The democratisation effect of online memory collections?

Abstract Archives in libraries and museums,round the world contain a plethora of unique and valuable historical resources. Until recently such collections were difficult for the general public to access, if not entirely hidden and inaccessible. Digital technology, however, has not only opened access to these 'special' collections, but enabled users to integrate information from many different sources instantaneously.Therefore, we may be tempted to argue a utopian position that digitisation of these collections provides the general public with the ability to discover a much richer, broader and objective sense of their own histories, as well as information about the communities to which they belong. This paper looks critically at this argument.