The UF Smathers Libraries offer robust digital scholarship services and support through the digital collections repository powered by the SobekCM open source software which provides great support for managing many users and user levels (in relation to specific aggregations and with user groups), integrated tools for the data curation lifecycle (workflows, patron and user needs for digital collections and materials, reporting, and more), integration with many other systems including discovery systems (library catalog, harvesters, search engine optimization for Google and others), and much more. I focus on these system-areas because they’re of critical importance for me because I need integrated, scalable, and sustainable systems to ensure a foundation for digital scholarship.
In thinking about digital scholarship support, I’m trying to spend time thinking about how to communicate what supports are needed and how they fit. I do this all the time with various groups (e.g., scholars with projects, technical and subject expert collaborators, funding agencies, etc.) and I’m now trying to do the work to ensure I’ve also got this synthesized into something that fits within the libraries. I’m thinking of this in terms of letting other people know how things fit together, and how to do so even when it may not seem particularly relevant or interesting, so the communication needs to be extra clear and concise.
The University of North Texas (UNT) has an excellent report that does exactly what I’m looking for, just for online exhibits instead of digital scholarship. UNT’s 2013 “Exhibits @ UNT. An Implementation Proposal” is concise (not too long or too short) and has a wonderful section on the ecosystem at UNT:
The Library Ecosystem of Discovery, and Hosting Tools:
In order to build an effective online exhibit, it is important to consider its place within the array of systems that either store or disseminate information about library owned or subscribed materials.
The report then includes short blurbs on those systems: library website, finding aids, digital collections, library catalog, secondary library websites, other search interfaces. It’s always nice to have a great model or example to think and work with. Thanks to UNT for a great report! Thanks to UNT and others, and thanks always for sharing internal reports openly and findably online!
I find internal reports by colleagues tremendously useful, even when the documentation and reports are on different topics–they give me more to think with. I highly recommend UNT’s as an excellent proposal example and for thinking through digital scholarship services and systems, including online exhibits:
RT @laurien: Planning & Communicating Full Supports for Digital Scholarship: UNT Proposal is a Great, Concise Example : http://t.co/XFRnBRf…