It's common knowledge that universities often hold amazing pieces in their library collections, from rare books to priceless works of art. Many are available for viewing simply by visiting the university, but many others are not available for public access, or visitors simply don't have the time or resources to visit in person. That's why so many colleges have begun digitizing their collections and putting them online, giving the world access to their amazing resources, and even opening up viewing of fragile or rare pieces that can't be accessed any other way. We've discovered 10 universities with incredible online collections featuring award-winning...

Duke University Libraries: eBook Strategy and Advocacy Model: "Published August 2011 and Prepared by Duke University Libraries E-Book Strategy Committee. E-Book Advocacy Model Duke University Libraries E-Book Advocacy Model E-book Advocacy Statements PDF Version of Materials (10 pages) Statements Cover the Necessary Functionalities of eBooks To Support Research: Conceptualization and Discovery Reading Theory Formation Documenting and Synthesizing Collaboration Publishing and Disseminating (Via LJ INFOdocket.)...

From the Devil’s Tale Blog (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University): The Internet Archive just reached an important milestone by digitizing 5,000 books at Duke. The 5,000th book, The British Album: In Two Volumes, contains poetry by “Della Crusca, Anna Matilda, Arley, Benedict, The Bard” and other writers on themes including love, horror, jealousy, and death, and is part of the general collections of the Rubenstein Library. The “Ode to Death” begins “THOU, whose remorseless rage, Nor vows, nor tears assuage, TRIUMPHANT DEATH!—to thee I raise, The bursting notes of dauntless praise!” The second volume can be found here. [Clip] The...

I attended this fabulous and informative session during the Charleston Conference on building an eReader collection by Aisha Harvey, Nancy Gibbs, and Natalie Sommerville of Duke University Libraries. I wanted to run my notes past the presenters first, to ensure accuracy, thus the tardiness of this post. First and foremost, according to the librarians, the eReader lending program is a team approach and impacts every aspect of the way we build collections in libraries – access, selection, cataloging, ref, circ, etc. Aisha Harvey, head of collections spoke first and provided an overview of the program. Details: began circ of...