Moving from Binders to Bytes: Processing, Digitizing, and Publishing a Paper-Based Archive to an Institutional Repository

Room 255/257

At San Jose State University, a paper-based archive centering on library and information science history is being processed, organized, and uploaded onto ScholarWorks, the campus institutional repository. Prior to its digitization, the presenters grappled with many questions. What platform should be used to house the archive? What entry points would researchers expect in order to access the collection? What research purposes would this collection satisfy? The presenters will discuss their rationale for their decision-making in transferring 300 binders to an open access, digital format. Among the individuals who are involved in making this detail-rich collection openly accessible online and searchable are a scholarly communications librarian, a cataloging and metadata specialist who is serving as the interim institutional repository coordinator, and a library and information science graduate student focusing on archival records and management. These individuals will discuss their varying perspectives and how each of their emphases contributes to the enterprise of making this paper-based archive discoverable, searchable, and digitally accessible in an ever-evolving institutional repository and scholarly communications environment.