Digitisation is the act of converting information from an analogue to a digital format. Yet the point is not just to digitise but to digitise cultural heritage collections in a holistic, sustainable manner. While digitisation might be the physical act of converting analogue material into digital data, it is a beginning not an end. After digitisation, it is necessary to create effective access strategies, disseminate material to the relevant audiences, accurately document the data, and finally, preserve this data long term.
As African cultural practitioners, it is important to think critically about digitisation. We must move beyond seeing technology as neutral and understand that technology has the potential to replicate the same power dynamics and imbalances that exist within physical cultural collections, archives and displays.
