ArchiVico Digitale: a comprehensive and synergistic approach for the preservation and dissemination of local memory to strengthen identity

The main objectives of the “ArchiVico Digitale” project are the digitization, cataloging and web publication on an Omeka-based platform of the documentary material preserved in the Historical Archive of Vicopisano (HAV) to facilitate the access to several documents and the exploration of thematic discovery paths linked to local historical memory. The result of the publication of this material on the web is a digital archive collecting and enhancing archival documents to allow scholars and the general public to carry out research. Since the HAV keeps a large number of documents gathered in files, a preliminary selection of two types of documents/files was necessary: those in a poor state of conservation and those of extreme interest which bear witness to relations with the territory and historical dynamics. The proposed approach, implemented in synergy between different public and private subjects, provides the restoration of documents in a poor state of conservation, the digitization and archival description of each selected document, the web publication in a digital archive and the dissemination of the contents of the documents relating to local historical dynamics to students of schools of all levels in educational courses aimed at preserving the collective historical memory. The project, conducted in a three-year period, resulted in 12 thematic paths for a total of 194 documents (765 image files), a total of 6 restored archives (5,130 image files) and a dissemination activity of the thematic itineraries involving a total of over 160 students and over 15 teachers.