Museums and archives protect analogous collections of irreplaceable value which, despite the best precautions, are exposed to a progressing deterioration depending on the material or can even be destroyed by sudden events in the worst case. Most of the treasures are kept as safe as possible and therefore difficult to access. Every withdrawal from the depot involves risks.
Thanks to high-quality digitisation, the inventories can be made accessible to permitted user groups for the majority of all applications without having to remove the analogue original from the secure storage. Accessibility in suitable databases does not only mean
- easy access to copies of the digital original or to application-specific working copies, but also
- simple and complex search in millions of digital assets for scientific work and public presentation in a global context.
Although the analog original is irreplaceable, the digital original also serves as a welcome additional backup.