114 · SPEC Kit 294
University of Connecticut
Policy Statement on Description &Access
for Digital Collections at the UConn Libraries
Drafted by the Digital Collections Facilitation Team Approved by Leadership Council on
June 4, 2003.
Background
In accordance with the University Libraries’ “Digital Collections Strategic Plan” (March 2002), the digital
collections program will strive to “describe digital collections in accordance with established metadata,
cataloging, and other standards to promote interoperability and provide effective universal access to
resources.” The ability to accomplish this description and access goal was partially realized with the
purchase of Endeavor Information System’s digital library product, ENCompass, in fall 2002. The
ENCompass for Digital Collections (EDC) module specifically enables the University Libraries to more
fully integrate access to owned, licensed, and locally developed resources while simultaneously providing a
comprehensive tool for the standardization of descriptive, technical, and preservation metadata.
Policy
The digital collections program must continually evolve in response to emerging national and international
standards and grow in concert with access technologies purchased, adopted, and supported by the
University Libraries. Therefore, the DCFT advocates that, where appropriate and applicable, existing and
future locally-developed digital collections should be integrated into the ENCompass system. In addition,
effective spring 2003, the DCFT will only endorse delivery of standards-based digital collections using
XML or prevailing technologies that are compatible with ENCompass.
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