Digital Collections at NMSU

Libraries recognize the importance of digitizing archival material to improve access to and preservation of their special collections. This book provides a step-by-step guide for creating digital collections, including examples and practical tips. It illustrates concepts with an ongoing case study at the end of each chapter.

A huge investment has been made in digitizing scholarly and cultural heritage materials through initiatives based in museums, libraries and archives, as well as higher education institutions. The 'Digital Economy' is an important component of institutional planning, and much attention is given to the investment in digital projects and programmes. However, few initiatives have examined the actual use, value and impact of digital collections, and the role of digital collections in the changing information environment. As the creative, cultural and educational sector faces a period of restricted funding, it is timely to re-examine the use of the digital collections that have been created in the past twenty years, and to consider their value to the institutions that host them and to the communities of users they serve

Digital projects can be scaled to fit the size of any organization. This practical guide will help readers get a digitization program off the ground.

Reviews knowledge and tools to construct and maintain a digital library. A resource for individuals, agencies, and institutions wishing to put this powerful tool to work.

A how-to-do-it manual.

Essential facts, advice, lists, documents, guidelines, lore, wit, and wisdom: Along with fun and irreverence, itOCOs what readers have come to expect from the Whole Library series. This latest entry zooms in on the cutting edge -- the digital library. ItOCOs a compendium thatOCOs by turns encyclopedic, useful, and engaging, contributors provide an overview of digital libraries, covering the state of information, issues, customers, challenges, tools and technology, preservation, and the future."