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Rare Materials Digital Services: General Info
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Digitization Services Mission

old Rotunda LibraryThe Digitization Services unit of Scholarly Resources of the University of Virginia library is one of the primary caretakers responsible for the transformation of the Library's rare and unique materials to digital formats. Using specialized equipment to properly handle these materials, we digitize such varied objects as rare books, manuscripts, maps, and other artifactual objects.

Digitization Service's primary mission is to convert these rare materials to digital formats that the UVa community can use to support their research and instructional needs. Our secondary mission is to use these digital surrogates as a means to highlight and promote the library's rare materials in such a way that more users can gain access and discover them. We will always endeavor to deliver materials to anyone who requests them. There will be times, however, when the fragility of the original will render it impossible to digitize.

Some examples of our UVa users are:

  • UVa faculty, graduate, and undergraduate, and library related research.
  • Units that are affiliated with the University including the Provost's Office, Alumni Hall, News Services, the Astronomy Department, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
  • Groups that are intimately associated with the library including, The Virginia Center for Digital Humanities (VCDH), The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH), and the Claude Moore Health Science Library.
  • Units within the library itself: the Digital Research and Scholarship unit, Robertson Media Center (RMC), Brown Science and Engineering Library, and the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library.
  • Grants generated by Special Collections and other units within the library.

We also serve researchers and groups outside of the university community such as:

  • Independent researchers
  • Publishers (Random House, Gallimard, The Learning Company)
  • Businesses (Alexander Street Press)
  • Photo journalists and researchers
  • Organizations (such as the Thomas Jefferson Foundation)
  • Grant funding agencies (such as Cabell Foundation and the Gould Foundation)
  • As well as individuals (the Duke Family)