Being the home of over 100 university collections and maintaining many cross-connections to museums and academic institutes, Berlin is a rich and well-connected academic hub. This project aims to make access to these geographically wide spread resources with a variety of subjects more visible and to provide a condensed point of access.
The goals of the Digital Network for Collections are:
- Promoting digitization of collections and objects of the universities of Berlin.
- Identifying and describing collections.
- Support teaching and research on collections and sharing that knowledge with the public.
- Providing access to collections and objects
The collection platform is a key anchor for cooperation between collections within the Berlin University Alliance, which is funded through the German government’s Excellence Strategy program. The basic data on Berlin's university collections is regularly updated on the portal of the Koordinierungsstelle für wissenschaftliche Universitätssammlungen in Deutschland at the Zentrum für Kulturtechnik (HU), and then transferred to the collection platform.
Through the website, which features model projects, as well as a shared database of information on methods and workflows, and presentations on all aspects of the collections, digitization and collaboration are promoted.
A good, central record enables provenance research, collaboration in teaching, scientific cooperation, exhibitions, and citizen science projects. At the same time, implementing such a system is a challenging task due to the multitude of requirements and interdisciplinary nature of the project.
Our project is being carried out jointly by Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität, Technische Universität, and Charité within the Berlin University Alliance. Stakeholders and collections from all institutions are involved.
By May 2023, a recommendation for action regarding collection digitization and collaboration in the Berlin University Alliance had been developed.
Our portfolio
The Digital Network for Collections office was established in April 2024, following a comprehensive assessment of the needs of those engaged in research, management, and teaching with collections within the Berlin University Alliance. The Digital Network for Collections is conceived as a shared infrastructure and a hub for all BUA collections. Please contact us for advice and support!
We
- support the digitization of collections, the provision of metadata and the creation of digital applications
- promote and support pilot projects (digitization campaigns, research and teaching with digital collection elements)
- help you use, organize, and display your collections digitally
- take steps to make Berlin's university collections visible as an overarching knowledge resource
through
- consultations on digitization campaigns, instant databases, standard vocabulary and reference data, data management plans as well as the migration of old data, digitization of finding aids and adaptation of data models
- the documentation and publication of know-how on collection digitization
- networking and knowledge exchange between experts and collection enthusiasts, for example in practical workshops
for
- the accessibility of Berlin's university collections
- the responsible use of resources
- the sustainable availability of digitized material and research data
Do you care for a university collection, work with collections and have ideas for digitization? Get in touch with us!