Historic Preservation through Digitization
Many Colorado communities have historic preservation efforts underway. To promote them they have produced walking tours of historic sites in the form of brochures and tour scripts that encourage historic preservation activities and heritage tourism. Virtual walking tours allow communities to provide expanded access and raise awareness about historic preservation resources and encourage visitation to historic sites. Through digitization of historic resources, historic preservationists are building new relationships among practitioners, supporters and their communities.
Digitization of historic materials breaks down geographic and physical boundaries that prevent access to historic structures by far-flung researchers or the physically challenged. Digital access can reunite information about buildings that have been placed in separate local, state or national museums, libraries and archives.
Digitization also overcomes the limitations of a printed brochure by expanding opportunities for distributing information to a wider audience. As many sites offer limited hours of operation, digital versions of these walking tours can expand opportunities for education and use. Providing information online enhances on-location visits by preparing visitors before they arrive and likewise can provide post-visit follow-up information for those interested in additional resources.
Colorado's Main Streets offers expanded access to historic architecture for educators in Colorado's K-12 classrooms through ready-to-use lesson plans. Many teachers include units on local history in the classroom, as well as visits to museums and historic sites. Digitization offers educators the opportunity to increase their awareness and knowledge of historic architecture from the classroom and without the limitations of transportation, budgets or accessibility of the historic site. Pre- and post-visit lessons are available to enhance student's learning experiences.
Due to Colorado's harsh winters, remote locations and staff limitations, many of our most important historic resources are only accessible during the summer months. Virtual walking tours offer year-round access to all. Many historic sites report compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a major issue. Virtual tours provide an innovative way of sharing Colorado's architectural heritage with those who are physically unable to visit a site.
As increasing numbers of researchers and heritage tourists start their searches online, providing digital access to historic preservation materials increases opportunities to be discovered. The CDP developed a record of attracting online visitors from around the state and the country through the program's Web site and the Heritage West database. Inclusion of historic preservation materials from Colorado's Main Streets introduces a larger audience to Colorado's architectural heritage. Providing information about Colorado's architectural heritage, the how and why of historic preservation and economic impact of preserving our historic buildings to wider audiences, encourages increased awareness in communities about the benefits of historic preservation.
Research conducted by the Colorado Digitization Program indicates that providing digital access to collections encourages on-location visits to museums and historic sites.
A Comparison of Web-Based Library Catalogs and Museum Exhibits and Their Impacts on Actual Visits
Website Availablity and Visitor Motivation: An Evaluation Study for the Colorado Digitization Project
Because digitization breaks down geographic boundaries, opportunities continue to emerge for cooperation and collaboration between preservationists and communities dealing with common problems. Bringing collections together virtually forges new relationships between cultural heritage repositories, municipal governments and community members. Online public access also means resources are available to historic preservationists in other communities.
The Colorado Digitization Program cultivated a collaborative network of cultural heritage institutions in Colorado to share the challenges of digitizing collections. Through the Colorado's Main Streets project historic preservationists joined museums, libraries, archives and historical societies throughout the state in their collective efforts to provide Colorado with access to essential cultural heritage materials.
