LUSTRE (Unlocking our Digital Past with Artificial Intelligence)

Description

LUSTRE (Unlocking our Digital Past with Artificial Intelligence) is a cross-sector network and project based at Loughborough University that examines how artificial intelligence can improve the preservation of, access to, and usability of government records created in digital form. It connects policy makers, computer scientists, digital humanists, and professionals in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector to address challenges of confidentiality, privacy, security, and copyright in born-digital archives, and to make non-sensitive material more accessible. Funded initially by the Arts and Humanities Research Council from 2022 to 2024 (reference AH/X003132/1), it has continued since 2025 through an institutional Impact and Knowledge Exchange Accelerator supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund, including a UK to US strand known as LUSTRE/GLOW. Its activities include workshops, lunchtime talks, a survey and interviews, open-access articles, a journal special issue, and a scoping study on AI for government archives.

Currently active

Yes

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

2022

Contact details

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Categorisation

Type

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University affiliation(s)

Loughborough University
Loughborough

Partner Infrastructures

Science Museum Group

Tracing its origins from the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Science Museum has pioneered interactive science interpretation for more than eight decades and is the most visited museum in the UK by schoo… read more about Science Museum Group

London

The National Archives

The National Archives collect and secure the future of the government record, from Shakespeare’s will to tweets from Downing Street, to preserve it for generations to come, making it as accessib… read more about The National Archives

Richmond

AURA Network

The AURA Network (2020–2022) brought together digital humanists, computer scientists, archivists, and other stakeholders to unlock cultural assets held in “dark” digital archives tha… read more about AURA Network

Loughborough

Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland)

The Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland) is the professional membership organisation and leading professional body for the record-keeping sector: archivists, records managers and archiv… read more about Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland)

Taunton

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is the national archives of Northern Ireland and a division of the Department for Communities within the Northern Ireland Civil Service. It was est… read more about Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

Belfast

Additional Partnerships

Cabinet Office (Central Digital and Data Office); Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals; SVGC; Department for Education; Home Office; Independent Office for Police Conduct; Intellectual Property Office; Vermont State Archives and Records Administration