Local digital archives present an especially interesting yet challenging category of online projects. Their success depends not only on the institution that initiates them, the technology employed or the objects in their collections; they also must capture the hearts of the local residents and communities and prove useful to those who live elsewhere. The Digital Archive of Giżycko has all these advantages.
The archive includes collections of historical, cultural and scientific value, including personal archives of the town’s personalities, collections of flyers, posters, magazines and the regional Solidarity trade union chapter. Anyone can donate their private collections to the archive to be digitized and – with the owner’s permission – shared online.
The archive not only applies the highest technological standards in digitization and online sharing but strives to make the user experience easy and pleasant. The site allows users to sift through private collections or search by map or time frame.