The High-Impact Digital Library: Innovative Approaches for Outreach and Instruction, by Anna Neatrour, Jeremy Myntti, Rachel Jane Wittmann, Rebekah Cummings, Jane D. Monson, and Megan Myres McMillan
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The High-Impact Digital Library examines the work of librarians responsible for digital collections in a GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archives and Museum) context.It is an understudied area compared to, say, the work of instruction librarians, as the authors, Neatrour et al., note in their introduction (vii).The book focusses on digital collections outreach work "beyond simply placing the content in an online repository for users to discover" (vii).Its institutional scope covers American and Canadian libraries and collections, with academic libraries as an important element, but also includes public and state libraries, archives, and special collections.The book aims to examine how digital libraries are doing outreach, and it reflects on those experiences to inform future directions for outreach and instruction.The authors are all academic librarians with extensive experience in managing digital collections.They presented their ideas for developing this book via research surveys at an ALA Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures meeting in October 2022.Their research methodology consisted of a professionally designed survey and interviews with digital collections practitioners.The survey was sent to discussion lists commonly used in the field of digital librarianship, such as Code4Lib, the Digital Library Federation, and the ALA's Metadata Interest Group, in November 2022.There were 82 respondents, ten of whom agreed to a further structured interview.The authors recognize the great diversity in outreach techniques and programs mentioned in the survey responses but consider that outreach takes place in three main ways: "social media promotion, integration of digital collections into teaching canadian journal of academic librarianship revue canadienne de bibliothéconomie universitaire
Author: Douglas Fox
Institution: University of Toronto
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4411336056