Digitisation at Uppsala University Library
For the benefit of research and the general public, the Library is digitising large amounts of unique materials that are difficult to access.
Everything that the University Library digitises will be directly searchable and freely accessible to everyone. We store and publish the files in Alvin – a platform for digital collections and digitised cultural heritage materials which is managed and developed by Uppsala University Library.
Our goal is to achieve a work flow that is as cost-efficient and quality-assured as possible. This includes planning, coordination, production, preservation, cataloguing, scanning/digital photography, image processing, storage and publication.
Our long-term goal is to digitise all materials that our users could be interested in but for practical reasons, we have to prioritise. As a user, you can be part of this process and influence which collections are digitised:
What shall we digitise?
Naturally, the University Library wants its digital collections to be of as much use as possible and therefore we are very happy to receive suggestions about materials we could digitise. Perhaps you would like to use them for your degree project, research or teaching? Please send a suggestion to us, explaining what you think that specific material should be given priority. We are especially interested in materials that comprise an entire collection (e.g. materials with the same provenance or author, a certain year or theme) and which fulfil the Library’s selection criteria:
- Materials with no legal restrictions regarding publication and dissemination.
- Unique material, that is, material that does not exist in any other library, archive or museum. A copy or a collection may also be unique with regard to, for instance, its provenance or the collection it belongs to.
- Materials that are of wide public interest.
- Fragile materials that need to be protected from wear and tear.
- Material that does not already exist in digital form.
If you are only interested in a few works or if you need the material within a few weeks, we ask you to request a digitisation instead.
We plan and conduct digitisation projects
Contact us if you are planning to apply for funding for a project that involves digitisation. The Library has a clearly defined process for the digitisation of materials and members of staff with designated roles. Together with well-developed systems support for storage and publication in Alvin, this means the Library can act as a partner that will make it easier for you to realise your project.
We will help you with cost estimation and the planning of practical work tasks.
Once you have received funding, the Library will appoint a contact person for your project.
Collaborations with other libraries
- Swedish literary works published during the 19th century. Approximately 8,500 works will be digitised during 2020–2022 within the research project New Paths to the Past.
- Books about law, within Juridikbok.se Juridikbok.se is a national foundation and a collaboration between university libraries with legal educations, the judiciary, legal publishers and law firms. The goal is to digitise and make available Swedish books about law that are not commercially viable.