Creating capacity for digital projects: A case study in identifying and building upon strengths

Abstract

Purpose

This paper offers a case study in creating capacity for digital initiatives at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee through an exploration of the Crossroads to Freedom program, a decade-long digital public history initiative. At present, digital scholarship and preservation work falls under the purview of information services (IS), a merged information technology (IT) and library division and home to the digital preservation and scholarship (DPS) team. DPS is a multidisciplinary group of undergraduate students, IS staff and various internal and external partners.

Design/methodology/approach

By exploring the evolution of digital projects at a small, liberal arts college, this paper will introduce readers to one dynamic path to cultivating capacity and support for digital initiatives within the confines of limited staffing and monetary resources.

Findings

Topics and strategies include working effectively with community partners, leveraging existing strengths, building and sustaining a community of practice (CoP), integrating undergraduates as full staff members and navigating cultural change within the library and higher education more broadly.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates a decade of successful innovation and adaptation to the changing landscape of digital initiatives and the library’s role in higher education that is rooted in community-centric commitment to social justice. Discussion of these strategies and theoretical frameworks should prove helpful to institutions looking to reimagine traditional approaches to digital archives and scholarship programs.

Citation

Newman, J., Bonefas, S. and Trenthem, W. (2018), "Creating capacity for digital projects: A case study in identifying and building upon strengths", Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 9-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-08-2017-0026