Digital curiosities: resource creation via amateur digitization

Most memory institutions are now engaging with digitising holdings to provide online access. Although recent developments in technology have allowed users to create high quality digital resources out with institutional boundaries, little consideration has been given to the potential contribution that the general public can make to digitising our cultural heritage. This paper seeks to scope the growing trend of the creation of amateur online museums, archives, and collections, and demonstrates that the best examples of this endeavour can teach best practice to traditional memory institutions in how to make their collections useful, interesting, and used by online communities.