The challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary collaboration to build custom software tools at a growing archive
Archives are confronted with an increasing number of data processing challenges for which there are not often user-friendly or affordable software solutions. In addition, traditional education and training in the field of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) have left practicing professionals with a growing gap in the skills required to meet contemporary preservation needs. In this presentation, a programmer and an archives professional will detail their unique experience collaborating to build and utilize custom data processing tools to demonstrate the considerations, challenges, and benefits of working on interdisciplinary teams to produce custom, in-house software solutions at a GLAM institution. Emphasis is placed on the synergistic outcomes and professional development that communication and collaboration between programmers and GLAM professionals can produce.
