Campus & Community

Libraries Launches New Digital Collections

Thursday, March 28, 2024, By Cristina Hatem

鶹ƵUniversity Libraries recently launched its new Digital Collections site at . This new online resource, available through the Libraries’ website under the “Collections” menu tab, is produced and curated by the Libraries’ Digital Stewardship team and primarily features distinctive content from the Special Collections Research Center. The new Digital Collections site is housed on the because of its flexibility and responsiveness as a digital asset management platform with extensive front-end capabilities that enable it to showcase, share and celebrate locally held materials with a global community of users.

Libraries’ users, including students, faculty, staff and global researchers, can find collections by choosing the subject topic, name, geographic location, original format or source collection from alphabetical drop-down menus. There are also various featured collections, including , , or . The platform also allows for hosting various bespoke collections, like the .

In addition to hosting digital collections, the site serves as a portal to the Libraries’ digital exhibitions, including:

“As we wrap up this phase of migrating content from the previous platform, our team is really excited to add new digital materials to the site and experiment with different approaches to spotlighting and creating increased access to our unique content,” says Déirdre Joyce, head of digital stewardship and the Digital Library. “There are enormous opportunities to leverage the capabilities of this platform to support creative digital scholarship that we are just beginning to explore.”

“An increasingly key role for research libraries is building virtual libraries out of rare local collections so we can better preserve the originals and efficiently share them with the world whenever possible,” says Scott Warren, senior associate dean for research excellence. “By investing in state-of-the-art systems like Quartex, we amplify our ability to bring these critical cultural heritage items into 鶹Ƶclassrooms for use by 鶹Ƶstudents and faculty and make them available to global researchers,” he says. “I’m thrilled our new Digital Collections platform is live! It’s just one of the many ways the Libraries helps drive student success.”