Digitization & Preservation

Mission of the Digitization & Preservation Department

The principal goals of the department are to preserve and safeguard library materials in all formats belonging to the general circulating collection and to prolong the life of these materials while ensuring continued access for as long as possible.

Department History

The University Libraries’ Digitization & Preservation program is of comparatively recent origin.  In 1990, a half-time Digitization & Preservation librarian faculty position was established and by 1992 the position became full-time.  Since 1990, the Libraries’ Digitization & Preservation program has grown considerably to now include an administrative unit and four distinct service units employing ten full-time and numerous part-time and student employees.  The managers of each service unit, the head of the department, and the administrative support assistant form the Digitization & Preservation Management Team that oversees and unifies the department's operations.  In 1998 the Digitization & Preservation program received the distinction as a library department. See organizational chart (pdf)

Currently the Digitization & Preservation program engages in reformatting brittle collections through microfilming and digitization, commercial binding, book repair, single-item deacidification, encapsulation, mass deacidification, disaster preparedness and recovery planning, and training.