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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the challenges that special collections repositories face when creating digital surrogates driven by researcher demand, to link these digitization issues with archival practice, and to provide recommendations for improvement. Design/methodology/approach - Presents an overview of the development of the University of Maryland Libraries' digital imaging workflows and a critique of current practices. Findings - A viable digital repository can be built from surrogates created in response to researcher demand, but there are limitations to this approach, with opportunity for improvement. Research limitations/implications - As a case study, this paper is limited to one institution's perspective. Practical implications - Provides insight into constructing and managing digitization programs at special collections repositories. Originality/value - This paper offers a case study approach for an institutional digital repository influenced heavily by researcher demand, in contrast to a digital repository constructed with a more structured plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to describe the Prange Children's Book Reformatting Project as an example of bi-national cooperation to provide the broadest possible access to a collection of historical significance to both nations, when most of the materials are still under copyright. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines the joint project between the University of Maryland Libraries' (UM Libraries) and the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) to preserve and provide access to the children's books in the Gordon W. Prange Collection. It highlights the unique aspects of the project, including its international component, and describes the project's access tools and service products. Findings - The access tools developed as part of this reformatting project - an online digital collection for the UM Libraries and color microfilm for NDL - each have their limitations. Used in combination, however, these tools can support in-depth research. Originality/value - The comprehensiveness of the project (all 8,000 titles are being scanned), the use of digital-to-color microfilm technology, and the use of the color microfilm as an access point make this project unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and challenges of creating a shared institutional repository and to, describe the process by which a consortium was able to establish such a service. Design/methodology/approach - A case study is presented outlining the process through which the Washington Research Library Consortium selected and implemented the DSpace institutional repository software in a shared information technology environment. The issues confronted in dealing with a multi-institutional implementation are examined through both a detailed description of the implementation and a generalized description of the challenges the consortium faced. Findings - The paper finds that while a shared implementation of an institutional repository does present significant challenges that would not be present for a single institution, the collaborative approach also presents significant benefits in drawing on the breadth of expertise available among the Consortium and utilizing a shared information technology infrastructure. Originality/value - Institutional repositories have generally been implemented within the context of a single institution. An alternative model is described that draws on the experience and expertise of multiple institutions to achieve a common goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to synthesize different research projects and approaches to managing the "hidden collections" problem. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes current research and practices. Findings - Hidden collections are a problem for both libraries and archives. "Hidden collections" are materials that cannot be found in the online catalog or may be found there only under a collective title or un- or under-processed primary sources. These materials transcend all formats of library and archival materials (print, microform, video, etc.) and can be found throughout the library in a variety of collections from government documents to area studies to music to the reference department. It is in the area of archival and special collections, however, that this problem has received the most attention and where the greatest challenges and opportunities for exposing these collections exist. Practical implications - Many archives have backlogs and "hidden collections". This article discusses some recent efforts to identify and expose these collections to enable better archival control and researcher access that may be applied in other settings. Originality/value - This article identifies and highlights different approaches and potential solutions to the problem of hidden collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]