December TXST Quarterly Team Award Winners

Wittliff Collections and University Archives Public User Interface Team

Members: Susannah Broyles, Nicole Critchley, Jason Long, Katie Salzmann, Kris Toma

As an emerging research institution and an Association of Research Libraries library, primary resources are one of our most unique assets to set us apart from other institutions and encourage original research. The Wittliff Collections and University Archives Public User Interface Team worked extensively on a very labor and time-intensive project to enter and migrate all the data regarding Texas State’s collections and materials into a searchable online database. This project increased the directory of and access to the unique archival resources housed at The Wittliff Collections and in Texas State’s University Archives. This service is not a great asset to Texas State faculty and students, but to researchers around the world who can now access the unique materials and primary sources that Texas State houses.

This process took over a year. During that time, the team worked collaboratively, making sure that all the smaller moving parts of the project formed a cohesive and sustainable final product. This team took the initiative to learn, recommend, and installed a new archival database system; created exhaustive guides; developed standardization practices across both repositories; organized 3-day training workshops for archivists, librarians, and other staff; developed and revised the project plans and timelines; established collection priorities; reviewed and revised documentation; and customized the system to meet Texas State’s brand guidelines  and rigorous IT security certification. And this is not to mention the extremely time-intensive task of standardized data entry and review for all materials and pieces in the Wittliff Collections and University Archives.

This project increases the visibility and accessibility of Texas State University’s archival holdings, making it an important member of the prestigious Association of Research Libraries. Prior to this project, researchers would have to open individual digital guides and review the lists inside to find topics and research pieces. Now they can search across multiple collections in one easy-to-use search field. Because of this, other archival databases can now showcase Texas State’s collections across multiple platforms worldwide.

Thank you to this team, whose time, dedication, and hard work has contributed to the continued success of Texas State University as an emerging research institution.