Sustainability in the Digital Humanites

Andrew worked on this jointly funded collaboration between King’s College London and Portland State University to undertake a survey of the issue of sustainable records and projects in the cultural heritage sector. Interviews were conducted with the National Archives USA, King’s College London archives, the Historic Hospital Admission Records Project at Kingston University, among others. The major threats to digital sustainability were identified as: rapid shifts in technical advancement and the subsequent incompatibility of systems, economic irregularities in the sector, and a lack of user engagement with interfaces. Consideration was also given to exploring alternative methods of public facing digital archival projects that would expand the purpose of digital archives and potentially address major issues. 

The research was presented at King’s College and Portland State University in February and March 2017 respectively.