Digital Collections and Digitization
Information
The Digital Collections and Digitization department brings greater access to the University Libraries Special Research Collections materials, in order to enhance scholarship, teaching, and community engagement.
OU Libraries' digital collections platform for cultural-heritage materials provides access to nearly 140,000 images and several audio collections representing many unique books, recordings, and other items of high interest in the Libraries' special research collections.
The Digitization Lab uses best practices for cultural-heritage digitization of early printed books, large atlases, maps, lithographs, and diverse manuscript collections. The Digitization Lab is also a resource for information and some consulting on best practices, practical workflows, equipment, and software.
About the Team
This unit is led by Barbara Laufersweiler, Director, Digital Collections and Digitization, and is a part of the Digital Strategies & Innovation division of OU Libraries. Teammembers include:
- Rick J. Schultz, Digitization Lab Coordinator
- Cassondra Darling, Digital Collections Librarian
Featured Projects
Upgraded Digital Collections Site
The OU Libraries Digital Collections Repository is getting a major upgrade—and it's already available for beta testing! This new platform consolidates digital special research collections materials previously scattered across multiple sites into a single, unified repository. Users will enjoy faceted search, enhanced browsing, and a more intuitive experience for discovering OU’s rich cultural, historical, and scholarly collections.
Access to the beta version is available through a banner on repository.ou.edu, and features real content and a prominent feedback form for your input. The full launch of the new repository is scheduled for December 2025.
Indians for Indians Hour Radio Show Digital Collection
The Digital Collections and Digitization unit developed a digital collection of the Indians for Indians Hour Radio Show audio recordings from the 1940s through the 1970s. The unit advised on metadata and file handling for the outsourced grant-funded digitization of the fragile audio tapes. When the digital files arrived, the unit coordinated processes in collaboration with Western History Collections and several other OU Libraries units, making the files accessible to Exhibition and Special Research Collections staff and creating the online, publicly accessible digital collection. The digital collection debuted alongside the opening of the related exhibition "Native Voices over the Airwaves".
Digitization for Renegades American School of Architecture
OU Libraries Digitization Lab digitized many original drawings and blueprints in support of several iterations of the exhibition Renegades: Bruce Goff and the American School of Architecture in Bizzell Memorial Library, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, and OU Tulsa Schusterman Library; the Biennale Architettura 2018, Venice, Italy; and the exhibition catalog published by OU Press. This was part of a collaboration between OU Libraries and OU College of Architecture.
Learn More About the DigiLab
FAQ
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For digitization information, requests, and inquiries, contact us.