The Windermere Valley museum will be upgrading its digital technology capabilities considerably, thanks to a recent grant from the Columbia Valley Community Foundation.

The foundation approved nearly $2,300 for the museum to improve and increase its computer technology, a move welcomed by museum volunteer and information technology manager Karen Brown. “We are really appreciative of it and we hope that it will encourage new volunteers to come forward. It will also really help with space,” said Ms. Brown.

The museum will use the money to buy a new computer, a new monitor and new portable hard drive, a photo scanner/printer and software. The museum already boosted its digital capacity last summer by buying a new laser printer.

All the new technology will prove incredibly useful for digitizing the museum’s collections and creating databases.

“It will help not just with modern day programming, but also with historic photo archiving,” said Ms. Brown. “It’s a matter of security to keep everything safe in the case of disaster.

All the technological upgrades will also make perusing the museum’s archive much easier for visitors, who will (depending on what they want to look at) no longer need to go down to the museum in person, she said.

The community foundation is a local charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Upper Columbia Valley residents.