes, their weak binding, and the lack of detailed information about their content. The character-defining features of the collection were analysed in order to inform options for enhancing preservation and improving access. Analysing preservation and digitization as ways of increasing ‘collection quality’ forces consideration of which values, content, and context are made accessible, to what extent and how.

Keywords:

• Design Register
• Intuitive image browsing
• Digitization
• Significance assessment
• Collection quality
• Accessible value
• Decision-making
• Collection management

Acknowledgements

The authors are pleased to acknowledge the support of the Clothworkers’ Foundation, which funded the Options’ Appraisal via a Research Fellowship in 2010–2011; Nancy Bell, Dr Chris Owens, and other colleagues at The National Archives; the contributors to the consultation events; the Department of Applied Computing, University of Dundee, in creating the ‘smart thumbnails’ image (Fig. 6).