Digital archives in archaeology; the Scottish context
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2018-12-29

Within Historic Environment Scotland, the role as place of deposit for archaeological archives is stronger than ever with functions of collecting and protecting archives enshrined in law. The Digital Archive in HES has been busy, making huge strides in renewing the technical infrastructure that underpins the work to ensure the long term preservation of our digital archives. HES has been working with a commercial partner, Preservica, to integrate their system with our own repository service and enabling automation to free up existing resource. HES are looking at possible ways to extend this service to partners, such as RCAHMW, through shared tenancy options provided by Preservica. The paper discusses the background to the Scottish sector, drawing on the survey of commercial archaeological companies (2012) and highlighting preliminary findings from a repeated survey (2016). Outlining the existing situation for digital archives in Scotland, the similarities and differences between England, Scotland and Wales are discussed in the context of the Bedern Group which seeks to work together to make it easier for the organisations working across these boundaries. The future for the Digital Archive services at HES is considered with emphasis on developing strong partnership links. Initiatives like Scottish Historic Environment Data Strategy (SHED) and projects such as Scotland’s Urban Past help co-ordinate all aspects of the heritage community to capture and bring together valuable data sets and make these available through the Canmore website.

Emily Nimmo