Digitization of the Delft City Archives collection: Werkse! does het

Delft City Archives preserves the archives of Delft and its partner municipalities Rijswijk, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, and Midden-Delfland. Kilometers of population registers, building plans, council reports, and police documents are stored in the archives. A treasure trove of information! Werkse! helps the Delft Municipal Archives to digitize the documents so that they are more widely accessible.

Maud Kornaat-van Eunen, project leader at the archive, explains how the collaboration came about. "One of the archive's key objectives is to make various types of documents digitally accessible to citizens and municipal officials. Previously, people always had to visit the archive to view documents. It's much easier to access the documents digitally, of course. This project arose from the need to digitize the collection material. Together with Werkse! we set up a 'scanning street'. It was for Werkse! a new kind of work, through good cooperation a complete production process has been realised.

It started with the question: What is needed to digitize different types of documents and materials? We know the standards and regulations, and so we developed and refined the process together. We've always focused on a different piece of the archive. On the one hand, this was driven by need: which types of documents are frequently requested? On the other hand, we deliberately chose different types of materials. Consider, for example, documents from the police archives during World War II, which were digitized as part of the 75th anniversary of liberation, and the construction drawings, which are now being processed due to the enormous demand for them.

Klaas Pompen, the archive's maintenance and preservation officer, has been involved in the project from the beginning. As an expert in maintenance and preservation, he ensures that the material is prepared before it goes through the scanner. In the archive's preparation room, he shows construction drawings with all sorts of small holes. "Those have to be repaired first, before…" Werkse! can get started with it. Digitizing is only one part of the process; preparing and finally making it available is part of the entire project.

Werkse! has already digitized thousands of documents for the archive. "The collaboration is pleasant. The lines of communication are short, and there's no need to submit large projects right away. We work with clear instructions and bite-sized chunks, which works well for both parties."

Maud and Klaas are true professionals, which is evident from the enthusiasm with which they talk about the archives. Maud: 'It is of course also great that we are doing this with a social partner like Werkse! We were able to help build the scanning street, and this way we learn from each other. We're also pleased that we can accelerate the digitization of our archives in this socially responsible way!