Space, The Final Frontier:

Next Generation Special Collections

Elaine Harrington | Special Collections Librarian UCC Library

HEAnet National Conference: Digital Transformation for

Education & Research | 9 November 2017

Next Generation Learning Spaces at UCC

October 2016: Office of the Vice President for Teaching and Learning (OVPTL)

Call for applications to develop Next Generation Learning Spaces at UCC with launch

half-day seminar.

October 2017: half-day seminar showcase examples of teaching and learning spaces

within UCC that have been upgraded within the last year, as well as highlighting

examples of best and innovative practice internationally.

NMC Horizon Reports

NMC Horizon Report > 2017 Higher Education Edition is a collaborative effort between

the NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI).

Describes annual findings of the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project

designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on

learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education.

Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational

technology are placed directly in the context of their likely impact on the core missions of

universities and colleges.

Special Collections

“Unique and distinctive” collections of rare books, and many other media, including born-

digital and digitised documents (Cullingford)

“Elements of distinction that serve to differentiate an academic or research library from its

peers” (Dooley & Luce)

Formats:

• Early Printed Books

• Books from Presses

• Collections from individuals

• Newspapers

• Maps

• Pamphlets

• Literary Manuscripts

• Digital Files

Special Collections’ Storage Environment

Special Collections’ Users’

Environment: Rare Books

Reading Room

Learning to Learn

Mitchell, Eleanor, Peggy Seiden, and Suzy

Taraba, eds. Past or Portal?: Enhancing

Undergraduate Learning through Special

Collections and Archives. Chicago: ACRL,

2012.

Bahde, Anne, Heather Smedberg, and Mattie

Taormina, eds. Using Primary Sources: Hands-

on Instructional Exercises. Santa Barbara,

California: ABC-CLIO, [2014].

Thomas, Lynne and Beth Whittaker, eds.

New Directions for Special Collections: An

Anthology of Practice. Santa Barbara,

California: ABC-CLIO, 2017.

Case Studies

I: iPads with Artefacts

II: GIS with Reference Sources

III: 3D Printing

IV: Digital Hand-held Microscope

V: Document Camera

Case Study I: iPads with Artefacts – Origin

Case Study I: iPads with Artefacts – Preservation

Henebry O’Neill Wax Cylinder Collection:

http://epu.ucc.ie/henebry/

Case Study I: iPads with Artefacts – Use

Henebry Wax Cylinder

https://ucchenebrywaxcylin.wixsite.com/waxcylinders

https://twitter.com/HWaxCylinders

MU1003: Studying Music at University

Case Study II: GIS with Reference Sources

MU 3061: Sound Studies & Musicology

Slide Credit: 1890s Guy’s South of Ireland Pictorial Map

Slide Credit: 1921 Purcell’s Almanac

Case Study II: GIS with Reference Sources –

Field Recording and Sound Editing Tools

Case Study II: GIS with

Reference Sources –

Output: Burning of Cork

Slide Credit: Who Burnt Cork City?

Case Study II: GIS with

Reference Sources – Output:

Birds of Cork 1750 – 1852

Slide Credit: “Common Crane.” Buffon, Georges. Histoire

naturelle des oiseaux.

Case Study: 3D Printing – Exhibitions

HI 6091: Skills for Medieval Historians

Jessica Lacher-Feldman: “we exhibit because we can, and because our holdings make

for great exhibits. Sharing our treasures with a broader audience is a natural outcome of

the work that we do. Finding opportunities to take the materials out of the stacks and

placing them in context in an exhibition is exhilarating, challenging, and beneficial. What

better way is there to share what we have in our shops and what we do in the profession

than to feature our talents and treasures?” (Exhibits in Archives & Special Collections Libraries. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2013. p.7)

Case Study: 3D Printing – Exhibition Example

Slide Credit: Bruni, Leonardo. Historia del Popolo Fiorentino.

[Vinegia (Venice): Iacomo de Rossi, 1476]. Slide Credit: Burgonet./ https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24141

Case Study: 3D Printing – Copyright

Head of a Cleric from a Tomb Effigy (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Slide Credit: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:279374

Case Study IV: Digital Hand-held Microscope

Case Study IV: Digital Hand-held

Microscope - Images

Slide Credit: Torna Ms 43, Special Collections, UCC Library.

Case Study IV: Digital Hand-held Microscope – Outreach

For a full account: Semple, Edel. “Culture Night: Shakespeare’s Sources & the Boole Library’s Resources.”

http://blogs.ucc.ie/wordpress/theriverside/2016/10/05/culture-night-shakespeares-sources-boole-librarys-resources/

Case Study V: Document Camera

X

X

Case Study V: Document Camera – The Road to Success…

Case Study V: Document Camera – …Is Never Smooth!

Case Study V: Document Camera –

Last Try!

Let’s Pause…

Slide Credit: https://twitter.com/DavidGeurin/status/701943345933852672 via @@DavidGeurin

Stock-Taking of Technologies

Special Collections shapes research & results.

At the beginning of a module or technology:

• Imagining benefits & challenges

• How to manage challenges

• Knowledge, skills and further projects that

emerge.

What we learn that we (and others)

can take for the future?

Slide Credit: http://approachanxiety.com/2011/11/what-success-looks-like/

Off the Map?

Slide Credit: William Beauford 1801 Map of Cork.

Dr Melanie Marshall,

Dept. of Music

Dr Jillian Rogers,

Dept. of Music

Dr Malgorzata

D'Aughton, School

of History

Dr Edel Semple,

School of English

Prof. Pádraig. Ó Macháin

Contact Details

Elaine Harrington, Special Collections Librarian | UCC Library

e.harrington@ucc.ie | @walkerabroad

The Riverside: @theriversideUCC

http://blogs.ucc.ie/wordpress/theriverside/

http://libguides.ucc.ie/specialcollections

Darwin, Charles. “Tree of Life.”