How to enhance the valorisation of digitized heritage collections? A few remarks on the practices in place at ULiège Library

Speaker

Renaud Adam (University of Liège)

Abstract

The dissemination and valorisation of ancient heritage through digitization is undoubtedly a challenge faced by heritage libraries since the great digital conversion. This subject has been the focus of a reflective process by the ULiège Library for several years. My speech will provide an opportunity to present the various existing projects and those currently under development. The year 2009 marks the launch of the DONum portal (Dépôts d’Objets Numérisés / Repository of digitized objects). It is a virtual library allowing everyone to access the digitized collections of objects preserved at the University of Liège. The creation of this portal is based on a voluntary approach to disseminate our collections in Open Access and preserve our collections: once digitized and put online, the documents can be better preserved. Scientific blogging activity or virtual exhibitions can highlight certain types of preserved documents or themes through the online distribution of digitized collections. In addition, since 2015, consideration has been given to the possibility of optimizing the dissemination of heritage collections in Open Access by associating with the digital objects of the University of Liège a scientific content of great rigor accessible free of charge. ULiège Library has partnered with researchers from the University of Liège to accomplish this. My aim is to use crowdsourcing opportunities to help heritage libraries address the many challenges that arise from digitizing old books. The presentation will conclude with a presentation of high-level popularization projects on various themes related to the history of the book and our collections.