What is a Digital Heritage Station?
A Digital Heritage Station is a service facility for digital heritage activities. The idea is that the host organisation clearly publicise this service at their premises. The station should be welcoming and inviting with clear signposts as to its purpose and function. The facilities will include a scanner and a lap top for digitising material. There should also be access to the internet for promoting the People’s Collection Wales website. The service will be the manned element of the station where staff or volunteers at the host organisations will be at hand to assist the public with any digitisation needs. Staff or volunteers will support the public by enabling users to create accounts and upload content onto the People’s Collection Wales website.
What do we need to become a Digital Heritage Station?
The main thing to consider before deciding on setting up a Digital Heritage Station is whether your organisation has the resources in time and staff or volunteers to be able to offer a continued service. You will however be able to determine the degree by which you are able to offer this service, The People's Collection Wales program will not make any demands of your commitment to this service. You will need to have a scanner and a laptop available for public use. The People's Collection Wales program may be able to help you by providing the equipment but this will depend on availability at the time of your request to establish a DHS. We can also support you with any funding application to HLF and we have guidelines which we can share with you if you are considering this route. It is important that you have access to the internet as the Digital Heritage Station is a concept being rolled out by the People’s Collection Wales program and you will need to be able to promote the People’s Collection Wales website as part of this facility and service.
What support will the People’s Collection Wales offer us?
People’s Collection Wales will support the Digital Heritage Station host organisation by providing the initial training for staff and volunteers you hope will man the station for you. This training is standard practise for digitising material and will cover important elements such as copyright and metadata with reference to the Dublin Core system. There are opportunities for your organisation to identify potential PCW Champions. We can provide further information on how to become a PCW Champion and the benefits of becoming a PCW Champion in a separate document. We will provide you with the necessary supporting documents to ensure that the public are able to make full and effective use of the digitising service. We will continue to offer remote support as long as the station is functional and for the duration of the People’s Collection Wales program.
What are the benefits to us as a host organisation?
The People’s Collection Wales is a Government Funded Initiative which is being led by a federated delivery partnership consisting of the 3 National Heritage bodies namely The National Museum of Wales, The National Library of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. As a host organisation you will become part of this partnership. You will attract groups and societies or individuals interested in Heritage to your organisation/venue and you will become instrumental in assisting with the projects aim of sharing and contributing to the story of Wales’s history and culture. This will leave a legacy of information on Welsh Heritage for generations to come. There may be opportunities for you to apply for funding towards your own Heritage based projects. The People’s Collection Wales would be able to offer guidance and support for your funding application if you were a host organisation offering the facilities of a Digital Heritage Station.
What about the people involved in our project?
People’s Collection Wales can offer training in digitisation and training on how to make the best use of the website which will help you develop the skills of your staff, volunteers and local people, and thus increase people’s involvement with the web and digital media. Increased digital literacy can aid both personal and professional development and People’s Collection Wales can now offer an accredited unit with Agored Cymru which will contribute towards the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF). This is a Level 2 Unit which carries 3 credits. The unit will be achieved through completion of the standard digital training day followed by completing the Accreditation booklet and assessment. More information on this is available on request.