Tag: BTAA

  • Rutgers Joins the BTAA Geoportal

    Early map of New Brunswick, NJ.
    Early map of New Brunswick, NJ.

    Rutgers University–New Brunswick is the newest member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Information Network (BTAA-GIN). As of Fall 2022, the Rutgers–New Brunswick Libraries have contributed 4,576 new records to the BTAA Geoportal (collection record | browse link). These records come from the previously digitized “Maps of New Jersey” collection, which spans over 300 years of the state’s development from geographic, geologic, political, environmental, and historical perspectives. This digital collection is drawn from multiple repositories, including Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives, the New Jersey Environmental Digital Library, and several public library partners of the New Jersey Digital Highway.

    Included in the Rutgers collection are some rare and unique items from Special Collections and University Archives, such as this “Early Map of New Brunswick,” which Francesca Giannetti, digital humanities librarian at Rutgers University Libraries, often uses in her mapping workshops to invite discussion about the similarities and differences with Google Maps, with which familiarity can generally be assumed. The comparison surfaces the ahistoricity of Google’s interface as well as its slightly different prioritization of markers for commercial interests over public institutions and churches. Less frequently noticed is the fact that north is actually to the right in the historical map. Probing the reasons why New Brunswick might have been positioned above the Raritan River can be used as an invitation to examine the motivations and ideological underpinnings behind other cartographic conventions, such as meridians and projections.

    The Libraries’ participation in the BTAA Geoportal will help increase exposure to the Rutgers cartographic and GIS collections and open the geospatial door to the state of New Jersey. To better serve their users, the Libraries are gradually updating older JPEG presentation files with IIIF-compatible pyramidal TIFFs.

    Special thanks are owed to Karen Majewicz, Melinda Kernik, and members of the BTAA-GIN Metadata Committee for their assistance with data cleanup, the addition of bounding boxes, and IIIF troubleshooting. The metadata and digital library work of many Libraries employees is now visible in the BTAA Geoportal, including that of Rhonda Marker, Isaiah Beard, Chad Mills, Al King, and Sue Oldenburg.

  • New Collections and Modules from Adam Matthew Digital

    Adam Matthew logo.

    As a Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) member, Rutgers University Libraries has permanently purchased all Adam Matthew Digital content published from 2019 to 2022, totaling 16 new collections and seven new modules added to our existing collections. In 2020, through Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI), Rutgers University Libraries permanently purchased all Adam Matthew content published through 2018. With this new purchase, Rutgers now owns all Adam Matthew content published through 2022.

    With this collective purchase as part of the BIG Collection initiative, each BTAA member institution gained all the Adam Matthew collections published through the end of 2022 that it did not yet own. By working collectively, BTAA was able to achieve a reduction of 90% off the list price, and each member’s payment was pro-rated based on the Adam Matthew collections and modules it already owned, so Rutgers paid only for the content it did not yet own.

    Please see the list of Rutgers’ new collections and modules below. We have added every new collection to the Databases list. An easy way to view a list of the new collections is to look at the December 2022 section of the New Databases page. In some cases, we already owned modules in a collection, and now, we have gained an additional module or modules in that same collection. In these cases, we already had a databases list entry for the collection, so we simply added the new module information to the existing database page’s Description section. We are adding all the new collections and modules to QuickSearch as well. Please note that all Rutgers’ Adam Matthew content is also cross-searchable via AM Explorer.

    Adam Matthew Digital produces digitized primary source collections by sourcing original documents and other materials from libraries, museums, and archives worldwide. Because Adam Matthew is based in the United Kingdom, many of the collections concentrate on British history, culture, and literature. However, many other topics are also represented, and the primary source materials have many interdisciplinary uses.

    Please add the Adam Matthew collections to your instructional materials and share them with faculty and students. If you are a subject librarian, please check which collections are relevant to your subject areas. Given the large volume and the need for quick accessibility, preliminary subjects have been assigned to the new collections. Please contact Electronic Resources Librarian Elizabeth York if you want a database added to one of your subjects or to be a Best Bet for your subject(s). Also, please notify Elizabeth if any subject assignments need to be corrected.

     

    New Collections:

    America in World War Two
    Digitized primary sources illustrating United States military and civilian involvement in WWII.

    Central Asia, Persia & Afghanistan, 1834-1922
    Digitized files from the British Foreign Office regarding Central Asia, Persia, and Afghanistan.

    Colonial Caribbean
    Digitized files from the British Colonial Office regarding the Caribbean.

    Early Modern England
    Digitized primary sources illustrating everyday life in 16th- and 17th-century England.

    Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings
    Digitized field recordings and accompanying materials from around the world.

    Food and Drink in History
    Digitized primary sources documenting food and drink in global history.

    Foreign Office Files for Southeast Asia, 1963-1980
    Digitized files from the National Archives of the United Kingdom regarding Southeast Asia.

    The Gilded Age and Progressive Era
    Digitized primary sources documenting United States culture, industry, and politics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

    Interwar Culture
    Digitized periodicals published in the United States and Britain between the World Wars.

    Life at Sea
    Digitized primary sources documenting Anglo-American sea travel from 1600-1900.

    Mass Observation Project
    Digitized archive of the Mass Observation Project, a public opinion survey program conducted by the University of Sussex, dating from 1981-2009.

    Nineteenth Century Literary Society: The John Murray Publishing Archive
    Digitized primary source materials from the John Murray publishing company, a major British publishing house.

    Poverty, Philanthropy, and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain
    Digitized primary sources documenting poverty and efforts to alleviate it in 19th-century Britain.

    Sex and Sexuality
    Digitized primary sources, including materials from the Kinsey Institute, documenting attitudes toward sexuality, gender, and sexual behavior in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia from the 19th to 21st centuries.

    Shakespeare’s Globe Archive
    Digitized production and architectural archives of the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe theater in London.

    Victorians on Film
    Digitized films produced during the Victorian era, primarily in Great Britain.

     

    New Modules:

    Colonial America

    Digitized collection of the materials on North American colonies held in the Colonial Office files at The National Archives of the United Kingdom in London. Rutgers previously owned only Modules I-IV. We now also own Module V: Growth, Trade and Development.

    East India Company

    Digitized archives of the London administration of the East India Company and the pre-1947 government of India. Rutgers previously owned only Modules I-II. We now also own Modules III-V:

    • Module III: India Office Records, G: Factory Records for China, Japan, and the Middle East
    • Module IV: India Office Records, E: Correspondence: Early Voyages, Formation, and Conflict
    • Module V: India Office Records, E: Correspondence: Domestic Life, Governance, and Territorial Expansion

    Medical Services and Warfare

    Digitized primary sources documenting medical history during times of armed conflict dating from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Rutgers previously owned only Module I. We now also own Module II: 1928-1949.

    Service Newspapers of World War 2

    Digitized newspapers originally produced by members of various service branches on both sides of the conflict. Rutgers previously owned only Module I. We now also own Module II, which contains additional newspaper titles.

    Socialism on Film

    Digitized films originally produced in Communist countries during the 20th century. Rutgers previously owned only Modules I and II. We now also own Module III: Culture and Society.

  • Announcing the BTAA BIG Collection Steering Committee

    The Library Directors of the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) are pleased to announce the appointment of the BIG Collection Steering Committee. The objective of the BIG Collection is to create a coherent knowledge environment for Big Ten faculty and students, with content universally available to all without regard to which institution produced or purchased it. The BIG Collection will be supported by interoperable services and systems at scale that rest on a foundation of shared infrastructure.

    The Steering Committee will act as the umbrella for the initiative and the executive steward of resources and strategy.  It will guide the BTAA in implementing successful infrastructure and policy to bridge the fifteen separate libraries of our universities toward being experienced and managed as one collection, fully networked–the BIG Collection.

    As the overarching initiative to advance the commitment to a shared, interdependent future for the research libraries of the Big Ten, the BIG Collection is the lead idea, the center of gravity to align resources and activities across BTAA library initiatives. “The convening of the Steering Committee represents a significant step toward bringing shape and form to the vision of the BIG Collection,” said Maurice York, Director of Library Initiatives for the Big Ten Academic Alliance. “As a community and an alliance, we will collectively design the future that we want to see. This group is charged with thinking on behalf of the whole and holding the collective strategy. There is much more to come.”

    For more information, see “Historic Move: Big Ten Libraries Commit to Managing Separate Collections as a Single Collection (The BIG Collection)” on INFOdocket.