Best practices for partnering with Digital Library Services

Partnering with Digital Library Services on Grants, Public Scholarship, and Digitization Projects

Digital Library Services encompasses 4 divisions in the Marriott Library: Digital Operations, Digital Preservation, Digital Initiatives and Metadata, and Utah Digital Newspapers

Digital Library Services Workflows and Best Practices

For materials to be added to the Digital Library, there are a variety of workflows requiring specialized expertise and a highly collaborative team. First, materials either need digitization from Digital Operations or evaluation if born digital. Descriptive metadata is added that makes digital items findable.  Then, depending on defined criteria, high-resolution files may be added to the library’s digital preservation system in addition to the digital library.

Digital Operations

Digital Operations balances the digitization needs of materials such as manuscripts, photos, and audio-visual formats. Digitization projects come from a mix of internal clients as well as some clients external to the Marriott Library. All digitization projects are evaluated on their full scope prior to committing to engage in the project. This includes evaluating material care and handling, material organization, feasible deadlines, staffing needs, equipment needs, file naming conventions, format preferences and more. At times, a pilot project may be needed to determine the full scope of a project. The evaluation process can be extensive and thus requires project planning months in advance. This process and timeline should be taken in account when submitting a project request. There is very limited availability for rush jobs in need of a quick turnaround.

Metadata and Digital Initiatives

Metadata in the Digital Library is developed according to regional best practices developed by the Mountain West Digital Library. Selected collections are harvested into the Mountain West Digital Library and the Digital Public Library of America.

Metadata librarians are available for consultations or training for digital collections projects. For projects that require descriptive metadata creation or metadata manipulation by the Marriott Library staff and faculty, please consider this in planning project timelines and budgets. 

Digital Exhibits

The Marriott Library hosts an OmekaS platform for digital exhibits, which can be used by members of the University of Utah community for digital scholarship projects.

Digital Preservation

The mission of the digital preservation program is to preserve and sustain long-term accessibility to the unique, high research value collections housed within the Library that cannot be properly preserved in their physical form. Program priorities include born-digital items of high research value and items of high research value for which the physical master will not be available in 20 years due to format or player obsolescence.

Considerations for grants and collaborative projects
  • Connect with Digital Library Services while writing your grant, as soon as possible. The library is unable to accommodate large, time-bound digitization requests.
  • For projects involving materials from Special Collections, both Special Collections and Digital Library services will need to be consulted.
  • For major projects receiving federal funding, the Marriott Library is typically a co-PI on any grant.
  • Pricing and estimates for grant-based work is available upon request. The Marriott Library participates in USHRAB grants.
  • Digitization work for grants is done with the presumption that the Marriott Library is a partner on the project and materials are hosted in the Digital Library.
  •  Digitization and/or hosting of newspapers is managed separately and requires a consultation. Please inquire with Tina Kirkham.