Digitisation projects at the Hungarian Open Air Museum

The Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre started a comprehensive digitisation project in 2003, with the support of the Ministry of Informatics and Communication and the Ministry of Culture. The outcome of the digitisation programme was that since August 2003, the Ethnographic Study Collection, a special exhibition unique in Hungary and Central Europe which serves as a store and a study collection at the same time became available not only as an exhibition in the main building of the museum, but via the Internet too. Between 2003 and 2007, three complete collections comprising 57,000 museum objects, 75,000 photos and 17,000 pages of building documentation were digitised. A series of short films presenting the permanent exhibitions of the museum were displayed on the homepage of the museum (www.skanzen.hu) together with the digital collection. The digitised collections created significant added value for the visitors of the museum. The paper presents the implementation process in which the work of museum staff and business partners was successfully coordinated according to a well-defined concept and with the efficient use of own resources and external funding. The paper also shows the methods and procedures with which the digitisation project can be continued and sustained despite the narrowing funding sources.