Fifteen Years of Digital Archives

Wherein lies the meaning?

Abstract

The concept “Digital Archives” emerged and became current about fifteen years ago．Initially，the imaging of cultural assets of great value was the main objective．They were recorded using high­level multimedia digital technology．Furthermore，as regards regional promotion，digital archives were applied to defining the identity of each region in Japan．While several major projects found themselves unable to continue，other digital archives continue and have developed and acquired close and strong relations with archival science，relations which were not so central in earlier days．As for archival science，nowadays digital recording and network access are essential．In this paper，that process is described with examples while several potential problems are raised in historical perspective．