by Digitization of research and materials have become the foundation for both students and researchers alike. What started as a humble idea has ballooned into the backbone of fields such as the digital humanities. Digitization is relatively common amongst most institutions when it comes to cultural and historical items that are provided for specific projects, predominantly for use by humanities scholars.
Why, however, should we digitize items? Is there something that can truly be gained by doing so? To answer this, we can look at a few standard points that are argued in favor of the digitization. First, by digitizing items such as articles, images and historical documents, we save the massive amount of storage spaces that would be needed to have a physical copy. Having a backup is another key factor to keep in mind as well. If the physical historical material were to be destroyed or disappear, the digital copy would still be available for individuals to observe and study at their leisure. Digitization also helps to capture historical materials in their original form. You can jump to certain pages through keywords, or the original image without having to physically have the copy. For these, articles, newspapers, letters and documents are just a few examples of the best materials to digitize.
With that in mind, there are still areas in digitization that need to be addressed as well. For one, like all technology, digitized items can become unsustainable without proper updates and maintenance that comes with the ever-changing landscape of the digital world. Another thing of note is the cost of digitization. While websites and databases like JSTOR make it more affordable for students and researchers to access the necessary materials, the cost to digitize these items are still relatively expensive, and can hinder future projects and the future of digital humanities should it not be addressed. Lastly, while there is some content that digitization can capture, there are others where it can’t be captured. Digitizing materials can suffer what is known as silvering, which is a reflection on materials that can gradually develop on certain types of old photographs. This silvering effect can make digitization difficult. Volume and dimension are things that can be affected when digitizing materials. (for more, see https://peelarchivesblog.com/2017/05/31/why-dont-archivists-digitize-everything/)
Digitized materials is helpful in a variety of ways. Easier accessibility to materials, an emphasis on primary source materials, easier storage, and common practice of tools to use for digitization help progress the increasing amounts of digitized arts and humanities fields that have grown as a result. However, there are still precautions we need to take, as the field is still relatively young and must constantly adapt to the everchanging fields of technology and the ever-increasing cost of storage. These factors both show how pivotal digitization can be, while also giving it the necessary road map of what needs to be addressed for digitization to grow.
