OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF DIGITIZING MUSEUM COLLECTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE GHANA NATIONAL MUSEUM, ACCRA.

ABSTRACT Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an important result oriented tool for organizations across the world in this 21st Century. For this reason, institutions are constantly delving into some of the creative ways by which they can use ICT to increase productivity. The purpose of this research centers on the digitization of the Collections of the Ghana National Museum, Accra. The researcher visited the British Museum, the Wallace Collection and the Black Cultural Archives all in London, UK and incorporated her findings into the work. This Dissertation presents a contextual framework and a related template for objects digitization of collections at the Ghana National Museum, Accra. This is meant to be used as a means and a system to direct and guide the Museum in digitizing its vast Collections. Therefore, a number of research works were undertaken considering the Collections of the Museum, to develop the parameters for the proposed Database. The scope of this research involves the process of proper organization as well as classification of the Ghana National Museum, Accra Collections so as to create possible relationships between the available different types of Collections. It also considered the process of ensuring that deteriorated artifacts are restored thereby ensuring their longevity. With the aim of reaching a wider clientele by the Museum with its Collections, the researcher sought to address various ways of providing access to the relevant information on the World Wide Web as well as taking into consideration the professional method of capturing images of the Collections.