As digital collecting by museums, libraries, and archives has increased over recent years, the types and complexity of digital objects has also multiplied. The lessons learned and solutions created by the Digitization and Cataloging team at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in acquiring, processing, cataloging and preserving these new types of digital collections can assist others in identifying processes and workflows to preserve and make accessible the ever-expanding amount of digital collections that will grow into tomorrow’s digital cultural heritage.
People are participating in the digital environment more than ever before and have gotten used to sharing their lives and expertise through social networks. There is a great potential in users sharing private archival materials and their knowledge digitally, but they need adequate guidance. At the same time, the archival sector is struggling to process the fast-growing amount of digital material. Reception and its processes are slowed down by insufficient technological development and lack of resources. What is needed to obtain valuable private archives and enriching metadata from the users, but not increase the workload of archival organizations? In this paper, we are introducing Memoriaali, an easy-to-use platform that provides tools for archival donors and professionals.