Next Generation Library and Digital Collections

Front page of an old issue of the Western Collegian

The grant, Next Steps in the Next-Generation Library: Integrating Digital Collections into the Liberal Arts Curriculum, recognizes the continuing transformation of academic libraries through digital technologies and the critical importance of ensuring that liberal arts college libraries remain integral to their institutions' academic programs and to student learning.

The five objectives of the grant were to (1) help faculty to identify, build, and integrate digital collections into their courses through a partnership with librarians; (2) enhance access to scholarly endeavors of both faculty and students; (3) create a professional development program for library staff to enrich their technological sophistication and implement innovative efforts; (4) establish a digital infrastructure to improve support for new initiatives; and (5) develop a portal that will function as a gateway to digital collections and a site for accessing digitization procedures and training documents.

The emphasis in this grant was on digital collections centered around faculty research interests, materials from the colleges' special collections and archives, and student publications.

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