![[image]](images/patv-sm.jpg) Often we hear that digital information is transforming the way we learn, the way we communicate, even the way we think. Cultural institutions such as libraries, archives and museums have responded to digital information by not only changing the way we work but often changing the very types of work that we do. A few examples of changes in libraries that relate to digital information include online access to journal articles in digital format, reserve and interlibrary loan materials provided in digital format, and digital reference services conducted through email and chat sessions. In step with innovations in digital information, the Libraries of The Claremont Colleges are implementing the Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL).
Using digital technologies, teaching materials not easily accessible can be made available to students via the CCDL. Access is no longer restricted by time and/or place but available 24/7 even from remote locations. Among the valuable types of teaching materials to digitize for dissemination in the CCDL are those from the Libraries’ special collections.
Primary resources such as maps, rare books, manuscripts, photographs, speeches, diaries, musical scores, performances and memoirs are the raw materials of history. As part of the historical record, these clues provide physical links to the participants and witnesses of past events and enable educators, students, and researchers to view those events from multiple perspectives. By revealing the people and events, primary resources humanize history and add dimension to the names and facts detailed in books. When introduced into the classroom setting, historical primary resources become powerful tools with which students can critically analyze events of the past and imagine the possibilities for their future.
There are numerous types of contemporary materials that support teaching and learning and are also appropriate for dissemination in the CCDL. A few examples include unpublished faculty research, videos of the Libraries’ Claremont Discourse and other lecture series, campus gallery artworks and exhibits, and student theses and dissertations. It is our hope to have all these material types represented and accessible in the CCDL.
If you would like more information on the CCDL, please contact Pat Vince, Digital Initiatives Librarian, at 607-0496 or by email. We welcome your inquiry and participation.
Pat Vince
Honnold/Mudd Library
pat.vince@libraries.claremont.edu
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