n.the consultation of an archival resource by means of a desktop computer or mobile deviceOrtega 2005, 89As the literature was researched, it was found that these terms were constantly interchanged both in meaning and usage. Coming upon these terms it was realized that they have vastly different connotations. For example, what does “digital preservation” mean? There are many instances in the literature when this term is mentioned but what is truly meant by it is giving “digital access” to materials that did not originate in a digital format, but that also may be referred to as “virtual” access.Murphy et al. 2015, 437In addition, much research is available that relates to the core work of the Experimental Archives Project—specifically mass-digitization and digital access, testing digitization workflows, and rethinking physical arrangement in light of digital methods.Pendergrass et al. 2019, 192Cultural heritage organizations can reduce the environmental impact of digital access and delivery by critically examining the justifications for mass digitization, implementing on-demand access strategies, adjusting storage technologies for access, and ensuring timely—but not necessarily immediate—delivery.Fisher 2020, 264While Kawooya and Taylor’s comparative analysis focuses primarily on mass digitization and access initiatives, it sheds light on a number of realities that also apply to born-digital content: insufficient understanding of the legal barriers to digital access, widespread misconceptions about fair use, questions about the nature of ownership in a digital environment, the difficulty of determining authorship of certain types of content (e.g., photos, letters received, organization records), and the implications of displaying materials online.Biggers 2021, 398In the age of digitization, archives are increasingly expected to provide online collection access to meet user demand. Archivists know, however, that providing digital access is not as simple as scanning a document and putting it on a website. Since the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976, archives must secure permission to publish copyrighted materials, unless they can determine the work is either in the public domain or covered under the fair use provision. This can mean, understandably, that collections with low barriers to publication are selected for online access first.Greenwood 2022, 307“Creating Digital Access Initiatives During COVID-19” was an on-demand session focusing on remote digital access and how new remote access solutions were created and implemented as a result of the pandemic.Sweetser et al. 2023, 161As college and university archives increasingly post digitized and born-digital content online, the survey sought to collect data about the systems used to present digital objects (Q29). “Other” was the most popular response across institutions of all sizes (n = 91), followed by CONTENTdm (n = 51), Omeka (n = 44), and Islandora (n = 39). These counts include particular software as part of a multipronged stack of technologies providing digital access.Ganjavi 2023, 334The Archives of Iranian Opposition Documents is an attempt led by an individual to collect and provide digital access to the historical documents of political dissidents and oppositional political organizations. Many of the documents archived on this website are either not actively collected by the National Library of Iran or, if collected, are not accessible to researchers.Reijerkerk and Reed 2023, 581In their study, Ricardo Punzalan, Diana Marsh, and Kyla Cools found that meaningful impact assessment of digital access to digitized ethnographic archives can evaluate the effect on knowledge, professional discourse, attitudes, institutional capacity, policy, and relationships.
Notes
As of 2025, digital access is a near-synonym for, and is often used interchangeably with, online access. However, the language archivists use regarding access to digital archival resources is particularly unsettled. Due to intellectual property constraints, access to digital archival resources may not be possible on the open web, but instead subject to mediation. In this sense, “digital access” may not always have the immediacy implied by the term “online access.”
