Commentary: Recent Approaches to Digitizing Hawaiian Archaeological Collections at Bishop Museum

Abstract

The growing demand for digitizing collections, including archaeological assemblages, has driven many institutions to initiate programs that utilize current technologies to facilitate both curation efforts and access. Bishop Museum’s Anthropology Department began digitizing its Hawaiian collections in 2008 through the Hawaiian Archaeological Survey (HAS) project. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and other organizations. Through the continued efforts of interns, volunteers, researchers, and staff members, more than 80,000 items have been inventoried, re-housed, and digitized as part of this effort. This paper outlines recent approaches by the Anthropology Department at Bishop Museum to digitize large and unique collections of related artifacts, field documents and maps, photographs and negatives, and project reports and department publications.