SPEC Kit 339: Innovation and R&D · 27
The Libraries have migrated from one integrated library system (ILS) to another for the expressed purpose of
substantially improving the curation, discovery, and assessment of scholarly resources. This migration allows library
staff to configure systems for efficient and largely automated ingestion of records and links to predominantly electronic
collections. It facilitates discovery of, and connection to, a much broader range of resources. And it allows cost per
use data to be automatically tracked once configured for Counter-compliant resources. As this new ILS is being
implemented, library staff are developing new workflows and processes to take advantage of new possibilities and
efficiencies.
The library is supporting digital humanities scholarship and teaching through an innovative service model that integrates
graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and library staff members into research teams. These teams, based in
the library, place the libraries and library staff in a central role in the development of this new exciting discipline that
integrates digital technology, humanities scholarship, and information in an experiential learning framework to extend
humanistic inquiry.
The Remixing Archival Metadata Project (RAMP) is an attempt at innovation in both form and product. As a matter of
form, we are managing this project using the Agile/Scrum methodology, and trying to determine how well this process
works in a library context. The project itself involves developing software to convert EAD finding aids into EAC-CPF files
gathering additional information via web APIs (VIAF, OCLC Identities) to enrich the EAC-CPF file translating that into
wiki markup and pushing revised biographical information to Wikipedia. The desired outcomes are multiple: on the
process side, seeing if the Agile/Scrum methodology might be used in other projects on the software side, developing a
tool that will enrich Wikipedia with data from our local collections—and broaden access to our finding aids and digital
collections.
The university copyright compliance strategy was developed by the library, in partnership with other campus units, to
support the university’s decision to opt out of the Access Copyright interim tariff. Members of the copyright team work
one-on-one with members of the university community to ensure that teaching and instructional materials are copyright
compliant. Selected initiatives include developing educational resources for faculty, students, and staff on copyright
obligations and procedures enhancing instructional support to ensure appropriate permissions have been obtained
for digital materials and establishing a central permission service that clears and tracks copyright for everyone at the
university.
The University Libraries/Information Services has expanded the scope of its collection development activities to include
curated archival collections of freely available Internet resources. We received a series of grants from the Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation to develop and implement a program for incorporating web content into its collections. This work
established best practices for collecting, managing, preserving, and providing access to at-risk digital content, originally
focusing in the area of human rights but later expanded into other areas such as historic preservation and New York City
religions. The goal is to provide a model for the wider community of research libraries to use and adapt, resulting in web
content collection and preservation being fully integrated into the work of research libraries.
The University of Maryland Libraries were one of the key sponsors when the Maryland Institute for Technology in the
Humanities (MITH) was founded in 1999, and since that time, the UMD Libraries have provided physical space and
a portion of the financial support for MITH. Thirteen years into this relationship the UMD Libraries and MITH desired
a closer working relationship in order to demonstrate the enormous benefits to be gained from the collaboration of
a university library and a digital humanities research center. To support deeper collaboration, a number of initiatives
were undertaken. The creation of a joint position—Associate Director of MITH and Assistant Dean of the Libraries
for Digital Humanities Research—with responsibility for developing joint projects between MITH and the University
Libraries, coordinating activities and initiatives between the two units, and developing a digital scholarship strategy for
the Libraries’ collections was an important first step in 2011. Also in 2011, the Libraries and MITH developed the first
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