University of Oregon Libraries

History of Digital Library Initiatives

The Digital Library Initiative group was appointed in 2000 and was active between December 2000 and September 2002. In that time, it investigated the issues and the technology surrounding the creation and maintenance of digital collections, established a number of policies, and recommended the purchase of a mass storage unit, as well as a content management software package, CONTENTdm. (For a summary of the group's accomplishments, read the Final Report or look at historical local resources.

In October 2002, ongoing work implementing digital collections and investigating and documenting technical issues and procedures was taken over by the Metadata Implementation Group, led by Carol Hixson. At the same time, representatives from the Libraries' two divisions, Collections and Access and Instructional Services, were appointed as Digital Collections Gatekeepers. The Metadata Implementation Group has since ceased to exist as a formal group. Metadata issues are taken directly to the MSDP Team Leaders.

In December 2003, with the reorganization of the Catalog Department into Metadata and Digital Library Services, responsibility for coordinating digital library projects was officially transferred to that department. At that time, Hixson took over the role of Digital Library Coordinator for the Libraries. Under this new organizational structure, the Metadata Implementation Group served an advisory role on standards and technical issues for implementing digital collections. The Gatekeepers' role was to assist the Digital Library Coordinator in overseeing the continued growth and development of digital collections within the University Libraries. Patterned after Table-setters, members of the group serve both as functional experts and as voters, when votes are needed.

On August 20, 2004, the Gatekeepers were convened by Hixson to discuss a digital preservation strategy for the Libraries. At the same time, the group was renamed to Digital Content Coordinators.

In March 2007, the department was renamed Metadata Services & Digital Projects. At the same time digital collection responsibilites that formerly belonged to the department head were transferred to a new position of Digital Collections Coordinator (to be filled fall 2007). Later that summer, the Digital Content Coordinators become the Digital Infrastructure Group.

Under the leadership of the new Digital Collectionns Coordinator, the Digital Infrastructure Group ceased to operate under its former form. New Digital Collections Groups were created with specific charges: Digital Collections Board, Digital Practitioners, and Digital Systems. In fall 2008, a new Metadata Mangagement Librarian will be added to the MSDP department.

The diglib discussion list continues to serve as a discussion forum for any member of the University of Oregon Libraries community who is interested in digital library efforts. There is a separate discussion list for the members of the Metadata Implementation Group that is set up at http://uoregon.edu/~catdept/meta-data/.

Send comments and questions to Digital Collections Coordinator, Metadata Services and Digital Projects, University of Oregon Libraries.