Summer Digitization Series

CARLI and FLVC are pleased to host a Summer Digitization Series!

Spend Wednesdays in June and July learning about integrating AI into digital collections, understanding the journey of transforming analog resources into digital formats, and attending showcases of four spectacular digitization projects at Northwestern University Libraries, University of Chicago Library, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Library staff are invited to register for each session of interest in this Professional Development Alliance series! Select webinar titles below to register.

Webinars

Integrating AI into Digital Collections: Strategy and Practice at Yale Library

June 11, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Mike Appleby and Jonathan Manton at Yale University Library will explore the thoughtful integration of artificial intelligence into Yale Library’s digital collections ecosystem. 

Mike will introduce a prototype application, Digital Collections AI, which leverages large language models (LLMs) to analyze OCR-transcribed texts from Yale’s digitized collections. This tool can rapidly summarize content, extract entities such as people, places, and subjects, and even perform stylistic analyses, thereby enhancing researchers' ability to explore and interpret vast amounts of digitized material.

Jonathan will provide strategic context, outlining how this tool aligns with Yale Library’s broader goals for responsible innovation and sustainable stewardship of the library’s digital collections. Together, they will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of embedding AI in cultural heritage workflows, offering insights for institutions navigating similar paths.

Michael Appleby, Director of Software Engineering in Library Information Technology, Yale University Library.  

Jonathan Manton, Director of Digital Special Collections and Access at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. 

From Analog to Digital: The Journey of Digitization

July 2, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

This presentation explores the transformative journey from physical to digital formats, using the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida as a case study. We will walk through the step-by-step digitization process, from selection and preparation to capture, metadata creation, and long-term digital access. Attendees will gain insight into the key tools and technologies that power modern digitization workflows. The session will also highlight critical questions institutions should ask before launching a digitization project—such as identifying priorities, planning for scalability, and ensuring accessibility. Whether you're just beginning or refining your digitization strategy, this session offers practical guidance rooted in real-world experience.

Laura Perry, Head of Digital Services at the University of Florida

Digitization Projects Showcase 1

July 16, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Project 1: “Using Multispectral Imaging to Augment Digitized West African Manuscripts” presented by Stephanie Gowler, Northwestern University Libraries

The Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University Libraries (NUL) is home to over 3,000 Arabic script materials from West Africa. The size, scope and uniqueness of these collections, along with increasing global scholarly interest, make them a priority for conservation and digitization. The NUL Preservation Department has begun capturing multispectral images (MSI) of the collections using a VSC®80 forensic questioned document examination workstation.  The VSC®80 allows us to quickly and consistently capture and annotate a wide range of MSI which make visible watermarks, inks, evidence of burnishing, and other materiality of the manuscripts.  These MSI are being integrated into the digital repository alongside the digitized West African manuscripts and offer new avenues for research. This talk will highlight the collaborative efforts to treat, re-house, and image Paden 417 (مختصر في فروع المالكية), a copy of the “Mukhtasar” of Khalil b. Ishaq b. Musa al-Jundi, a fourteenth-century handbook of Maliki legal principles.

Project 2: “Collaborative Preservation at the Crossroads of Science and History: Digitizing the Barnard Atlas” presented by Christina Miranda, University of Chicago Library

The Yerkes Observatory Glass Plates Digitization Project at the University of Chicago Library highlights the unique intersection of scientific and historical significance in its collection of historical astronomy glass slides. Christina Miranda will discuss strategies to support astronomy researchers and historians through thoughtful digital preservation and enhanced access to the glass slides featured in Edward Emerson Barnard’s A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way, commonly known as the "Barnard Atlas."

Stephanie Gowler, Book & Paper Conservator for Northwestern University Libraries

Christina Miranda, Head of Digitization at the University of Chicago Library

Digitization Projects Showcase 2

July 23, 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Project 1: “Picturing Lincoln: Digitizing a Physical Collection at the ALPLM” presented by Kelsey Wise and Matthew Deihl, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

The initiative to digitize the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s ‘Picturing Lincoln’ collection was a large undertaking but well worth it for the preservation and accessibility of the collection. The Picturing Lincoln online collection reduces the wear and tear of handling the physical materials while also removing the barrier of location-based, in-person only access to audiovisual materials related to Abraham Lincoln. A generous grant from the Illinois State Library made the work possible. Kelsey Wise and Matthew Deihl will cover the entire process of digitizing this archival collection; from applying for the grant that funded the work and procuring a vendor to scan the materials to creating and promoting the online collection. 

Project 2: “Collaborative Preservation at the Crossroads of Science and History: Digitizing the Barnard Atlas” presented by Liz Bloodworth, Abigail Mann, and Dagan Turcotte-Cutkomp, Illinois Wesleyan University

Rooted in the goals of preserving and presenting university history by creating a digital archive of the Curtis Trout Collection, Abigail Mann and Liz Bloodworth will share Illinois Wesleyan University’s endeavor to address the challenges of 3D digitization and narrative storytelling in the digital humanities through an experiential learning opportunity for an undergraduate student.  Over his 30-year career as a scenic designer and theater professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, Curtis Trout created more than 100 designs for the School of Theatre Arts and amassed an impressive archival collection of his work that surpasses the amount of physical space available in the University Archives. The physical reality of that collection necessitates the development of workflows and strategies to digitally preserve a wide array of materials, many non-textual, in a way that prioritizes accessibility and engagement.

Kelsey Wise, Audiovisual Librarian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum 

Matthew Deihl, Audiovisual Librarian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Liz Bloodworth, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at the Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University

Abigail Mann, Digital Scholarship Librarian at Illinois Wesleyan University

Dagan Turcotte-Cutkomp, worked for four years in the Tate Archives & Special Collections at Illinois Wesleyan University while earning a bachelor's degree in History and Music.