Digitisation and database

The Centre for Collection Development acts as a coordinator and represents the interests of the collections in the process of introducing and establishing the central Collections Database at the University of Göttingen. The software belongs to the easyDB family and was customised by Programmfabrik, the producers of easyDB, for the purpose of cataloguing the contents and data of interdisciplinary collections and museum stocks. Responsible for the technical implementation and operation of the central Collections Database and for putting it online are the competence centres for data management, digitisation and software development of Göttingen State and University Library (SUB) and Verbundzentrale des Gemeinsamen Bibliotheksverbunds (VGB).

[Abb.: Digitalisierungsszene Geowissenschaften]
Digitising and recording the data of the objects from the University of Göttingen?s academic collections is a basic strategy that runs through all the Centre for Collection Development?s areas of activity:
? Digital copies help to preserve the originals. Although even the most advanced 3D reproduction can never replace the original, photos and scans reduce the necessity of directly accessing the physical historical material for research and teaching, thus making an important contribution to preserving the objects.
? For cataloguing the collection objects, the central Collections Database offers extensive classification systems and vocabularies that have been developed according to scientific standards and are internationally recognised. These are additionally being refined at the University of Göttingen specifically to be able to record heterogeneous, interdisciplinary collections.
? Research on Göttingen?s collections of objects is intensified through digitisation campaigns. At the same time, the collection objects are made researchable on the internet for the international scientific community, thus supporting their further exploration and overall contextualisation.
? Displaying digital copies holds great potential for the educational activities of museums. Particularly the central/decentralised concept of Göttingen?s collections, with the original objects predominantly remaining in their original locations, makes it necessary to be able to use their digital reproductions to incorporate them in the display at Forum Wissen.