The Wellcome Library, Digital | Ariadne: Web Magazine for Information Professionals

abernard102@gmail.com 2013-07-23

Summary:

Use the link to access the full text article published in the journal Ariadne.  The article opens as follows: "Online access is now the norm for many spheres of discovery and learning. What benefits bricks-and-mortar libraries have to offer in this digital age is a subject of much debate and concern, and will continue to be so as learning resources and environments shift ever more from the physical to the virtual. In order to maintain a place in this dual environment, most research libraries strive to replicate their traditional offerings in the digital world. Over the past three years the Wellcome Library has followed a transformation strategy to make the Library digital [1]. The ambition was not to create an online shop window, but instead permanently break the bonds imposed by a physical library and provide full access to our collections in new and innovative ways. We aimed to create an entirely new digital presence based on the Wellcome Library’s historic foundations and modern personality. At the heart of this transformation strategy are two key elements: mass digitisation of unique collections and the creation of an online experience that transcends the generic offerings of mass distribution and offers a unique value.  Although this work is still in progress, thus far we have successfully integrated the digital content into the Library’s existing discovery mechanisms and created new discovery routes via interpretive content and tools such as tailored subject browse, full-text search within items, and an engaging timeline application. Plans to incorporate full-text search across digitised collections, and the creation of an engaging online environment promoting exploration of the collections designed for the ‘curious public’, will go still further. The overarching aims of the technological development of the digital library were to create a modular framework that integrated existing and new systems, provide a foundation for future growth and sustainability, and accommodate policy decisions around licensing and access ..."

Link:

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue71/henshaw-kiley

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.libraries oa.search oa.metadata oa.uk oa.preservation oa.standards oa.librarians oa.digitization oa.funders oa.wellcome oa.ariadne oa.images oa.mets

Date tagged:

07/23/2013, 08:41

Date published:

07/23/2013, 04:41