University of Florida Digital Collections

Last updated
Digital Collection (UFDC)
Type Subsidiary
IndustryLibrary
FoundedApril 2006
Headquarters Gainesville, Florida, United States
Parent George A. Smathers Libraries
Website ufdc.ufl.edu/

The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) are supported by the University of Florida Digital Library Center in the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) comprise a constantly growing collection of digital resources from the University of Florida's library collections as well as partner institutions. Founded in April 2006, [1] UFDC has added over 622,114 items - books, newspapers, oral histories, videos, photos, data sets, and more - with over 14 million pages.

Contents

Preservation and Access

A photograph titled "11 Women in costumes" (1930s) from the University Archive Photo Collection, one of the collections in UFDC. UF00029712.jpg
A photograph titled "11 Women in costumes" (1930s) from the University Archive Photo Collection, one of the collections in UFDC.

The majority of materials are freely and openly accessible (Open Access) and provide full text searchability. In UFDC, all items can be text searched simultaneously or certain collections can be selected for a faceted search. Because UFDC grew out of the efforts of the University of Florida Libraries' Preservation Department, all items are scanned at preservation quality and all are digitally preserved with redundant backups. The page images are particularly important for the preservation of artifactually significant materials such as maps, artifacts, illustrated children's literature from the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature, and other materials.

Technologies, Statistics, and Findability

The UF Digital Collections are powered by the open source SobekCM software engine and suite of associated tools. The associated tools include online user tools and standalone software for use in digitizing and curating born digital materials. The online system is deployed with Solr and other technologies for optimal functionality.

Because of the highly visual nature of so many items, the pages are displayed as zoomable images (through a JPG2000 server) and all can be browsed as thumbnails at the item and the collection level. [2] Artifacts with multiple photos from multiple angles can be seen in motion, rotating in an Adobe Flash video view, [3] and items can be searched by their geographic information (city, county, state, latitude and longitude) or viewed on a map through UFDC's use of the Google Maps API. [4]

UFDC includes books, articles, newspapers, photos, videos, audio, and more. As of June 2019, the collections had grown to over 14 million pages. UFDC's statistics page maintains a running tally of loaded items broken down by collection: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/stats/.

Along with loading new items regularly, UFDC is optimized for search engine findability on an ongoing basis.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Florida</span> Public university in Gainesville, Florida

The University of Florida is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its Gainesville campus since September 1906.

<i>The Independent Florida Alligator</i> Student newspaper of the University of Florida

The Independent Florida Alligator is the daily student newspaper of the University of Florida. The Alligator is one of the largest student-run newspapers in the United States, with a circulation of 14,000 and readership of more than 21,000. It is an affiliate of UWIRE, which distributes and promotes its content to their network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Library East (Gainesville, Florida)</span> United States historic place

Library East is a historic library in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is located in the northeastern section of the University of Florida in the middle of the Campus Historic District. When it was first created it was the largest building on campus at that time. It is a part of the George A. Smathers Libraries system and home to multiple collections of books and other library materials.

The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners.

The George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida constitute one of the largest university library systems in the United States. The system includes eight of the nine libraries of the University of Florida and provides primary support to all academic programs except those served by the Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. Previously the Health Science Center Library was also separate, but it was integrated into the Smathers Libraries on July 1, 2009. The current dean is Judith C. Russell. All of the libraries serve all of the university's faculty and students, but each has a special mission to be the primary support of specific colleges and degree programs, with Marston being the favorite library. As is common in research libraries, library materials are housed in a variety of locations depending upon discipline. The three largest libraries cover an extensive range of disciplines while the smaller libraries focus on three or fewer disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Florida Library West</span> Academic library in Gainesville, Florida

Library West is the major library of the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries system. Its collections consist of material on the humanities and social sciences, as well as African studies and Asian studies resources. The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica special collection on Jewish studies is also part of the collection. Librarians specializing in these fields are available to help students and faculty with their research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Van Ness</span>

Carl Van Ness is the Curator of Manuscripts & Archives Department in the University of Florida Libraries' Special & Area Studies Collections, and was appointed the University Historian for the University of Florida in 2006. He followed the former University Historian, Sam Proctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Florida Marston Science Library</span>

The Marston Science Library, often called Marston, is the science and engineering library of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida, and is administered by the university's George A. Smathers Libraries system. The Marston Science Library hosts the university's extensive collections in agriculture, biological sciences, chemical and physical sciences, engineering, mathematics and statistics as well as librarians trained to help students and faculty working in these fields. It's located in the center of the university's campus adjacent to campus landmarks such as Turlington Hall, the University Auditorium and Century Tower. In 2008, Marston began hosting an annual competition, the Elegance of Science, in which University of Florida faculty, staff and students submit artwork on the topic of science.

Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM) is a cooperative initiative of the public universities of Florida in the United States to provide a central repository for smaller digital collections. In addition to contributing to PALMM, universities in Florida also host and maintain separate individual digital collections as well as many large collaborative projects. In September 2011, Florida's Council of State University Libraries selected SobekCM to power a common digital library system across the state, replacing the software currently powering the PALMM collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Florida Center for African Studies</span>

University of Florida Center for African Studies (CAS) is a center within of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Florida (UF). The Center provides teaching and research into issues of African languages, humanities, social sciences, agriculture, business, engineering, education, fine arts, environmental studies, conservation, journalism, and law.

Oliver Luther Austin Jr. was an ornithologist who wrote the definitive study Birds of the World, eventually published in seven languages. At various times he was Director of the Austin Ornithological Research Center in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Professor of Zoology at Air University and Curator of Ornithology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. At the time of his death, he was Curator Emeritus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government House (St. Augustine)</span> Old gubernatorial residence of Florida

Government House, also known as Governor's House, is located at 48 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida, adjacent to the Plaza de la Constitución. The building, constructed of coquina, served as the governor's official residence from c. 1710 during the First Spanish Period (1565–1763), throughout the British Period (1763–1784), and until 1812 in the Second Spanish Period (1784–1821). Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canzo was the first governor to build his residence on the present Government House site in 1598.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica</span>

The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica within the University of Florida Libraries' Special & Area Studies Collections supports the teaching and research missions of the Center for Jewish Studies and the University of Florida. The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica currently holds over 100,000 circulating volumes. The main library is located on the first floor of Library West. The Judaica special collections are held in the Judaica Suite in Smathers Library (East).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Florida Latin American Collection</span>

The University of Florida Latin American & Caribbean Collections are a library within the George A. Smathers Libraries is "one of the leading research collections of its kind". Founded in 1951 to support scholarly interest in Latin America and the Caribbean, now the Latin American and Caribbean Collections are one of the University of Florida’s preeminent collections, holding approximately 500,000 volumes, over 50,000 microforms, thousands of current and historical serial titles, and a large number of digital resources. The Collections were also part of the Farmington Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NewspaperCat</span>

The Catalog of Digital Historical Newspapers (NewspaperCat) is a free online resource for open-access digitized historical newspapers published in North America and the Caribbean. NewspaperCat was developed from a grant by the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida and is powered by SobekCM, the content management system used by the University of Florida Digital Collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Proctor Oral History Program</span>

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is the official oral history program at the University of Florida. With over 6,500 interviews and more than 150,000 pages of transcribed material, it is one of the premier oral history programs in the United States. SPOHP's mission is "to gather, preserve, and promote living histories of individuals from all walks of life." The program involves staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and community volunteers in its operation.

The Mississippi Freedom Project (MFP) is an archive of oral histories collected by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida. The ongoing project contains 100+ interviews online and focuses on interviews with civil rights veterans and notable residents of the Mississippi Delta. The collection centers on activism and organizing in partnership with the Sunflower County Civil Rights Organization in Sunflower, Mississippi.

The Florida Agriculturist was a weekly newspaper published in Deland, Florida from 1878 until 1907. It was afterwards published monthly and was relocated to Jacksonville until ceasing operation in 1911. The paper also served as a plant catalog.

The Jacksonville Advocate was a weekly newspaper for African Americans in Jacksonville, Florida established in 1891.

References

  1. See the opening announcement for the University of Florida Digital Collections.
  2. Viewing and browsing are explained on the Help pages: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ufdchelp.
  3. "Female Twin Figure (ere ibeji) Yoruba people" from the African Arts Collection
  4. "Citadelle HENRI christophe" from the Digital Library of the Caribbean

Selected List of Collections

See also

Coordinates: 29°39′3.2″N82°20′30.6″W / 29.650889°N 82.341833°W / 29.650889; -82.341833