PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Brown University Library is pleased to announce the launching of curio a new weekly blog, focusing on imaging rare, unusual, and intriguing objects.
The blog is written by Digital Production Services staff about curios, objects that are valued for their unique qualities, both physical and scholarly. Rather than locking away collections in dark cabinets or closed stacks for safekeeping, the John Hay Library promotes the use of its rare and valuable materials in teaching, learning, and research, as well as through public exhibitions. All of the Library’s materials are available for viewing by Library patrons by appointment, and regularly serve the needs of classes, students, faculty, and researchers.
Brown selectively digitizes its Special Collections, providing public access online, anytime, anywhere. The process for deciding which materials will be digitized is closely aligned with teaching and research needs. As a result, Digital Production Services (DPS) staff come in contact with otherwise “hidden” Library artifacts on a daily basis. Many of these unusual items present technical challenges for digitization or description. The blog will feature items that are singled out for their unique properties and for the methods used to digitize them.
As explained by Ann Caldwell, Head, Imaging and Metadata Services, “The staff in Digital Production Services is constantly awed, amused, fascinated, and thrilled by the materials we digitize and describe. In that respect, we’re some of the most fortunate people in the Library. Not only do we get to see these items, but we get to share them with you and digitally preserve them for the future.”
curios joins a growing ecosystem of blogs at the Library, written by librarians and departments including the Library’s “Announcements,” The Center for Digital Scholarship’s “News“, and a soon to launch blog by the University Librarian.
Digital Production Services (DPS) is responsible for digitization of materials in support of scholarship, research, and teaching, as well as metadata production and consulting services for Library and academic units undertaking digital projects. DPS work ranges from projects designed in collaboration with Brown researchers and the Library’s Center for Digital Scholarship to the digitization of “signature collections” from Brown’s world-renowned Special Collections. DPS also offers imaging and metadata consulting for grants and other University initiatives.
The Brown University Library is home to more than 6.8 million print items, plus a multitude of electronic resources and expanding digital archives serving the teaching, research, and learning needs of Brown students and faculty, as well as scholars from around the country and the world. http://library.brown.edu/
Contact: Robin Ness | [email protected] | 401-863-2607