University archives receive £200,000 for major upgrade
Stirling University is to upgrade technology supporting its Archives and Special Collections after receiving almost £200,000 in funding.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is providing £196,148 to boost the reprographic technologies of the University’s archival and art collections.
It is part of an extensive funding drive to expand and upgrade existing research infrastructure across the UK.
At Stirling, the funding award will allow the installation of new, state-of-the-art equipment, which will provide a high-specification single system of digital scanning and photography, boosting research and innovation capability.
The upgraded system will also enable the creation of a regional‘digitisation hub’ for heritage services in the Forth Valley area.
The new technology will be made available to the region’s libraries, archives, museums, and creative community, in order to open up their collections, and encourage new collaborations, partnerships and opportunities for academics and researchers.
University Archivist Karl Magee, said: “This new equipment brings a host of benefits. It will super-charge the University’s digital capacity for archival research and knowledge exchange, opening up access to the entire range of our collections for the first time.
“We are very excited by the opportunities which this investment brings, developing new skills and experience for staff and students and strengthening the University’s ability to support new research and innovation in the digital humanities.”