The services available in Atlanta University Center’s repository initiative helped make possible the success of their recent outstanding victories. Congratulations to the Atlanta University Center (AUC) consortium for winning the 2016 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award! Their IR initiative, DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, helped make possible this tremendous honor through publishing archival content and providing metrics on successful download and upload numbers. In addition, the AUC won an NEH grant to digitize and provide access to archival African American Religion collections.
The Library submitted a comprehensive application for the ACRL Excellence Award that highlighted the Library’s many services, with a section on digitization initiatives and programs in the repository including the importance of preservation. Jennifer M. Spann, Communications Manager at AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, recently explained Digital Commons’ role in furthering institutional goals for the AUC:
“Our mission is to provide the highest level of information resources and services in support of teaching and learning, scholarship, and cultural preservation of the Atlanta University Center. Our digital collections, online exhibits are helping us achieve that mission by offering traditional and emerging technologies to expand access to AUC scholarly and cultural resources. Through these resources, we are helping to share the story of the AUC institutions and people to a broader audience across the world and leading in the preservation of those stories for future generations.”
Christine Wiseman, Head of the Digital Services Unit at the Library, says the NEH grant to digitize the collections pertaining to African American Religion emphasized the importance of free access to the data. This three-year grant will help make available over 1,000 unique recordings in this under-documented field, including 15 archival collections with audio and video components. Their repository services make it possible to fulfill the grant’s requirements for data management and wide accessibility for the material.
