CollectionBuilder Bulletin: October 2024

By Devin Becker | November 5, 2024
Tags: newsletter

We’re in the heart of fall and have some exciting updates for our community this month. If you have a project and/or event you’d like us to highlight next month please email collectionbuilder.team@gmail.com.

- The CollectionBuilder Team

This month’s news:

  • LIS Student Program – Round 2! We’re thrilled to announce that applications for our second round of the LIS Student Program are now open! This initiative provides hands-on opportunities for students interested in CollectionBuilder and digital library work, and we can’t wait to work with our new cohort. Applications are open until December 1, so if you know any students who might be interested, please send them our way. They can apply here: https://collectionbuilder.github.io/community/student-incentives.html.

  • New Digital Librarian Cohort in Development - We’re also in the early stages of designing a new Digital Librarian Cohort Program! This program is targeted toward librarians who want to deepen their digital skills and engage with our tools and practices. We welcome any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions—please send them our way at collectionbuilder.team@gmail.com. We’re aiming to launch in late November or early December, with the program running well into 2025.

  • Upcoming CB Team Retreat: Next week, the CB Team will be heading out on a retreat! This time away will give us a chance to dig into some long-awaited updates and new features. Our main goals include:
  • Introducing a glossary page for key terms,
  • Enhancing our “About” page,
  • Improving on our oral history integrations, and
  • Expanding our accessibility messaging and code practices.

We’re excited to just work on CollectionBuilder nonstop for a bit. It’s not as easy for us as it once was!

New Collections:

Here’s a look at some recent collections added to our CB-Examples Collection that were developed by our amazing community (and we slid one by us in as well … ):

  • F.B. Eyes Digital Archive: FBI Files on African American Authors and Literary Institutions – A collection of 51 FBI files on prominent African American authors and literary institutions, many unearthed through William J. Maxwell’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for his 2015 monograph, F.B. Eyes.
  • Industrial Architecture of Montreal – An index of industrial buildings in Montreal, initially created by McGill Libraries in 1999 and now a valuable resource on the city’s architectural history.
  • Cartas de Busa – A digital edition of Father Busa’s letters to Sergio Castaño, curated by the HD LAB (Laboratorio de Humanidades Digitales) at CONICET, Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council.
  • Keeping Watch – A geospatial narrative project on Idaho Fire Lookouts, documenting these vital forest structures.

Get Involved / Connect with Us

Below are some ways to stay connected with the CollectionBuilder community: