Experiences from the BItFROST Project

The Museum of Cultural History has been maintaining records and publishing its catalogues since the early 19th century. In recent years the institution has been working to improve data standardisation through adoption of common vocabularies, and to adapt and upgrade the data systems to incorporate developments in technology. This work includes providing access to 3D datasets acquired at the museum as part of research and artefact stewardship. The growing recognition of the value and potential of 3D at the museum has provided a strong incentive, but also brought new challenges of data volume, complexity, and diversity of audience. This has been identified as only one part of broader sector-wide challenges of training and re-skilling in the face of a rapidly changing technological landscape. While this paper does not presume to hold answers to the current challenges it will share recent experiences in the hope that it may contribute to ongoing discussions of the challenges of data storage and dissemination and help others facing similar predicaments.