Bringing collections to life, digitising local studies and special collections: the COLLAGE project

The Corporation of London Library and Art Gallery Electronic (COLLAGE) identified the relative inaccessibility of their extensive visual collections – the prints, maps, photographs and ephemera held by Guildhall Library and the 4,000 plus works of art held by the Guildhall Art Gallery – as a challenge. Direct consultation with staff and existing users suggested that digitisation could enrich the catalogue and ensure wider access to the resources while ensuring the preservation of the originals for future generations. The public user interface is already online and, as resource discovery is the primary driver for the project, a direct link between COLLAGE and the library OPAC is planned to allow users to search “traditional” resources seamlessly alongside the images.