Digitization Guide: Object File Records

This guide is intended to establish and standardize the digitization efforts of institutional records for the Blanton Museum of Art. Digitization in cultural institutions aims to improve internal
accessibility to institutional files about objects, exhibitions, and historical information that curators and other museum staff may access remotely for work purposes. Additionally, digital
surrogates to records can contribute to increasing scholarly accessibility based on an institution’s collections.

The objective of maintaining digital surrogates of our institutional records is to collect, organize, and preserve materials important not only to this history of the museum,
but also to the history of individual artists, donors and other constituents, art objects, and the museum’s various collecting areas.

The Blanton’s institutional records document the museum’s history as one of the premiere university art museums in the country. For every exhibition, loan, and acquisition, the Blanton’s Collection department compiles materials that reflect the processes necessary for each of these purposes. These records represent not only the Blanton’s internal activities, but also documents the museum’s interactions with other institutions, making them valuable as a starting point for exploring both local and internal networks of agents working together in the shared aim of connecting the public to the arts.

A large subsection of the Blanton’s institutional records consists of physical Object Files – for each object in the collection, the Collections department maintains a physical file with all
documents related to the artwork, from gift letters to emails and condition reports. This collection is fluid, with materials being added or purged on a daily basis to keep up to date with
museum operations. Used by registrars, curators, and researchers, these files serve both administrative and research functions. Though these files are physical accessibility in the Registrar’s Office, the digital and fast-paced work of the Blanton’s operations often requires needing to access certain information online. Here is where digitization becomes necessary for
day-to-day work in additional to simply preserving historical information.

Information management, at its core, ensures sustainability and stability through an institution’s growth. Despite the time and effort required for large-scale digitization projects, digitization
remains at the forefront of many cultural institutions’ plans for accessibility of information.

The goals of digitization are multi-faceted. The existence of digital surrogates ensures preservation data in the event that an original document is lost or destroyed. Although the records are available to researchers by appointment, knowledge of our records is not widely spread. Curators or other museum staff needing the records for operational work would also be
granted more efficiency by being able to access digital copies of these records from their own desks or while working from home, rather than having to remove files from the Registrar’s
Room.

As operations expand and more data is generated, having well-established and efficient systems in place will facilitate smooth logistical operations that bolster our institution’s information-
driven activities, such as curatorial or educational programming, as well as Collections-based work. The frontiers of how digitized materials can be used in a museum setting have yet to be
fully explored, but the benefits are undeniable, from increased accessibility and making it easier to share images of documents, photographs, and objects with the click of a mouse.

However, simply converting physical records to digital formats is not enough; quality management is crucial to ensuring the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the digital records we often rely on.