Over the past few months, we have been busy gathering feedback from experts and colleagues and honing the Digital Readiness Levels. The Levels are a structured roadmap for organizations to plan and sustainably grow their digital initiatives in order to improve access to collections, and a foundational resource for the Digital Readiness Community of Practice. We’re pleased to share the results of all that hard work!
Key modifications to the levels included:
- We made the language more accessible. We used plain language, erased acronyms, replaced jargon, and drafted a digital readiness glossary (to be shared in the coming months!).
- We clarified that organizations can be at different places in the Digital Readiness Levels depending on their priorities and resources.
- We added “Check As You Go” questions to guide work within each functional level.
- We included guidance for implementing the Digital Readiness Levels such as workflows, templates and instructions. These resources will be integrated into the Recollection Wisconsin Digital Projects Toolkit in the coming months.
Check out the Digital Readiness Levels here!
Many thanks to this true “community of practice” who shared their time, expertise and resources to help improve this core component of our project.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about this revision and the Digital Readiness Levels as a tool for digital collections management. Is this something you would use? Do you have suggestions for future versions, or for resources to accompany the levels? Email Digital Readiness Program Assistant Kristen Whitson at kristen@wils.org.
What’s next? This winter, we are focused on two main initiatives: sharing the Digital Readiness Levels and related resources with a wider audience and planning for our virtual Digital Fairs. The resources will be integrated within the existing Digital Projects Toolkit and include our digital readiness glossary, case studies and helpful checklists and workflows. Our Digital Fairs were originally set to be held in person throughout Wisconsin in the summer of 2021, but like many other organizations, we’re pivoting those events to be held virtually instead. More info to come on the Digital Fairs.
Our first digital readiness case study is live! Madison Trust for Historic Preservation shared their experiences planning and organizing their digital project and project materials, and how the organization addressed challenges to move forward their digitization project.
Are you interested in learning more about digital readiness and connecting with other local history practitioners engaged in digital work? Join our listserv! Visit digistew and click “Ask to join group” at the top of the page to be added to this listserv. Visit Digital Readiness Community of Practice for more information about this project.
by Kristen Whitson, Digital Readiness Program Assistant
Building a Community of Practice for Digital Readiness in Wisconsin is supported by an Archives Collaboratives Implementation Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the granting arm of the National Archives. Read the full implementation grant narrative submitted to NHPRC.
