Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic Library Setting

Nicole J. Hoback

Reference:

Johnson, J. (2015). Creating Digital Heritage Collections in an Urban Academic

            Library Setting. Urban Library Journal, 21(1), 16-27.

Summary:

The article, written by Johnson (2015), discusses the development of digital cultural heritage collections, which has been stated as a project that has not been typically operated by libraries. Indian University Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is an urban academic library, which focused on the case study as it follows the relationships built with two separate organizations to establish a cultural heritage collection. The intension for these projects is not only to bring more information to the public’s eye through digitization, but also to bring collaboration between libraries, archives, and museums. The two projects focused on the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Throughout both projects, microfilming presented an issue for digitization, as the library had never worked with this material in digitization. Content and format, were the unforeseen issues that continued to rise up during this process, but overall IUPUI hopes that other libraries will reach out to their community to create a collaboration of learning and experience for students and librarians.

Evaluation:

Overall I really enjoyed this article and the insightful information, which they provided as a collaborative effort needed between libraries, archives, and museums. All three of these institutions are focused on education and preserving, but it is interesting that they are not often combined on projects. Community outreach such as these, allow for academic libraries to become involved in the community that they are set in, creating an open environment. One thing the article stated that I found most interesting was, “building a successful digital collection is less about the technology and more about developing a relationship with that organization.” Often times in our technology run world we forget the importance of real time communication and collaboration, but this project shows that you can have technology and collaboration, creating a project for communities and university students to enjoy.