Background Food has become an increasingly popular subject of study due to its inherently multidisciplinary nature. However due to this wide appeal, there is not one specific group of users who use one specific set of texts. Many cultural institutions have large collections relating to food, some of which, now fully or partially digitised, are accessible to the global research community. However, we do not know if researchers are currently using digitised collections, let alone which collections should be given digitization priority. This project is a start to filling in these knowledge gaps by asking what (and how) scholars are currently using analogue and digital material, and how libraries and archives can better support food researchers through digitisation and activities These data are...