The Australian National Maritime Museum has acquired a collection of over 10,000 coastal and underwater photographs, gifted by Valerie Taylor in honour of her late husband Ron. This collection covers 40 years spent (mostly) underwater and has the potential to contain useful data for marine science research. This presentation includes an examination of the methodology developed to allow multiple user access to the Valerie Taylor collection, and discusses collection themes and potential research areas. This paper also presents some initial results from the museum’s first research engagement partnership on this collection with the University of New South Wales.
The Museum is committed to providing open access to our collections, using the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. The digitised and catalogued collection is available via the museum’s online collections site. We will produce a dedicated webpage addressing specific research areas, and provide access to images via citizen science observation platforms. Through these multiple access points, we aim to provide FAIR data access for global research and public engagement.