Digitization strategy

The Archives of Contemporary History are digitizing its source holdings on a broad basis, because digitization supports all archival processes:

Safeguarding: Occasionally, documents can only be taken over on loan or in exchange for a digital copy.
Evaluation: In some cases, only digitization enables the sound evaluation of a source inventory (e.g. negative archive without positives).
Preservation: With the creation of a high-quality digital copy, at least the content of a recording is secured on a possible replacement medium. This is particularly indicated in the case of extinct playback environments (certain sound and video carriers) or sensitive carrier media (e.g. color photography). Digitization also opens up the possibility of digital restoration.
Space management: By using the digitized material, the physical original is preserved. Digitized originals no longer have to be stored at high storage costs in the city center, but can be moved to outside stacks.
Cataloging: In digital form, archival material can be made available for in-depth machine indexing (e.g. OCR, HTR, MIR), which also enables new research methods.
Access: Digitization makes it possible to consult archived material independent of time and place. It facilitates and accelerates its evaluation, exploitation, communication and subsequent use.

Progress of Digitization

Since the end of 2022, more than 32 percent of the recorded archive material (dossiers) can be used in digital form, namely: