À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Digital Library: five years down

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

This week marks a University of À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Library (Library) milestone: the À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Digital Library (WDL), an online repository used for sharing select items from Special Collections & Archives (SCA) and the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Archives (UWA), is officially five years old![1]Ìý

Since the site’s launch, the WDL has been used to share a growing selection of digitized primary resources from SCA and UWA holdings to enhance online access and improve the research experience.

À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Digital Library promotional card featuring a photo from 1966 of librarian Ching-chih Chen
This À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ Digital Library(WDL) promotional card features a photo from 1966 of librarian Ching-chih Chen standing in front of open book, assisting students in the library stacks. The photo [66-2409_005] is part of the

How have things changed?

Over the past five years, the number of items available for viewing on the WDL has expanded to more than 4,000 ranging from and to and . Content has been pulled from a variety of thematic areas,[2] with a special focus on local history, women’s studies, and the history of the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ; combined these three collecting areas generate the most interest from on- and off-campus researchers.

The WDL has also been used to improve the viewing experience of items that were previously on the SCA website such as , , and .

What is new?

  • The documents the experiences of enlistees in the Women’s Division of the Royal Canadian Airforce during the Second World War.
  • The offerings from the have been expanded to include additional photos of the Albert Kahn designed factory (that still stands at 101 Glasgow Street in Kitchener) and promotional videos that include a and .
  • The consists of material relating to descendants of Johann Christoph and Anna Elizabeth Schneider, their families, friends, and activities including J. M. Schneider (founder of Schneider Foods) and Norman C. Schneider (former Liberal member of parliament).
  • Items from the UWA have been added to expand offerings related to the campus history, library happenings, and student activities. They include , , and .

What comes next?

Over the next few years, the WDL will be undergoing a technical makeover to improve its functionality and reliability. Now is the time to let us know what you like, or do not, about the current site using the . Your feedback will help the WDL support team best meet the needs of site users like you.

[1] Campus communications about the WDL rolled out in February of 2018, but a test version of the site quietly launched on April 25, 2017.

[2] You can read more about SCA’s .

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