One of the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increased focus on digital collections. Join us as we discuss digital collections-development and relationship-building at the University of Minnesota Libraries. How does an increased focus on digital collections encourage us to reevaluate and reprioritize our decision-making in our areas of expertise? What does it mean to work collaboratively to build a digital collection in this new pandemic-driven era? Using the John Berryman papers as our collection of focus, this session will feature presentations from three staff members representing three different departments at UMN Libraries, all of whom are active contributors to the Libraries’ digital collections site, UMedia. First, Head of Digital Library Services, Theresa Berger, will discuss the digitization planning, metadata creation, and front-end decision making that goes into creating a digital collection, with an eye on strategies for inclusive metadata and user-informed front-end design. Next, Web Applications Developer, Scott Lawan, will discuss the “back-end,” technical side of things and the importance of sustainable code that can be changed over time and that incorporates web accessibility. Finally, Interim Curator for the Upper Midwest Literary Archives, Erin McBrien, will discuss ways in which low-barrier processing and re-processing decisions can be made to better support digitization and digital collections development. Throughout the presentation, we will highlight ways in which cross-departmental communication and collaboration have contributed to breaking down traditional academic silos and helped promote a more widely accessible digital platform for all.
