For years, history buffs have been making the trip to Cobram Historical Precinct to discover hidden trinkets stored among musty-smelling books.
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But now, Cobram’s Historical Society is digitising its collection in a bid to preserve the town’s precious records and improve accessibility.
With help from the Australian Museums and Galleries Association, the society has been photographing and cataloging everything from old texts to medical items.
The association’s digitisation officer Erin Davis-Hartwig said she was in Cobram helping teach society members how to digitise their collections, ultimately helping them make everything public.
“It means people can track down things to do with their family or the area they’re from,” she said.
“It’s a program driven by passionate locals with a desire to preserve history, and makes things accessible.
“If a bushfire came through, everything would be safe online,” she said.
Society member Patricia Kerr said she was thrilled to be making the upgrade.
“We’re not going to be here in 20 years, so we want to create something people can remember,” she said.
Ms Davis-Hartwig also said the move would help expand Cobram’s collection through cataloging items people were previously reluctant to donate; now, all that would be needed were photographs of the items.
While the society said the transition would take some time, people could always visit to see the physical collection.
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