British Library digitisation returns with upgraded equipment at St Pancras cultural heritage and Boston Spa high-volume studios.
In October 2023, the British Library experienced a significant cyber-attack that disrupted many of our services. The path to recovery has been a complex and carefully managed process, but the Library is pleased to announce that its Digitisation Services are now approaching the end of this journey and we can take on new orders for digitisation work.
What have we learnt through this experience?
Although the incident produced significant challenges – which we detailed in a report we published in the aftermath, Learning Lessons from the cyber-attack – it was also an opportunity for British Library Digitisation Services to refresh and rebuild, improving the standard of our services more than ever before.
In parallel with a complete rebuild of our secure technology infrastructure, we have also fully upgraded our kit. Equipment is constantly upgraded and improved to meet the changing demands for preservation and future access of collections. As such, there have been significant investments across British Library Digitisation Studios. Older equipment has been removed and replaced by the latest equipment. We have returned to the forefront of meeting the changes in customer requirements and expectations.
These upgrades have also allowed us to keep pace with continuously updating services. We now have scope to continually upgrade our services when technology upgrades and use of artificial intelligence (AI) increases. We can work quickly to introduce new value-added services that different users demand.
Studios for the future
The British Library’s studios have become more focused with each dedicated to providing specific services.
Our St Pancras site is focused on capturing cultural heritage items and specialises in advance imaging offering capture through photography, MSI and 3D.
At Boston Spa, the focus is on high volume scanning and microfilm. We are working with publishers and companies such as ProQuest, part of Clarivate, and the genealogy sector (such as Ancestry) to produce high volume outputs: millions of rights-cleared or copyright-free images a year from the British Library catalogue.
We have worked closely with stakeholders across the Library to ensure both studios offer the best possible services. Conservation experts have been on hand throughout the process to ensure all equipment keeps the collections secure during digitisation. Collection experts have advised on secure storage while the works are in the digitisation studios. Our staff have had additional cultural heritage handling training to ensure all works are handled responsibly.
Putting users at the heart of what we do
Throughout this recovery and renewal process, the Library has maintained a focus on our customers, putting users at the heart of everything we do.
As well as Library-held content, the Digitisation Studio can offer its services for your own collections. From one-off requests to bulk orders, our studios are designed to bring collections to life.
As the UK’s national library, we provide access to one of the world’s most comprehensive research collections. We care for over 170 million items, including newspapers, sound recordings, patents, prints, drawings, maps, manuscripts and books. This collection of printed and digital publications grows by millions each year.
With a mission to make our intellectual heritage available to everyone for research, inspiration and enjoyment, we are transforming digital access to our heritage materials, helping to unlock their stories. As experts in digitising some of history’s most significant items, we can help you too.
Benefits of digitisation
- Increased access to collections
- Assistance in your items reaching new audiences
- Creation of opportunities for income generation
- Filling gaps in collections
- Collection preservation
- Inspiration for others
The British Library has been at the forefront of digitisation and digital preservation for over 20 years. We look after some of the nation’s most important historical items, and have extensive experience in handling rare, fragile and heritage material, as well as material of cultural significance spanning 3,000 years.
Following our recovery, we are looking forward to the future of preservation. What will we uncover in the next 20 years?
Visit our webpages to find out more https://www.bl.uk/services/digitisation, or get in touch directly at [email protected].
