Digital Archives SpecialistARL is working with the Society of American Archivists (SAA) to offer Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) courses targeted for staff in ARL member institutions. ARL and SAA will deliver four DAS courses back-to-back in a single week, traveling across 11 different ARL host libraries over the next 18 months.
Yesterday the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), through its National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), along with the University of Virginia Press launched a beta version of the Founders Online website. Founders Online provides free, searchable access to over 119,000 letters and other documents written and received by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.
This March 7, 2013, webcast presented by ARL and Ithaka S+R provides an overview of the recent report of the same name as well as community responses to the findings. Speakers include Judy Ruttenberg (ARL), Nancy Maron (Ithaka S+R), Lisa Carter (Ohio State University), Anne Kenney (Cornell University), Ann Thornton (New York Public Library), and Sarah Pickle (Ithaka S+R).
While many research libraries have begun to digitize their collections and share best practices around the steps required to create digital content, much less is known about what happens post-launch. Building on previous research by Ithaka S+R that defined key aspects of sustainable digital content, Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries offers a first look at the practices, attitudes, costs, and revenues associated with caring for digitized special collections. The report shares results from a survey conducted on the sustainability of digitized special collections at ARL member institutions.
Poster presented at the LCDP Luminary Class, June 2012. The decisions that academic libraries and special collections make today, in a context of rapid technologicaland other change, will shape the research of historians of the future. Certain types of primary sources of special interest to historians of science and technology—including scientific texts, journal literature, archival documents of research institutions, and manuscript papers of scientists and engineers—are often stewarded by academic libraries, with particular responsibility assumed by science- and technology-focused institutions. Recent trends in collection development and management will have major implications for tomorrow's scholars. What does it mean for both current and future historians of science and technology that more and more sources are full-text searchable online, and that more and more print sources are stored off-site? Will scholars be affected by libraries licensing rather than owning digital content? Will today's born-digital counterparts to yesterday's paper publications, documents, and images be accessible? Are research libraries and special collections currently capturing and preserving the same kinds of primary sources that historians of science and technology have relied on, and are there other kinds of sources we should be preserving?
Poster presented at the LCDP Luminary Class, June 2012. How have research libraries chronicled the lives of African American students on campus? What are the subject headings and finding aids for student organizations, dissertations, sororities and fraternities, or oral histories? What factors (procedure, personnel, Alumni groups) have impacted the inclusion of materials in library collections?
SPEC Kit 329 explores the tools, workflow, and policies special collections and archives staff use to process, manage, and provide access to born-digital materials they collect. It also looks at which staff process and manage born-digital materials and how they acquire the skills they need for these activities, and how libraries have responded to the challenges that managing born-digital materials present. It includes documentation from respondents that describe digital specialists’ job responsibilities, collection policies, gift/purchase agreements, format policies, and workflows.
This publication is available for purchase in both online and print versions. Download the spec-kit-purchase-options-2013.pdf for complete pricing and purchase options information.
Link to the online SPEC Kit 329on the ARL Digital Publications website.
SPEC Kit 317 examines exhibits, events, instruction, and other activities that are targeted to engage students, faculty, and other scholars/researchers with special collections for research and education. It investigates who coordinates these activities, where they are held, how they are promoted, and how they are evaluated. It includes documentation from respondents in the form of policies and procedures, class request procedures, descriptions of class assignments and resources, job descriptions, and exhibit and event promotional methods.
This publication is available for purchase in both online and print versions. Download the spec-kit-purchase-options-2013.pdf for complete pricing and purchase options information.
Link to the online SPEC Kit 317on the ARL Digital Publications website.
Charge developed in collaboration with the Chairs of TRL Steering Committee and of the Working Group, and with input from the Executive Committee. Endorsed by Executive Committee Feb 11, 2010
SPEC Kit 314 examines the current policies and practices for processing manuscript and archival collections in Special Collections. It is organized around four general areas: personnel, job responsibilities and training; processing policies, procedures, and priorities; impacts on processing decisions; and management tools. It includes documentation from respondents in the form of processing policies and procedures, processing worksheets, statistics, and job descriptions.
This publication is available for purchase in both online and print versions. Download the spec-kit-purchase-options-2013.pdf for complete pricing and purchase options information.
Link to the online SPEC Kit 314on the ARL Digital Publications website.
Presentation at the 2009 ARL/CNI Fall Forum, "An Age of Discovery: Distinctive Collections in the Digital Age." Article appeared in RLI 267 (Dec. 2009).
Yesterday the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), through its National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), along with the University of Virginia Press launched a beta version of the 
digitizing-special-collections-report-21feb13.pdf
