(Re)Building alliances: advocating for art methodologies in digital collections collaborations

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-77
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hilles ◽  
Alia Levar Wegner
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Miami University ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Art Community

Advocating for art disciplinary methodologies in collaborations with digital collections librarians, especially in academic libraries, is a vital skill. While art librarians have refined and transformed their relationship to art disciplines in practice and through professional organizations like ARLIS, communicating the importance of art methodologies to their generalist colleagues in digital collections can be challenging. This disciplinary disconnect can result in collaborations and digital projects that fail to meet the needs of the art community because they do not include the necessary information used by art researchers and, thus, thwart discoverability. However, successful collaborations are possible with compromise and negotiation. The Shields Trade Card Collection, housed at Walter Havighurst Special Collections and University Archives at Miami University, serves as a case study, demonstrating both the need for art librarians to advocate for art specific methodologies throughout the lifecycle of a digital collections project while identifying specific areas of compromise key to sustaining future collaborations.

Digital decisions: user-driven digitization

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Sussmeier ◽  
Heather Perez
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Selection Strategy ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine digitization selection strategies to optimize usage by examining digital collections at Stockton University, comparing the library-driven projects to the community-driven ones. Design/methodology/approach Case study of digitization selection strategy for Special Collections and University Archives, comparing library-driven to community-driven approaches. Findings Based on webpage analytics of the digital collections, community-driven digitization projects are more successful than library-driven ones. Research limitations/implications As a case study, this paper only analyzes a select number of digital collections from one institution. Practical implications Those responsible for digitization selection may wish to allow community members to propose collections for digitization. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, no other known studies have used user analytics to compare community-driven digitization projects to library-driven ones.

scholarly journals Data-Driven Decision Making: An Holistic Approach to Assessment in Special Collections Repositories

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Griffin ◽  
Barbara Lewis ◽  
Mark I. Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Day To Day Operations ◽  
Technical Services

Objective – In an environment of shrinking budgets and reduced staffing, this study seeks to identify a comprehensive, integrated assessment strategy to better focus diminished resources within special collections repositories. Methods – This article presents the results of a single case study conducted in the Special and Digital Collections department at a university library. The department created an holistic assessment model, taking into account both public and technical services, to explore inter-related questions affecting both day-to-day operations as well as long-term, strategic priorities. Results – Data from a variety of assessment activities positively impacted the department’s practices, informing decisions made about staff skill sets, training, and scheduling; outreach activities; and prioritizing technical services. The results provide a comprehensive view of both patron and department needs, allowing for a wide variety of improvements and changes in staffing practices, all driven by data rather than anecdotal evidence. Conclusion – Although the data generated for this study is institutionally specific, the methodology is applicable to special collections departments at other institutions. A systemic, holistic approach to assessment in special collections departments enables the implementation of operational efficiencies. It also provides data that allows the department to document its value to university-wide stakeholders.

Developing Digital Collections

2012 ◽  
pp. 64-78
Author(s):  
Diane M. Fulkerson
Keyword(s):  
Research Project ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Manuscript Collections ◽  
The University

Digital collections are found in most libraries. They include not only databases but also photographs, institutional repositories, manuscript collections, materials from the university archives, or special collections. Designing digital collections and making them available to users expands the resources users can access for a research project.

scholarly journals It’s How Many Terabytes?! A Case Study on Managing Large Born Digital Audio-visual Acquisitions

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-75
Author(s):  
Laura Uglean Jackson ◽  
Matthew McKinley
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
University Of California ◽  
Digital Audio ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Digital Collection ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policy And Procedure

In October 2014, the University of California Irvine (UCI) Special Collections and Archives acquired a born digital collection of 2.5 terabytes – the largest born digital collection acquired by the department to date. This case study describes the challenges we encountered when applying existing archival procedures to appraise, store, and provide access to a large born digital collection. It discusses solutions when they could be found and ideas for solutions when they could not, lessons learned from the experience, and the impact on born-digital policy and procedure at UCI Libraries. Working with a team of archivists, librarians, IT, and California Digital Library (CDL) staff, we discovered issues and determined solutions that will guide our procedures for future acquisitions of large and unwieldy born digital collections. 

Surveying as Unsettlement: The Protocols Alignment Survey at the University of Nevada, Reno

2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-61
Author(s):  
Kimberly Anderson ◽  
Jessica Maddox
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Native American ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
University Archives ◽  
The University

ABSTRACT This article describes a collections survey project undertaken by the staff of the University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, to begin the archives' alignment with the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. The method devised to survey the collection is assessed for its validity and potential application to further survey work. The analysis of the Protocols alignment survey as a case study also offers insights about critical self-reflection and ways for non-Indigenous archivists to strive toward social justice and Protocols alignment using existing discovery and description frameworks as a starting point.

scholarly journals Shoestring Social Media: Building a Social Media Presence for UNCG’s Special Collections and University Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Lawrimore
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
University Of North Carolina ◽  
Sustainability Planning ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
University Archives ◽  
Social Media Presence ◽  
The University

Social media is now a part of everyday life for the majority of adults. With such high adoption rates, archives and special collections cannot afford to ignore this important venue for advocacy and awareness building.  In this case study, the author will explore how staff of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) established and built a social media presence that stretches across multiple platforms and audiences to spread the word about our collections and our work. The author will also examine the issue of sustainability planning and growth through assessment.

Archives and Special Collections at the University of La Verne: Putting the Repository of a Small Liberal Arts College to Work Online

Collections ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-35
Author(s):  
Benjamin Jenkins ◽  
Keren Darancette
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Japanese American ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Japanese American Internment ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
University Of La Verne ◽  
The University

Archives and Special Collections at the Wilson Library of the University of La Verne, located in inland southern California, offers an informative case study of descriptive practices and metadata attached to digital collections at a small liberal arts college. Since recruiting a staff specifically tasked to manage the archives, the Wilson Library has increased the number of collections available to patrons online through the creation of a digital collections Web page. Digitized, hosted collections include the papers of a faculty member from the early 20th century, photographs of early La Verne, historic local newspapers, and manuscript sources regarding Japanese American internment. Metadata fields at Wilson Library have developed to encompass a greater variety of contextual information about digitized records, improving users' ability to put the collections to use for research. Ultimately, this case study demonstrates what a library at a small university can accomplish with a dedicated staff and a clear objective, even with limited resources.

How to Wrangle Multiple Discrete Collections from One Donor: A Case Study of the Subject-based Physical and Digital Consolidation of the Wade Hall Collections

2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-90
Author(s):  
Laura M. Gentry ◽  
Erin Ryan ◽  
Jessica Rayman ◽  
Martha Bace
Keyword(s):  
Asset Management ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
New Finding ◽  
Finding Aids ◽  
Asset Management System ◽  
The University

ABSTRACT The authors examined the Wade Hall Consolidation Project at the University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections. The project involved the physical consolidation of more than 1,400 small, discrete collections donated by Wade Hall into larger, subject-based collections along with the merger of 287 existing digital collections to mirror the physical arrangement. This project's goal was to improve access to and discovery of these collections by researchers. During physical consolidation, the archivists created subject-based collections with new finding aids and addressed issues including unclear provenance, legacy descriptions, inaccurate metadata, varying levels of processing, and lack of alignment with current archival best practices and standards. Digital consolidation of existing digital collections coincided with the migration to a new digital asset management system and presented its own challenges, including legacy descriptions, metadata transformation, digital preservation, and dealing with existing metadata shared on the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and other multi-institutional digital content aggregators. The authors sought to fill the gap in the literature concerning the consolidation of physical and digital collections and to provide guidance to others considering a consolidation project.

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