The purpose of this paper was to discuss the collaborative initiative between the Mona Library (ML) and the Library and Information Association of Jamaica (LIAJA) focused on digitizing the Association's peer-reviewed publications, specifically the Jamaica Library Association (JLA) Bulletin and the LIAJA Bulletin, for enhanced access and…

The importance of storytelling in African American quilt heritage is critical to understanding the context in which these objects were and are created and the meaning this art has for the maker, their communities, and wider audiences. Quilts made by African American artists have been overlooked and misinterpreted by those who do not have access to…

Research communications today are largely conducted by digital means. At this time, however, only a small percentage of these digital communiques are archived and preserved for future use. This article provides an overview of the challenge of this digital grey literature, a brief overview of digital archiving, and the role librarians and…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This issue includes the following articles: (1) Special Issue on Copyright (Prudence S. Adler); (2) Fair…

Ensuring the long-term preservation and use of born-digital and digitized records of enduring value has preoccupied archivists and their cultural heritage siblings for several decades. The professional literature of the 1980s and 1990s bemoans the challenges posed by rapid technological change (and the concomitant obsolescence of hardware and…

In this inaugural column, the authors introduce Peter Palmer, erstwhile librarian at Bellaluna University who is being tasked with managing the library's and university's digital content as he begins his journey down the Digital Highway. As head of access services at Bellaluna University, Peter had been, by default, made responsible for managing…

"Road Tripping Down the Digital Preservation Highway" follows the continuing adventures of Peter Palmer, erstwhile librarian at Bellaluna University and manager of the library's and University's digital content, as he journeys down the Digital Preservation Highway. Palmer's problem this month was somewhat more philosophical. As manager of the…

The Butte Free Public Library was established in 1894. At that time, head librarian J. Davies published a catalog of the opening collection. Two fires and one flood later, many of the monographs from that original collection list have, remarkably, survived. Because of this, in part, the library, now known as the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library…

America's private colleges and universities include most of the oldest institutions of higher education in the country, and their evolving physical campuses say much about American education. In recent years, the study of campus history, preservation, and adaptive reuse has received increasing attention by many sectors of the educational…

Our institutions of record are facing a new digital knowledge management challenge: stakeholder communities are now expecting customized Web interfaces to institutional knowledge repositories, online environments where community members can contribute content and see themselves represented, as well as access archived resources. Digital curation…

Traditional large digitization projects demand massive resources from the central unit (library, museum, or university) that has acquired funding for them. Another model, enabled by easy access to cameras, scanners, and web tools, calls for public contributions to community collections of artifacts. In 2009, the University of Oxford ran a…

In 2005 and 2006 the National Library of Australia (NLA) carried out two whole-domain web harvests which complement the selective web archiving approach taken by PANDORA. Web harvests of this size pose significant challenges to their use. Despite these challenges, such harvests present fascinating research opportunities. The NLA has provided…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This issue includes the following articles: (1) Removing All Restrictions: Cornell's New Policy on Use of Public…

Manuscripts, archives, and early printed books contain a documentary record of the foundations of human knowledge. Many elements restrict access to this corpus, from preservation concerns to censorship. On the assumption that the widespread availability of knowledge benefits the human condition more than the restriction of knowledge, elements…

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) does not mince words when describing the looming data storage problem. In its 2007 report, "Solving the Coming Archive Crisis--the 100-Year Dilemma," the trade group asserts that the volume of disparate digital information sources being kept online for long-term preservation is overwhelming and…