October 28, 2020, by Erin Snyder

DTH Director’s Update: Autumn 2020

It’s always a pleasure to welcome the new intake of DTH volunteers and start the new round of volunteering projects, though this year finds me writing in significantly more challenging circumstances than most.

We have reopened the physical DTH with the start of the academic year, though under some restrictions: it’s currently only accessible on Monday and Thursday afternoons, and visitors must pre-book to use the equipment loan service or the scanners and workstations, to allow us to control numbers in the space.

We’ve been hard at work on delivering new help and guidance, to make up for the limited physical access, and launched a new DTH Sharepoint site over the summer. Staff and students can use their UoN accounts to log in and access guides on creating and editing multimedia, such as photography, optical character recognition, audio recording and podcasting, film shooting and editing, and 3d modelling. There’s also a dedicated section for research, offering guidance on digital exhibitions, online surveys, data management, crowdsourcing, online impact, live digital events, and more. Finally, we’ve moved several of our regular courses and workshops online, including recording content for several so they can be accessed and studied at any time. (We’re regularly adding content, so feel free to let us know what you’d like to see!)

We’re also, as mentioned, running our annual DTH student volunteering programme, with our thanks to those who have signed up to work with us despite the challenges! This year, all projects will be carried out remotely, in order to help reduce risks to our staff and students. We’re very excited about the current batch of projects—including working closely with the University of Nottingham Museum on a couple of fabulous things with immediate impact. They will be a great chance for our volunteers to learn a range of digital and project skills, while building up a portfolio and enhancing the museum’s resources.

You’ll be hearing more details from our volunteering teams shortly; until then, I wish everyone a safe, engaging, and fruitful academic term.

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