DuDoku: An Open-Source Android App to Simplify Image Documentation in Museum Digitalization

Image documentation is a crucial component of digitalizing museum collections — and serves as a vital bridge between scholarly research and public engagement. However, capturing images with conventional cameras can be logistically challenging due to bulky equipment and the need for technical expertise. A particularly tedious and error-prone task is renaming image files according to the inventory numbers of the objects, in order to correctly link each photograph with its corresponding dataset. This manual process adds inefficiency to an already demanding workflow.

To address these challenges, we developed DuDoku, an open-source Android camera application designed to simplify and accelerate image documentation. The app enables users to input the inventory number at the moment of capture, automatically assigning it as the image filename. Input can be done manually via touchscreen or by scanning barcodes or QR codes, when available.

As smartphone photography is part of everyday experience for most users, no specialized skills are required fort he use of the app. When connected to a cloud storage service, DuDoku supports a fast, mobile, and lightweight workflow. It reduces post-processing workload, improves accuracy, and provides a scalable solution for large-scale, in situ digitalization of museum collections.

In this presentation, we will outline how DuDoku has been integrated into the documentation workflow at Museum Wiesbaden. We will share results from over a year of active use, highlighting measurable improvements in the speed, accuracy, and overall efficiency of our digitalization processes.