In this webinar, you'll learn the basics to consider when creating an online collection or archive, as well as various ways of collaborating and partnering with other institutions--including the benefits of collaborating with an already established digital archive. Providing an online home for a variety of file formats and metadata schema presents routine challenges in digitization, data uniformity, and object description that require successful cooperation and good communication among partner institutions and private individuals. The William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive (Hill Archive) is a hybrid digital database that documents the lives, work, and products of Texas artisans and artists through 1900. Since 2013, the Hill Archive has been working with private and public institutions as well as individual collectors to digitize objects and archival material from their collections. Also included will be examples of lessons learned in partnering, along with tips and tricks for digitization and collaborative success. Since April 2014, Michelle Verret Johnson has been the project manager of the William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive. Her experience in digitization and metadata also includes working on the Digitizing Louisiana Newspapers Project and the Louisiana Bilingualism Research Initiative, both at LSU. Before coming to Texas, Michelle was the director of tourism as well as the curator and director of the Acadian Memorial and Museum in St. Martinville, Louisiana. Since joining the Hill Archive team, she has engaged in 12 new institutional partnerships and directed several research fellows in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, helping to expand the database from 17,000 records to over 125,000.