All Together Now: Working with External Stakeholders - Making Decisions about Digitization

Topics in this webinar will address the importance of a digitization plan and getting started, how to determine if collections are appropriate and stable enough for digitization, and considerations for prioritizing material for digital exhibition.

About the Series:

This program is the fourth and final session in CCAHA's series All Together Now: Working with External Stakeholders. 

An object may have many hands involved in its placement and lifecycle within an archive, library, or museum. The working relationships between external stakeholders and cultural institutions form an integral part of collections management and care, especially for small to mid-size organizations. This four-part webinar series will examine best practices and important guidelines to consider when working with four specific external stakeholders: artifact donors, fine art service companies, professional conservators, and digitization vendors. Each thirty-minute session will spotlight one important partner, from the donor who provides an object’s initial care and context, to the fine art service company that offers custom packing and transportation, to conservator whose treatment skills repair and conserve, to a digitization vendor that helps process and preserve collections for digital spaces.

Each live 30-minute webinar will be followed by a Q&A session with the instructors.

About the Speakers:

Emilia Boehm Emig, Preservation Specialist, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

In her position as Preservation Specialist, Emilia Boehm Emig conducts onsite preservation needs and risk assessments and assists with preservation and emergency planning at cultural heritage organizations across the country.

Emilia has worked with diverse museum collections and exhibitions. She has held roles in collections management, registration, and curation at the Marblehead Museum, The Frick Pittsburgh, and the Senator John Heinz History Center. Before joining CCAHA, Emilia worked as a Senior Project Manager for Crozier Fine Arts.

Emilia received a graduate certificate in Museum Collections Management and Care from The George Washington University, an MA in Archival, Museum, and Editing Studies from Duquesne University, and a BA in History and German from Mount Union College.

Maggie Downing, Manager of Digital Imaging, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

As Manager of Digital Imaging, Maggie Downing oversees all imaging projects at CCAHA. These include digitization of books, artwork, archival collections, and photographs and negatives, as well as printed facsimiles of a wide range of materials. She consults with clients to evaluate digitizing options, provides estimates and proposals, assists with image processing, and oversees quality control. She also works with institutions to conduct digital preservation assessments and planning for large-scale digitization projects.

Maggie is a member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the Philadelphia Area Conservation Association (PACA). She serves on the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) Imaging Working Group and is a recognized Digital Archives Specialist through SAA.

Maggie joined the staff in 2018 after working with the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Granger Collection historical image library in New York. She received a B.F.A. in Photography from New York University and an M.A. in Art History from the City College of New York.