First Sessions Confirmed

We are busy developing an exciting agenda for DAM and Museums 2025 so keep your eyes peeled for details. Register for the event to be the first to hear about new sessions and speakers!

In the meantime, check out the first 3 sessions confirmed:

Cultural Memory in the Digital Age: The Critical Role of Museums in Archiving

Museums are increasingly responsible for preserving digital archives amidst a rapidly evolving digital landscape. As these collections grow, so do the challenges of safeguarding cultural heritage for future generations.

Michele Y. Smith, CEO, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), explores the impact of archive loss, citing examples that include the removal of MTV News archives, the fire at the National Museum of Brazil, and the damage to the New Orleans Museum of Art’s digital systems during Hurricane Katrina.

Key questions addressed include:

• How museums can ensure that digital archives remain accessible notwithstanding disasters and shifts in technology.
• The role museums can play in advancing digital preservation standards.
• How museums can future-proof their archives to protect cultural memory for generations to come.

Using MoPOP’s own initiatives as examples, Michele highlights the importance of proactive digital preservation strategies to protect and share cultural memory in the digital age.

Digitizing the Science Museum Collection – the Power of Technology to Scale up Digitization and Open-up Collections to Online Audiences

The Science Museum Group recently completed the largest collection move in its history – transferring 300,000 objects into a new state-of-the-art collections management building.

Alongside the physical move was an ambition to ‘digitally open-up’ the collection to online audiences.

A large-scale digitization project was undertaken – the catalyst for developing innovative workflows and technology, including:

• Object barcoding.
• Rapid data capture.
• An automated image ingest pipeline.
• Integration of the CMS and DAM.

In addition, the Collections Online discovery site was significantly improved to better present the collection.

This once-in-a-generation opportunity has enabled the Science Museum Group to tell the stories of the objects to audiences beyond the physical reach of the museum.

The number of objects with an image online has increased from 25,000 to 220,000. With more records having images available online, there has been a significant increase in use of the collection and many more web visits.

Adrian Hine, Digitisation Manager, Science Museum

Preserving Cultural Heritage – Addressing the Potential of Generative AI/AGI to Disrupt the Ethos

Deep fake and AI-generative art are seeping into our ecosystem. In our role as custodians who collect, conserve, stage, and interpret cultural heritage, we face new challenges.

• How do we recognise and deal with these doppelgängers?
• How do we identify and interpret their provenance?

The session will use multiple case studies (some concocted in GPT) including examples of wannabes and fakes made to appear completely authentic. How shall we spot the growing wave of AI-generated cultural artifacts that flood our world?

Susan Hazan, CEO, Digital Heritage, Israel. Former Senior Curator of New Media and Head of the Internet Office, The Israel Museum