Effective Communication to Aid Collaboration for Digital Collections

Melissa Minds VandeBurgt (Florida Gulf Coast University) exploration of digital outreach activities is timely given both our digitisation and digital scholarship efforts and our increasing outreach activities in academic libraries.

Melissa's case study is published in  New Review of Academic Librarianship and she will talk on this topic at the seminar Academic Librarians Communicating in the 21^st Century: Perspectives from the New Review of Academic Librarianship at Maynooth University Library on the 20^th October 2016. While the seminar is free booking is essential.

More information.

A case study of Florida Gulf Coast University Archives, Special Collections and  Digital Initiatives' outreach efforts among local cultural heritage organizations will demonstrate methods used to approach these organizations and subsequent results. After attempting to provide several organizations with professional assistance regarding digitization and digital preservation of historic records, Archives, Special Collections, & Digital Initiatives sought to establish a formalized outreach approach. While there is a large amount of literature discussing broad outreach efforts, few articles delve into specific communication methods, potential benefits, and possible drawbacks. This article will show that with specific methods of communication, outreach can prove advantageous for both the community organization in need and the library institution providing the service. (Abstract by Melissa Minds VandeBurgt)