Pure dead brilliant? Evaluating The Glasgow Story digitisation project
Program: electronic library and information systems
ISSN: 0033-0337
Article publication date: 2 October 2007
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of The Glasgow Story (TGS) digitisation project, funded by the UK's National Lottery's New Opportunities Fund digitisation (NOF‐Digi) programme, and a critique of the evaluation process itself. The paper emphasises the need for user impact evaluation and for results to be brought into the public domain in order to substantiate the claimed benefits of digitisation projects and programmes and inform ongoing digitisation activity. By critiquing the evaluation methods used the paper also hopes to contribute to the development of good practice in evaluation methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires, focus groups, data logs, online surveys and feedback forms were used to gather user responses and make impact assessments.
Findings
The paper suggests that whilst the evaluation can point to some positive impacts that justify the project's innovative approach, practical constraints on the evaluation and methodological flaws ultimately limit the value of the results. The paper concludes that effective evaluation of digitisation needs to extend beyond individual projects, or at the very least, employ generic evaluation tools that facilitate comparison between different projects and approaches.
Originality/value
Few digitisation projects attempt to assess their impact and fewer still make their results available. As one of the larger NOF‐Digi projects, the results from the TGS evaluation provide a unique window on one of the major digitisation initiatives in recent years.
Keywords
Citation
Anderson, I.G. (2007), "Pure dead brilliant? Evaluating The Glasgow Story digitisation project", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 365-385. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330710831585
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited