Document Type
Poster
Journal/Book Title/Conference
American Library Association Annual 2018
Location
New Orleans, LA
Publication Date
Summer 6-22-2018
Abstract
In the Spring of 2017, Utah State University's library went through a reorganization that placed its digital initiatives department under an umbrella with special collections and archives. Through this change librarians within Digital Initiatives saw new connections between their work and the work of archivists. The institutional repository (IR), once an island in the library, is becoming a showcase not just for research created on campus but for university history through collaboration with university archives. Propelled by this organizational realignment, librarians began large scale digitization projects to provide access to University commencement programs, alumni and departmental magazines, yearbooks, and student newspapers. This presentation explores the shift in IR policies towards a holistic approach to University content. While the original purpose of the IR was, and still is, to capture the research output of the University, the collaboration with university archives opens historical materials to alumni, friends, faculty, and students around the world. Just as the IR provides an accessible and stable record of research achievement, its role as the digitized front of the university archives fulfills the promises of open access to historical records. In this way, the IR is a confluence of past and present; preserving and promoting the mission of the university far beyond the boundaries of campus and the paper archives.
Recommended Citation
Burns, Dylan, "Where the Sagebrush Grows: Capturing University History in Institutional Repositories" (2018). Library Faculty & Staff Presentations. Paper 119.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/lib_present/119