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Digitization Center open to campus community

April 13, 2004

KALAMAZOO--An informational open house, set for 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, and 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, April 15, will introduce the University Libraries' Regional Digitization Center and its services to the Western Michigan University community.

Located on the lower level of Waldo Library, the new center is part of an ongoing initiative to support the research-intensive efforts of the University with expertise and specialized technology. The Regional Digitization Center has equipment funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, including a digitization lab and a digitization studio. Center personnel will explore collaborative projects for the University and the greater West Michigan community during summer and fall.

The Digitization Center brings to the University the technology and structures needed for planning digitization projects and the specialized equipment and expertise for high quality projects, ranging from small-film scanning to large, 3-D object digitization on more than nine different systems. Also available is assistance with metadata planning and creation for online document retrieval.

The WMU Regional Digitization Center is one of six regional centers statewide developed with an IMLS grant program, The Making of Modern Michigan, which provides training, expertise and facilities to "mini grantees" throughout West Michigan. The project aims to empower small to mid-sized libraries throughout the state and enable them to contribute to an online digital collection about the state's history.

The Making of Modern Michigan is a project of ATLAS, the Action Team for Library Advancement Statewide, an initiative of the Library of Michigan. Michigan State University serves as the administrative host for the project, in cooperation with the Library of Michigan, the Michigan Library Consortium, and six regional digitization centers.

For the open house, staff will demonstrate projects on the varied systems, provide information on the center and answer questions. For more information about the center and its equipment, write to lib-mmm@wmich.edu or visit the center on the Web at <www.wmich.edu/library/digi>. The Making of Modern Michigan Web site is at <mmm.lib.msu.edu>.

Media contact: Jeanne Baron, 269 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

WMU News
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