Recollection: Establishing Digital Workflows for a Legal Civil Rights Archive Ashton Wingate, Shelby Wong NAACP Legal Defense Fund, United States of America
Since 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has been the leading civil rights law firm in the fight for racial justice. This presentation provides an overview of the development of our digital workflows, from processing physical materials to publishing them on our website, Recollection – the first public digital repository of its kind.
Clearing a Path for a Virtual Reading Room Program Sara Fuchs(1), Katherine Fisher(2), Lindsey Memory(3) 1: Emory University Library, United States of America; 2: Emory University Library, United States of America; 3: Brigham Young University Library, United States of America
This panel explores how Emory and BYU are designing Virtual Reading Rooms (VRRs) to expand access to restricted digital materials. Presenters will discuss differing definitions and use cases for VRRs then share lessons from their own pilot projects—including cross-institutional collaboration, legal and technical challenges, and policy design—offering practical insights for building ethical, sustainable, and mission-driven VRR programs.
Hire Learning: Reducing Accessibility Work Burnout with Newer Methodical Student Employee Hiring Bryan Birchmeier University of Michigan Libraries
An overview of accessibility initiatives at the University of Michigan libraries which employ students with specific, complementary skills to address remediation of content, alleviate workload, and address accessibility gaps present at the libraries.
Treasures and Trust: Expanding Access through the HBCU Digital Library Trust Initiative Christine Wiseman(1), Andrea Jackson Gavin(2), Kendall Barksdale(1), Lynn Davies(1) 1: Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, United States of America; 2: Harvard Library
The HBCU Digital Library Trust unites HBCU archival collections with digitization resources and expertise to broaden access to rich institutional history. Team members from the HBCU Trust and AUC Woodruff Library will highlight the innovative relationship building and technical practices utilized to expand this premiere digital collection of HBCU history.
Inclusive description? In this political climate? Emma Beck(2), Challen Wright(1) 1: University of Nevada, Reno, United States of America; 2: University of Louisville, United States of America
This presentation explores writing harmful content statements at the University of Nevada, Reno and implementing inclusive description work at University of Louisville. Attendees will learn about the practical and theoretical work from each university and how these presenters are doing this work in the midst of current and-DEI legislation.
Guided Play Meets Academic Makerspace: Instructional Design for 3D Digital Design and Fabrication Technology Heejoung Shin University of Illinois Chicago, United States of America
This presentation discusses pedagogical strategies for designing in-person technology instruction in academic Makerspaces serving diverse learners. Grounded in the guided play framework, it highlights how thoughtfully designed stage, learning activities, assessment, and selected tools enhance engagement and learning. Outreach strategies and future directions for digital technology instruction will be covered.
Slowing Down to Move Forward: Reimagining Digital Services in Academic Libraries Mikala Narlock(1), Theresa Berger(2), Wanda Marsolek(2), Joanna Thielen(3), Summer Mengarelli(4) 1: Indiana University, United States of America; 2: University of Minnesota, United States of America; 3: University of Michigan, United States of America; 4: University of Notre Dame, United States of America
This panel introduces Slow principles and offers strategies for sustainable digital services while acknowledging the privilege of the Slow approach. Drawing from case studies in digitization and research data management, panelists will demonstrate how adopting Slow principles can lead to more sustainable workflows, improved service quality, and enhanced staff satisfaction.
Fostering Civic Engagement Through Digital Archives – The Revolutionary City Project Bayard Miller American Philosophical Society, United States of America
This presentation will discuss a major digital initiative that relied on collaborative co-creation–uniting developers, library professionals, digital humanists, and educators–to build a project that increases access to and engagement with archival holdings in an effort to foster a deeper understanding of history and inspire informed civic dialogue.
Cultural Assessment Working Group (CAWG) Working Session: Inclusive Metadata Work in the Current Political Climate Jackson Huang(1), Sarah Lynn Fisher(2), Alexandra Provo(3), Morgan McKeehan(4) 1: Educopia, United States of America; 2: University of North Texas; 3: New York University; 4: Oregon State University
Following up on last year’s publication for the Inclusive Metadata Toolkit, the Cultural Assessment Working Group (CAWG) will be facilitating a working session for participants to share and discuss strategies to successfully advocate for and carry out inclusive metadata work, especially with increasingly restrictive state and federal policies.
Using AI to Unlock Access to Digitized Newspapers Jessica Chapel(1), Catherine Brobston(2) 1: Boston Public Library; 2: Harvard Institutional Data Initiative, United States of America
Newspapers are notoriously complex digital objects. They are also incredibly valuable for historians, genealogists and, increasingly, AI model makers seeking to embed historical knowledge into their models. This talk summarizes a pilot from Boston Public Library and Harvard’s Institutional Data Initiative to leverage AI to enhance traditional access and facilitate responsible AI training.
Automate the Annoying Parts: A Case Study for Why Metadata Librarians Should Learn Programming Amelia Mowry Wayne State University, United States of America
The ingestion of legacy collections to digital collections systems often involves many steps including metadata extraction, transformation, and enhancement as well as the processing of files. This case study will demonstrate how python can be used to create interactive programs that automate some of the steps in this process.
