Jillian Cuellar
Head, Center for Primary Research & Training and Digital Initiatives, Library Special Collections
University of California, Los Angeles
Jasmine Jones
Metadata and Technical Services Archivist
Smith College
Jennifer Weintraub
Digital Archivist
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Andrew Gomez
PhD Candidate in History
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library recently launched the Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform (LAADP), an online educational resource featuring an archives portal that allows users to search thousands of digitized primary sources across the holdings of seven institutions and a scholarship section, which showcases digital research projects created by UCLA graduate students. The LAADP was developed in UCLA Library Special Collections by the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), an innovative program that equips scholars with skills that will enable them to effectively use special collections in their research and teaching careers. The CFPRT served as a nexus for the LAADP project, pulling together the expertise of UCLA archivists, librarians, technologists, faculty, and students to accomplish two programmatic objectives. First, the CFPRT conceived of the project as a method for better integrating the Library into contemporary methods of learning and research. The project was strategically designed to inspire students to challenge traditional notions of academic work and realize new pathways for archival study and scholarship. For the LAADP, CFPRT graduate scholars participated in mass digitization projects, archival processing, digital storytelling, and a summer-long, team-based digital humanities project. This hands-on practice provided the scholars the opportunity to enhance their digital and archival research skills, while strengthening their abilities in project management and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Second, the CFPRT used the project as a vehicle for establishing a scalable infrastructure at UCLA Library that supports creating and providing access to digital primary source scholarship. The LAADP produced new workflows and procedures that Special Collections now employs for in-house digitization and metadata creation and established efficient methods for conducting copyright risk assessment for digitized primary sources. It also enabled the Digital Library Program to investigate new approaches and technologies for providing access to digital collections and content. Many of these practices have been codified into a Digital Projects Toolkit, which has enabled UCLA Library to undertake subsequent high-quality, large-scale digital projects with more agility and confidence. The Toolkit is now widely available online so that other institutions can replicate these processes. In this session, archivists, a librarian, and a PhD candidate will discuss working across departments, disciplines, and skill sets to successfully build a model for supporting and producing digital scholarship in the library.
http://digital.library.ucla.edu/aqueduct/
https://creatavist-5g9cpt3.creatavist.com/untitledproject-hypdk
http://laaqueductdhgroup2.wix.com/la-aqueduct-dh-group
https://creatavist-yrct7dz.creatavist.com/untitledproject-0j7r6
https://creatavist-8d67y25.creatavist.com/untitledproject-fhwmx
http://library.ucla.edu/special-collections/programs-projects/digital-projects-special-collections