“imagine virtual shelves, as far as the eye can see, teeming with digital images and texts” Take a moment to imagine virtual shelves, as far as the eye can projects and research; promoting staff efficiency and see, teeming with digital images and texts. They would be no productivity; and making materials accessible to the broadest less organized than the physical ones in your favorite library, possible audience,” said Vice President for Library Services but you could peruse them whenever you please and wherever Hjordis Halvorson, who oversees the new department. you are. At the heart of the Newberry’s digital philosophy is It is an important goal, and one toward which the the recognition that the virtual and the material are both Newberry, like many libraries and other humanities institutions, unique media that often intersect with each other in research continues to strive. environments. Each one enhances humanistic understanding For more than a decade, the Newberry has digitized by offering unique possibilities for scholars and institutions. materials and created and launched other digital initiatives such With this in mind, a Newberry team of library and information as “The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries” and, most technology professionals carefully looked at a wide variety of recently, “Digital Collections for the Classroom.” Now, it has taken the next, crucial step in the process by creating the department of Digital Initiatives and Services and implementing a new system to manage digital assets. Formed in January of 2012 and led by Jennifer Thom, the department now includes the Newberry’s first-ever digital collections librarian, Adam Strohm, and Anne Flannery, who is serving as Digital Initiatives’ assistant director for two years through a partnership with the American Council of Learned Societies. “The department strives to create a hospitable digital environment that will improve the way we are able to work at the Newberry by facilitating cross-departmental and interdisciplinary The Piction Discoverer module helps users search and identify imagery from the collection.
48
The Newberry Magazine