UC Santa Barbara Digital Library brings holdings from Special Collections to the web (USA)

With more than 500,000 volumes, photographs, and early sound recordings - not to mention 16,000 linear feet of manuscripts - many of the holdings in the Special Collections Department of UC Santa Barbara's Davidson Library date back to periods well in advance of modern technology. A few thousand of those items have been brought into the 21st century thanks to the new Digital Library, which makes the images and audio recordings available to anyone with an Internet connection. "The library wanted to reveal its hidden collections and highlight its unique holdings," explained Lisa Koch, metadata librarian at UCSB. "The Digital Library is a resource for people who want to explore the materials but can't come to the building. Scholars and users can view items at home, and teachers can bring the archives into their classrooms"