Digital Initiatives
The continued digitization and preservation of our collections remain a priority for us.
The proliferation of electronic information—full-text documents, electronic journals, datasets and multimedia files—has transformed the way that the libraries around the world acquire, organize, store, preserve and deliver information.
Digitization is a multifaceted process that involves many steps, from selecting materials to capturing images to ensuring copyright clearance. To date, University Libraries has digitized some of its collections with one great goal in mind: making them available online to students, faculty and the world beyond.
The digitization of cultural heritage materials, prevalent in many of the University Libraries’ special collections, is particularly labor-intensive. Capturing high-quality images of fragile materials handled in a secure environment requires skill and an eye for color, so we can replicate, as closely as possible, the experience of viewing the original document. The most challenging and arguably the most important piece of the puzzle is creating the “metadata,” the descriptive terms that enable users to locate and search through specific materials online.
Providing high-quality digitization and care of more of these Libraries’ resources will extend our reach, showcasing OHIO’s resources to global audiences. As more students and scholars from around the world are able to search our collections remotely, our notoriety and reputation will increase.
Supporting digital initiatives will ensure a technologically current, inter-connected, full-service Library that supports global access to knowledge from OHIO’s rare and unique materials, like the Cornelius Ryan Collection, Athens Lunatic Asylum Collection, and Frank Buhla Photograph Collection.