Making your digital collections easier to discover

Digital archives built by students: inherited learning at University of Hertfordshire

Inherited learning is the latest stage of a programme to develop digital history methods in the undergraduate curriculum at the University of Hertfordshire’s history department.

Involving more members of staff than before and a range of topics, it engages students in discovering visual and textual material from online archives in response to specific remits. Learners construct the results into new archival collections that are published on the open web and used as a resource on which subsequent student cohorts can build. Harnessing students’ propensity to use digital technology in their studies, as well as generally in their lives, it puts this to use in the service of techniques integral to the evolution of the discipline and the construction of genuine historical knowledge. Read the case study (pdf).

Digital diseases: creating 3D models of human bones at the University of Bradford

Digitised diseases is a collection of 3D models of human bones created at the University of Bradford in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Museum of London Archaeology.

The collection provides an open access resource for both students and researchers which supports the study of human osteology and palaeopathology, physical anthropology and related medical disciplines. Students can use this collection in conjunction with hands-on access to real specimens, in an innovative and integrated learning environment. Read the case study (pdf).

Turning students into scholars: embedding digital collections in the history collection at Cardiff University

Working directly with primary sources in an online digital archive, primarily the UK Medical History Library, has been embedded into the curriculum of a second year social history of medicine module at Cardiff University.

The aim is to take advantage of the accessibility of digital archives so as to introduce students to working with primary source materials early in their education, to offer a grounding in techniques associated with the digital humanities and to progress them faster towards independent research. Read the case study (pdf).

Wikimedia in the curriculum: addressing the challenges of digital and information literacy, digital scholarship and open knowledge at the University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is the first university in the UK to appoint a university-wide Wikimedian in residence. Their role is to work with course teams and students across the university, to demonstrate how learning to contribute to Wikipedia can become part of the university’s strategy to help develop information and digital literacy skills. Read the case study (pdf).

Teaching with digital archives to improve pedagogy: teaching digital history techniques to undergraduates at Loughborough University

Good teaching in a digital world requires that students learn the digital skills they need both for their studies and their future careers. With imagination and willingness to experiment, university teachers can use digital tools to help students develop better skills of reflection, analysis and evaluation.

However, experience in history at Loughborough University shows that, with imaginative use of digital archival collections, it is possible to go further, enabling students to work directly with primary sources in ways not previously feasible. Read the case study (pdf).

Observing the 80s: creating and curating a digital archive collection at University of Sussex

Observing the 80s is a collection of digitised material drawn from multiple sources including the mass observation project at the University of Sussex.

Having been created in 2013/14 as a collaborative project with undergraduate and postgraduate students working together with academic staff, librarians and IT experts, the materials are now available as an open educational resource (OER) and used for a variety of teaching purposes at the university fo Sussex, including the module "1984: Thatcher's Britain". Read the case study (pdf).

Panopticon and the people: digital approaches to the history of crime and punishment at University of Liverpool

The undergraduate module 'panopticon and the people’ was developed by Dr Zoe Alker, Lecturer in the department of sociology, social policy and criminology at the University of Liverpool. Launched in 2017/18 the module uses a range of digital archive collections, both freely available and subscription services, to engage students directly with primary sources. Read the case study (pdf).

Board of Longitude

Huw Jones, Cambridge University Digital Library, illustrates the huge impact that engaging with academic researchers can have on the discovery and use of digital materials through use of the Board of Longitude project. Watch the Board of Longitude case study video.

Modelling, reconstructions, virtual worlds - connecting collections, researchers and the public

Louise Hampson, the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, University of York, discusses the use of modelling, reconstructions and virtual worlds to bring collections and original academic research together. Watch the digital past case study video.

In the loop

As an example of social media in action Linda Newington, University of Southampton, discusses the success of temporarily using Twitter to promote the Knitting Reference Library @intheloop3 activities. Watch the in the loop case study video.

Social media and the balanced value impact model

Focusing resource discovery activities and social media strategies at the Museum of Design and Architecture, Middlesex University using the balanced value impact model. Read the full case study (pdf).

Using Flickr to promote special collections

Uploading photographs of 19th and early 20th century China from the Sir Robert Hart Collection to Flickr by Queen's University, Belfast. Read the full case study (pdf).

Using Google Search console to track impact and use of collections

Implementing search engine optimisation (SEO) to understand users and use of special collections and the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield. Read the full case study (pdf).

Using resource discovery techniques to create a user-friendly web presence

Adopting best practices in resource discovery and website design to re-launch the Museum of Rural English Life at the University of Reading. Read the full case study (pdf).

Improving student engagement with Box of Broadcasts

Promoting internal use of the Box of Broadcasts (BoB) at the University of West London to improve student engagement with the library. Read the full case study (pdf).

Promoting use of The Education Times Collection

Maximising visibility and the impact of online digital collections at University College London. Read the full case study (pdf).

Promoting the institutional repository

Strategies to promote take-up in deposit and discovery of materials in the institutional repository at the University of West London. Read the full case study (pdf).

Improving how your content is found and displayed by web search engines like Google can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by:

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Offer economy of access

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by:

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals
  

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Improving how your content is found and displayed by web search engines will help those who:

Use a general search engine to find content

Students at all levels, teachers and researchers report making use of general search engines to locate resources. Google is most often cited but others are used. Many students at undergraduate level report that they go no further than the first page of search engine results, and often no further than any Wikipedia entry highlighted. More advanced students and researchers will often use the search engine as the first stage of a more extensive discovery process.

Use a general web service, like Wikipedia, to find content

Research shows that most undergraduate students make use of well-known web-based services as a key part of their discovery behaviour. The most-used service is Wikipedia, although others such as YouTube and Flickr are mentioned for appropriate disciplines. Many students will go no further, though some will go on to cite, and some of those to visit, any references the service lists. Literature reports that teachers may also use Wikipedia, primarily to see what their students are finding. Graduate students and researchers may sometimes use Wikipedia for a quick introduction to a new topic.

Use a Google services (Scholar, Books etc) to find content

Faculty researchers not only use a general search engine to find papers and books, but will often use specialist services such as Google Scholar and Google Books as the starting point for keyword searches or for citation analyses. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students are also reported as using these services as one method of discovery. Some students report that book previews in Google Books can be sufficient for them to feel no need to seek out the full volume.

Promoting your digital collections through social media can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by:

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Enrich teaching and learning

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by:

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Assist widening participation

Universities are strategically committed to widening participation across social and economic groupings in higher education for all levels (undergraduate degrees, postgraduate studies, continuing and professional education) and regardless of mode (ranging from full time to distance education and MOOCs).

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Showcasing attractive and original learning and research content to prospective students
• Enabling re-use, thus adding value to educational resources, not only for university use but also for schools and colleges
• Social media amplification that brings original digitised content to the attention of key interest groups, such as A level teachers or local interest groups

Offer economy of access

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals
  

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Promoting your digital collections through social media will help those who:

Use a general search engine to find content

Students at all levels, teachers and researchers report making use of general search engines to locate resources. Google is most often cited but others are used. Many students at undergraduate level report that they go no further than the first page of search engine results, and often no further than any Wikipedia entry highlighted. More advanced students and researchers will often use the search engine as the first stage of a more extensive discovery process.

Find content on recommendation from teachers

Students at all levels look for recommendations from teachers to guide them towards resources. These can be either through course reading lists or in the form of recommendations made in class or in a one-to-one discussion. When searching for resources to recommend, teachers tend to rely on their own specialist knowledge of the field, but may use library catalogues or online databases to check they have not missed anything relevant.

Find content by following experts

Students and researchers who are becoming familiar with their field of interest recognise the value of identifying and following experts. Establishing who are experts and finding their publications is seen as a good way to enter into a new topic of research. An overview article or chapter written by a subject expert is seen as an excellent starting point for further exploration. When preparing to teach courses staff are also likely to look for relevant courses taught by other experts for examples and to compare approaches.

Use online social tools to find content

Students and researchers use online social tools to form peer communities in which information on resources will be exchanged. Most used are e-mail lists, writing personal and shared blogs, and tracking relevant blogs, often through RSS feeds. A few report use of Twitter for this purpose, but Facebook is not mentioned. Students are more likely to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a way of sharing resources where this forms part of the way they keep in touch with peers and classmates.

Using aggregators to enhance your digital collections can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enrich teaching and learning

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Offer economy of access 

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Enhancing your digital collections through the use of aggregators will help those who:

Use an online research resource or a database to find content

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, bookmark and then directly access online resources, including collections and databases, that they find valuable and to which they want to make return visits. Old Bailey Online and the Astrophysics Data System are two examples studied in the literature, but there are many more.

Find content on recommendation from teachers

Students at all levels look for recommendations from teachers to guide them towards resources. These can be either through course reading lists or in the form of recommendations made in class or in a one-to-one discussion. When searching for resources to recommend, teachers tend to rely on their own specialist knowledge of the field, but may use library catalogues or online databases to check they have not missed anything relevant.

Making your digital collection available for learning and teaching can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enrich learning and teaching

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Contribute to widening participation activities

Universities are strategically committed to widening participation across social and economic groupings in higher education for all levels (undergraduate degrees, postgraduate studies, continuing and professional education) and regardless of mode (ranging from full time to distance education and MOOCs).

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Showcasing attractive and original learning and research content to prospective students
• Enabling re-use, thus adding value to educational resources, not only for university use but also for schools and colleges
• Social media amplification that brings original digitised content to the attention of key interest groups, such as A level teachers or local interest groups

Making your digital collection available for learning and teaching will help those who find content on recommendation from teachers.

These can be either through course reading lists or in the form of recommendations made in class or in a one-to-one discussion. When searching for resources to recommend, teachers tend to rely on their own specialist knowledge of the field, but may use library catalogues or online databases to check they have not missed anything relevant.

Ensuring you get the most out of popular web destinations can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Contribute to widening participation activities

Universities are strategically committed to widening participation across social and economic groupings in higher education for all levels (undergraduate degrees, postgraduate studies, continuing and professional education) and regardless of mode (ranging from full time to distance education and MOOCs).

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Showcasing attractive and original learning and research content to prospective students
• Enabling re-use, thus adding value to educational resources, not only for university use but also for schools and colleges
• Social media amplification that brings original digitised content to the attention of key interest groups, such as A level teachers or local interest groups

Ensure economy of access

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals
  

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Ensuring you get the most out of popular web destinations will help those who:

Use a general web service to find content

Research shows that most undergraduate students make use of well-known web-based services as a key part of their discovery behaviour. The most-used service is Wikipedia, although others such as YouTube and Flickr are mentioned for appropriate disciplines. Many students will go no further, though some will go on to cite, and some of those to visit, any references the service lists. Literature reports that teachers may also use Wikipedia, primarily to see what their students are finding. Graduate students and researchers may sometimes use Wikipedia for a quick introduction to a new topic.

Use a Google services (Scholar, Books etc) to find content

Faculty researchers not only use a general search engine to find papers and books, but will often use specialist services such as Google Scholar and Google Books as the starting point for keyword searches or for citation analyses. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students are also reported as using these services as one method of discovery. Some students report that book previews in Google Books can be sufficient for them to feel no need to seek out the full volume.

Use online social tools to find content

Students and researchers use online social tools to form peer communities in which information on resources will be exchanged. Most used are e-mail lists, writing personal and shared blogs, and tracking relevant blogs, often through RSS feeds. A few report use of Twitter for this purpose, but Facebook is not mentioned. Students are more likely to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a way of sharing resources where this forms part of the way they keep in touch with peers and classmates.

Enhancing the user experience of your collection can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enrich learning and teaching

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Assist widening participation

Universities are strategically committed to widening participation across social and economic groupings in higher education for all levels (undergraduate degrees, postgraduate studies, continuing and professional education) and regardless of mode (ranging from full time to distance education and MOOCs).

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Showcasing attractive and original learning and research content to prospective students
• Enabling re-use, thus adding value to educational resources, not only for university use but also for schools and colleges
• Social media amplification that brings original digitised content to the attention of key interest groups, such as A level teachers or local interest groups

Build a scholarly record

Alongside a range of institutions and authorities, Universities play a critical role in building the scholarly record, not only by undertaking research and cultivating dialogue but also in capturing, validating and preserving scholarly assets. These assets include underlying data, publications and artefacts. 

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making unique assets more accessible for citation, social recommendation and re-use as a result of representing them in the digital world
• Providing a digital backstop in the preservation chain
• Reducing wear and tear on original artefacts

Offer economy of access

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals
  

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Enhancing the user experience of your collection will help those who:

Use a general search engine to find content

Students at all levels, teachers and researchers report making use of general search engines to locate resources. Google is most often cited but others are used. Many students at undergraduate level report that they go no further than the first page of search engine results, and often no further than any Wikipedia entry highlighted. More advanced students and researchers will often use the search engine as the first stage of a more extensive discovery process.

Use a general web service to find content

Research shows that most undergraduate students make use of well-known web-based services as a key part of their discovery behaviour. The most-used service is Wikipedia, although others such as YouTube and Flickr are mentioned for appropriate disciplines. Many students will go no further, though some will go on to cite, and some of those to visit, any references the service lists. Literature reports that teachers may also use Wikipedia, primarily to see what their students are finding. Graduate students and researchers may sometimes use Wikipedia for a quick introduction to a new topic.

Use Google services (Scholar, Books etc) to find content

Faculty researchers not only use a general search engine to find papers and books, but will often use specialist services such as Google Scholar and Google Books as the starting point for keyword searches or for citation analyses. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students are also reported as using these services as one method of discovery. Some students report that book previews in Google Books can be sufficient for them to feel no need to seek out the full volume.

Use online research resources or databases to find content

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, bookmark and then directly access online resources, including collections and databases, that they find valuable and to which they want to make return visits. Old Bailey Online and the Astrophysics Data System are two examples studied in the literature, but there are many more.

Find content on recommendation from teachers

Students at all levels look for recommendations from teachers to guide them towards resources. These can be either through course reading lists or in the form of recommendations made in class or in a one-to-one discussion. When searching for resources to recommend, teachers tend to rely on their own specialist knowledge of the field, but may use library catalogues or online databases to check they have not missed anything relevant.

Find content by following experts online

Students and researchers who are becoming familiar with their field of interest recognise the value of identifying and following experts. Establishing who are experts and finding their publications is seen as a good way to enter into a new topic of research. An overview article or chapter written by a subject expert is seen as an excellent starting point for further exploration. When preparing to teach courses staff are also likely to look for relevant courses taught by other experts for examples and to compare approaches.

Use online social tools to find content

Students and researchers use online social tools to form peer communities in which information on resources will be exchanged. Most used are e-mail lists, writing personal and shared blogs, and tracking relevant blogs, often through RSS feeds. A few report use of Twitter for this purpose, but Facebook is not mentioned. Students are more likely to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a way of sharing resources where this forms part of the way they keep in touch with peers and classmates.

Find content by following citation chains

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, place high value on following bibliographic references from books and articles they are reading, as a way of expanding their reference lists. This applies both to when they are researching new topics and as a way of expanding their knowledge of a research field in which they are already active.

Making your digital collection available for learning and teaching can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Build a scholarly record

Alongside a range of institutions and authorities, Universities play a critical role in building the scholarly record, not only by undertaking research and cultivating dialogue but also in capturing, validating and preserving scholarly assets. These assets include underlying data, publications and artefacts. 

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making unique assets more accessible for citation, social recommendation and re-use as a result of representing them in the digital world
• Providing a digital backstop in the preservation chain
• Reducing wear and tear on original artefacts

Making your digital collection available for learning and teaching will help those who:

Use a Google services (Scholar, Books etc) to find content

Faculty researchers not only use a general search engine to find papers and books, but will often use specialist services such as Google Scholar and Google Books as the starting point for keyword searches or for citation analyses. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students are also reported as using these services as one method of discovery. Some students report that book previews in Google Books can be sufficient for them to feel no need to seek out the full volume.

Use an online research resource or a database to find content

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, bookmark and then directly access online resources, including collections and databases, that they find valuable and to which they want to make return visits. Old Bailey Online and the Astrophysics Data System are two examples studied in the literature, but there are many more.

Find content by following experts

Students and researchers who are becoming familiar with their field of interest recognise the value of identifying and following experts. Establishing who are experts and finding their publications is seen as a good way to enter into a new topic of research. An overview article or chapter written by a subject expert is seen as an excellent starting point for further exploration. When preparing to teach courses staff are also likely to look for relevant courses taught by other experts for examples and to compare approaches.

Use online social tools to find content

Students and researchers use online social tools to form peer communities in which information on resources will be exchanged. Most used are e-mail lists, writing personal and shared blogs, and tracking relevant blogs, often through RSS feeds. A few report use of Twitter for this purpose, but Facebook is not mentioned. Students are more likely to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a way of sharing resources where this forms part of the way they keep in touch with peers and classmates.

Find content by following citation chains

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, place high value on following bibliographic references from books and articles they are reading, as a way of expanding their reference lists. This applies both to when they are researching new topics and as a way of expanding their knowledge of a research field in which they are already active.

Creating collection champions can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enrich teaching and learning

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Enhance reputation

Reputation for research, learning, teaching and more broadly as an institution is developed on a number of fronts ranging from impact measures to astute marketing and publicity. Most would agree that high profile collections can play a part in that mix, demonstrating scholarly tradition, worthy investment and learning opportunity, especially in the humanities.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Making the institution collections richly visible to the widest audience online
• Providing a vehicle for widely resonant press releases and associated social media
• Generating exposure through use in A-level teaching

Creating collection champions will help those who:

Find content on recommendation from teachers

Students at all levels look for recommendations from teachers to guide them towards resources. These can be either through course reading lists or in the form of recommendations made in class or in a one-to-one discussion. When searching for resources to recommend, teachers tend to rely on their own specialist knowledge of the field, but may use library catalogues or online databases to check they have not missed anything relevant.

Find content by following experts online

Students and researchers who are becoming familiar with their field of interest recognise the value of identifying and following experts. Establishing who are experts and finding their publications is seen as a good way to enter into a new topic of research. An overview article or chapter written by a subject expert is seen as an excellent starting point for further exploration. When preparing to teach courses staff are also likely to look for relevant courses taught by other experts for examples and to compare approaches.

Use online social tools to find content

Students and researchers use online social tools to form peer communities in which information on resources will be exchanged. Most used are e-mail lists, writing personal and shared blogs, and tracking relevant blogs, often through RSS feeds. A few report use of Twitter for this purpose, but Facebook is not mentioned. Students are more likely to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a way of sharing resources where this forms part of the way they keep in touch with peers and classmates.

Find content by following citation chains

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, place high value on following bibliographic references from books and articles they are reading, as a way of expanding their reference lists. This applies both to when they are researching new topics and as a way of expanding their knowledge of a research field in which they are already active.

Ensuring your digital collection works well with local discovery services can contribute to institutional strategies to:

Enrich learning and teaching

Universities are universally focused on opportunities to enhance student experience and success though enriching learning and teaching provision. Providers at all levels are looking for digital technologies to increase flexibility of mode, to enable personalisation and collaboration and to transform access to and contextualisation of resources.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Enriching course materials and open education resources
• Providing a window on the world of advanced study and the mechanics of scholarship
• Offering teachers new opportunities to animate their subject areas

Enable research

Research is measured through a broad suite of impact factors that are underpinned by the strengths of people and resources. In many disciplines, those assets are increasingly distributed and virtualised, with research groups operating across faculty, institutional and geographic boundaries. The availability of content in a digital environment supports the distributed academy, providing a platform for the individual and the community.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Offering flexibility of access in terms of location and time
• Linking scanned images with reusable text, lexical tools, metadata and commentary
• Applying advancing IT techniques to analysis and comparison of texts and data
• Providing a platform for interaction amongst scholars, linking commentary and debate directly to sources

Improve efficiency and effectiveness

The strategic outcomes of digitisation can alternatively be described in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. This is particularly evident in the cases of learning and teaching and of research, where digitisation brings opportunities for greater effectiveness (personalisation, collaboration, etc) as well as saving time and money.

The cases for efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed by comparing current practice (for example in curation, learning and research). However, it is important to beware of overstating economic benefits as the costs of digitisation are highly variable and may be set against zero cost (though less effective) alternatives.

Ensure economy of access

Alongside memory institutions, universities recognise the importance of providing access to unique texts and other assets of scholarly significance held in their special collections. However, supporting physical access is costly and inefficient for all parties. Whilst principally of interest to researchers in the institution, in the wider HE community and beyond, the potential for these assets to enrich the learning and teaching experience is increasingly recognised, especially if they can be readily accessed in digital form.

Digitised content can make a strong contribution to these objectives by

• Alleviating pressures on curators to accommodate visiting scholars
• Saving visiting costs to the researcher or student, with resulting environmental benefits
• Opening up resources to students who would be unlikely to access the originals
  

The global pandemic of 2020-2021 showed how digital access to collections can suddenly and unexpectedly become essential when onsite access for users is not possible for some reason.

Ensuring your digital collection works well with local discovery services will help those who use an online research resource or a database to find content.

Researchers, both graduate students and faculty, bookmark and then directly access online resources, including collections and databases, that they find valuable and to which they want to make return visits. Old Bailey Online and the Astrophysics Data System are two examples studied in the literature, but there are many more.