Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries Page: 16
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Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries
Figure 5 Number of digitized special collections (n=65)
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The digitized special collections that libraries hold come from a variety of sources. Almost all (99%) have
themselves digitized some of their physical special collections; the other 1% described their digitized
collections as consisting of born-digital materials or materials acquired from third-party vendors.23 Just
over 50% of respondents report hosting digitized collections created by other entities outside of their
unit or institution. Almost one third (28%) receive copies of files created by publishers and vendors to
whom they license special collections content for digitization purposes, and about the same percentage
creates or acquires digitized collections through other processes, most often through collaborations
with other institutions or as born-digital materials.
When asked to identify the factors that drove them to digitize their special collections, respondents
named several, reflecting the many influences that spur this activity. Sixty-four percent reported that
"collections strategy, based on prioritizing our strongest research areas," was a highly motivating factor;
59% indicated that "user demand for the physical collection," was very motivating; 54% chose
"preservation, in order to protect fragile originals," and 55% selected "donor relations or contributions."
HOW LIBRARIES ARE MANAGING THEIR DIGITIZED COLLECTIONS
In order to understand how libraries are creating and supporting digitized special collections, the survey
probed four main areas:
(1) Responsibility for digitized special collections-who is involved in their care and where they
sit within the organizational structures of their libraries.
(2) The costs of creating and supporting these collections on an ongoing basis-e.g., the
technical costs for keeping up these collections, the costs of staff time associated with
23 Materials from vendors was listed by a respondent, even though the survey's definition of "digitized special
collections" asked respondents to exclude them.
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Maron, Nancy & Pickle, Sarah. Appraising our Digital Investment: Sustainability of Digitized Special Collections in ARL Libraries, book, February 2013; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc234942/m1/19/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .