NYU’s Spatial Data Repository (SDR) makes geospatial data searchable, viewable in browser, and usable for research. The SDR includes over 97,000 items ranging from a georeferenced 1797 map of Dublin to the Ecoregions of the United States and much more.  Screenshot of a webpage from the upgraded Spatial Data Repository, showing a map from 1797 of the city of Dublin, Ireland. On top of connecting to other NYU services (including the Faculty Digital Archive), the SDR also shares geospatial data from 20 collaborating institutions like the Big Ten Data Alliance, Princeton University, and Schol ..read more

After much anticipation and much iteration, we recently launched the redesign of NYU’s Special Collection Finding Aids. These comprise thousands of individual sites, each containing a description of an archival collection and its contents, along with relevant histories and metadata. In addition to the user-facing pages, the launch included a reimagined pipeline for publishing. It took a partnership between multiple departments: Digital Library Technology Services (DLTS), Archival Collections Management (ACM), Special Collections, and Application Architecture and Development (AAD). There were m ..read more

We just published the Verbatim Report of the proceedings against Edwards and Passingham for conspiracy to blackmail George Townshend Forrester: https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/gtht7k3f https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/c2fqzjk0 This is the frank and unexpurgated text of a trial concerning alleged homosexual acts, which were illegal and taboo in Regency England – the last executions for homosexuality taking place in Britain in 1835. As such, this courtroom manuscript, probably written up from notes taken by Passingham’s defence lawyer, includes prosecution and defence statements, the judge’s interjec ..read more

Another collection from our partner Akkasah, the Photography Archive at New York University Abu Dhabi:   https://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/akkasah/ad_mc_036/   From the finding aid:   Acquired from photographer Xenia Nikolskaya and researcher Heba Habib, the Syria Collection includes 1,255 photographs including black and white gelatin silver prints and color photographs, as well as 25 negatives. The images document the social and cultural life of Syria from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. They portray religious ceremonies, daily life, street scenes of Damascus, archaeologica ..read more

  Members of the Libraries’ Ultraviolet Data Repository project team recently presented on their work at the Open Repositories conference in Denver. Laura Henze, Senior UX Designer in DLTS, presented on accessibility principles, recommendations for making institutional repositories accessible, and specific tools being employed by NYU Libraries. Kate Pechekhonova, Senior DevOps Engineer in DLTS, and Katie Wissel, Data Services and Public Policy Librarian, presented on the Libraries’ collaborative approach to define data repository policies. Slides from their respective ..read more

An unknown Brooklyn Polytechnic student, manipulating a diagram on a computer screen. From the NYU Poly Historic Photo Collection. As the web expands and becomes more experiential, scholarly publications are no longer static, limited spaces where the user’s functions are limited to scrolling and clicking. In the present day, an appendix for a digital scholarly work will include links to others publications or studies; even more frequently, an e-publication will feature interactive charts or streaming video content. A researcher’s project website might encourage dialogue between the user and th ..read more

A sketch of our departing colleague Eric Stedfeld, drawn by his daughter, Ellen. Today is bittersweet, as it marks the final day of Eric Stedfeld’s 23-year tenure with DLTS. Eric embodies the guiding principles of NYU Libraries: throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to improving access to the Library’s collections through collaboration and creative problem solving, all the while forging lasting connections and effective working relationships through his deep and abiding respect for others. As a too-small sendoff gesture, we invited DLTS staff members to ask Eric a couple of interview ..read more

Pictured here is a research workspace from the past–construction begins on the Farmingdale campus of Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. An undated image from the Poly Historic Photograph Collection. How many hands does it take to move a storage device? Many, as it turns out! As part of the effort to vacate the South Data Center (SDC) in a timely fashion, the Research Workspace team, in collaboration with NYU-IT colleagues, moved the hardware device that powers the service from the SDC to the colocation facility across the river. We’re happy to announce that the storage is safely in its new locati ..read more

As a department made up of inveterate New Yorkers ourselves, we love seeing the history of the city come through the doors. Whether they’re pictures of how things were (or remain to this day), or memos and communications about the city’s fractious relationship with its citizens, or even just bits of the university’s own long (often fractious!) history…any object with a whiff of city life is enough to trigger our best Ratso Rizzo impression right there at the workbench. A series of details of letters written by Dorothy Dean to her friend, Joe Campbell. We recently had the pleasure of photogr ..read more

A detail of ancient heiroglyphs from “Dendereh, 1898,” an excavation report that memorializes a digging expedition undertaken by the Egypt Exploration Society of the Temple of Dendereh. Our pandemic year may have shuttered our offices on Washington Square and temporarily hindered our physical movements, but our digital collections never seem to stay put in one place for long. Whether they’re growing, or moving to revamped websites, or packing up and resettling in new server rooms, the material we publish and present to our research communities can be as migratory as a salmon or a sea turtle. T ..read more