The Digital Diamondback: Unfolding University History through Open Standards and Open Data

Abstract

Student newspapers have a long tradition of capturing unfolding narratives of campus history. As such, they are an invaluable resource for researchers interested in campus history and our staff when answering reference questions. Though microfilmed to ensure long-term preservation, many researchers find microfilm tedious to use, and it can also be prohibitive for researchers unable to travel to campus to use it. In response, staff at the UMD Libraries began planning in 2013 for a multi-year project to make digitized issues of The Diamondback accessible through the Libraries' website. As of the end of March 2018, nearly 7,900 issues of The Diamondback spanning from 1910 to 1998 are available online with full-text searching and browsing by date and title. The panelists from Digital Systems and Stewardship (DSS) and Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) will discuss different aspects of the project, including: Fundraising using UMD's crowdfunding platform, Launch UMD; metadata based on the National Digital Newspaper Program specifications; data modeling that enables our metadata to be repurposed across applications; and the impact of having The Diamondback digitized and online for our users and staff. Presented at the 2018 UMD Libraries Research and Innovative Practice Forum.