New Research Article: “Beyond the Scanned Image: A Needs Assessment of Scholarly Users of Digital Collections”
The following article (PREPRINT) was accepted for publication on July 25, 2014. and posted online today and is scheduled for publication in the July 1, 2015 issue of College & Research Libraries.
Title
Beyond the Scanned Image: A Needs Assessment of Scholarly Users of Digital Collections
Authors
Harriett E. Green
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Angela Courtney
Indiana University at Bloomington Libraries
Source
College & Research Libraries Website
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of how humanities scholars utilize digital collections in their research and the ways in which digital collections could be enhanced for scholarly use. The authors surveyed and interviewed humanities faculty from twelve research universities about their research practices with digital collections and present analysis of the resulting responses.
The paper also analyzes a sample of qualitative responses from the Bamboo Technology Project’s workshops with faculty, librarians, and technologists about the use and functionalities of digital materials for humanities research. This paper synthesizes these data analyses to propose the critical need for interoperability and data curation in digital collections to increase their scholarly use, and the importance of user engagement in development of digital collections.
Direct to Full Text Article (37 pages; PDF)
See Also: Bamboo Project Info
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Data Files, Digital Collections, Interactive Tools, Journal Articles, Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Reports

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.