The Cavalier Daily :: Common knowledge

"The University recently announced its plans to participate in the first national digital library, known as the Digital Public Library of America. This ambitious project, which gathers information from an array of scholarly organizations, will give students and scholars access to information available digitally at other universities as well as at the National Archives, the Smithsonian and other federal organizations. The University has decided to provide the Holsinger Studio Collection, which consists of information about Charlottesville from the 19th and 20th centuries. In the future, the University hopes to offer access to 16th-century French texts. The endeavor to create a large digital library is a fantastic idea. If many other institutions around the nation also offer information digitally, especially information on subjects that may be slightly obscure or unique to an institution, the project could be of great help to researchers across the nation. For example, students at the University pursuing a distinguished majors program, or any other research program, could benefit extensively. Each department has certain specialized topics that it is unable to cover fully. The politics department, for example, has limited information and classes on countries like Burma. As a result, students could find it difficult to research an unconventional topic. If they had access to the Digital Public Library, though, they could explore such areas with less hesitation because they would not be limited to the information available at the University. By broadening access to historical documents, students will be able to diversify what they wish to learn or research. But the potential benefits of the digital library are by no means limited to DMP students. Professors conducting research, graduate students writing their master’s theses or dissertations and undergraduates writing papers for seminars would also benefit ..."