HathiTrust member libraries span the globe, supporting academic communities both large and small. Each unique library in the HathiTrust membership is integral to sustain the digital library collection and the services it enables through a unified commitment to preservation and access.
Who are HathiTrust’s members and what is important to them today? Find out in this regular feature profiling one of our 200+ member libraries. If you would like to contribute a member library spotlight, contact [email protected] or Melissa Stewart, Member Relations Specialist.
Why did your organization join HathiTrust?
The accessible textbook vendor used by our campus Student Disability Resources closed, so they were looking for an alternative to obtain accessible textbooks for our students. We had previously considered joining HathiTrust to provide better online access to texts for our humanities programs. The imminent need for the HathiTrust Accessible Text Request Service (ATRS) prompted us to join.
What do you value most about HathiTrust and your membership?
We value the Accessible Text Request Service and HathiTrust’s commitment to preserving open, online access to materials. During COVID, when everyone was off campus, we found [online access] extremely helpful, particularly for people in humanities programs, since they were initially not able to access our print collection. HathiTrust’s online repository also enabled us to remove some older titles from our collection while maintaining online access to them, enabling us to house additional archival collections.
Tell me a fun fact about your library or describe a unique item in your collection.
UND Art Collections is also a part of the Chester Fritz Library, which includes the Margaret Cable Pottery Collection. Margaret Cable started the University of North Dakota’s pottery program in 1910 and originally researched North Dakota’s quality clay for industrial applications, later developing an artistic pottery program that became famous for its innovative techniques and designs. Thanks to the efforts of Cable and her students, Cable pottery became a North Dakota industry and created a legacy for UND. The library has digitized images of over 900 pieces of pottery in its institutional repository, making the collection available to people around the world.
How do HathiTrust services and resources contribute to the core mission of your library?
We appreciate HathiTrust’s commitment to increasing openly available works and digital preservation of texts, which support our library’s core mission. Their emphasis on including a wide range of perspectives aligns with our university’s values. As a federal depository library since 1890, we also understand the importance of preserving widespread access to government documents that HathiTrust helps facilitate.
What would you like to see academic libraries address as a community?
We would like to see academic libraries continue to support digital preservation of print and online texts using our diverse collections and resources for future generations. We also see a need for academic libraries to work together to increase accessibility of online materials for people with print disabilities.