There are a number of ways you can engage with the Digitization Centre at UBC.
Digital Collections
In accordance with our collection development policy, we are interested in building our collections in the following broad areas: British Columbiana, materials which directly support the curriculum, Faculty and Student research output, the material record of the University, and those materials which are considered to be rare or unique.
If you are a member of the UBC community and you have a project that you think fits these parameters, please download and complete our Digital Project Approval Form or submit the form online. We recommend that you contact the Digitization Centre prior to submitting your proposal so we can assist in answering any questions you may have.
Digital Preservation
Archivematica
Ensuring the long-term accessibility and usability of all of the UBC Library’s digital materials will require a holistic, institution-wide approach to define and implement a persistent digital collections strategy. The Library has developed this strategy in collaboration with Vancouver-based Artefactual Systems http://www.artefactual.com/.
The persistent digital collections implementation plan developed for UBC Library consists of using the open-source Archivematica digital preservation system to provide preservation functionality for the Library's digitized and born-digital holdings. This project report describes the plan in detail.
Digital objects produced at the Digitization Centre will be processed through the system to enable long-term management of the resources. Archivematica integrates with our access systems to ensure that preservation will be part of the standard workflow of providing access to our collections.
Archivematica - CONTENTdm Workflow Documentation
Archivematica - AtoM Workflow Documentation
Archive-It
Archive-It is a web archiving service from the Internet Archive that the University of British Columbia Library is using to harvest, build, and preserve collections of web content and make them available to users. A growing list of archived collections can be found on the UBC Library's collection page. More information about web archiving at UBC can be found under the Web Archiving tab above.
LOCKSS
UBC Library is a founding member of the COPPUL Private LOCKSS Network, a project initiated by the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL). The mission of the COPPUL PLN is to preserve digital collections of local interest to COPPUL members that are not being preserved elsewhere. UBC Library preserves our hosted OJS journals in the PLN.
Digital Preservation Sub-Committee
UBC Library has been working to implement digital preservation strategies and tools since 2011. The Digitization Centre has successfully piloted and implemented Archivematica as well as conducted a TRAC self-audit. In order to build on this existing work and to include relevant stakeholders in planning infrastructure, the Digital Preservation Working Group was formed under the auspices of UBC Library's Collections and Information Resources Standing Committee.
The Digital Preservation Working Group oversaw and provided expertise on the policies and documentation of UBC Library's Digital Preservation Strategy. The Working Group reviewed, revised and adopted existing policies, documentation and infrastructure as well was created new polices, documentation and infrastructure as necessary for the digital preservation of UBC Library's locally produced digital assets. The Digital Preservation Working Group presented its Final Report with deliverables and recommendations in August 2016 to the Collections and Information Resources Standing Committee. As a result, the working group has now transitioned to a sub-committee and increased its membership to reflect the broad applications to the Library.
To view all of our Digital Collection and Preservation Policies, please visit the UBC Library's Policies, Procedures and Guidelines webpage.
Web Archiving
The University of British Columbia Library has been archiving freely available web content for preservation and access since 2013. The goal of this web archiving service is to ensure that web content that contributes to the University’s research, teaching and learning is preserved and accessible over time. This includes online content that may constitute the institution’s corporate memory.
Our web collections can be viewed on the UBC Library’s Archive-it page. To learn more about our web archiving service, please see our web archiving information guide.
To suggest a website to add to our collections or to submit an inquiry, please complete this request form.
