From corporate partnerships with Microsoft to scholarly communication initiatives, Cornell University Library is a pioneer in the creation and management of digital resources and has a team dedicated to the development of digital collections.

Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS) provides Cornell's faculty and staff with on-campus expertise for transforming their teaching and research materials into digital formats that are accessible to scholars across the university and worldwide. DCAPS also works closely with faculty and staff to identify content from the library's holdings and elsewhere at the university that should be digitized to support instruction and research.

Lindsay France/University Photography

A book to scanned rests on a copy stand in Olin Library while Rhea Garen, a photo specialist in the Library Digital Media Group, checks color balance and remotely adjusts a high-resolution camera above, not visible in this photo. What appears to be rope is a chain of tiny lead weights encased in cotton, used both in scanning and in reading rooms to hold rare and delicate books open. To avoid damaging the spine, this book cannot be opened more than 90 degrees. For more routine scanning the library uses digital SLRs and special book scanners that photograph two pages at a time and allow for rapid page-turning.

"Our goal is to transform unique research and teaching materials into digital collections that are searchable and accessible over the Web," said Oya Rieger, who oversees digital initiatives at the library.

From creation to long-term access and archiving, DCAPS offers production services in digital photography, digitization of print photographs, slides and other materials, indexing of data, Web site design and development, copyright clearance and electronic publishing.

DCAPS is currently collaborating with the Adelaide and George W. Knight Visual Resource Facility in Sibley Hall, which houses slides used for teaching in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and the Department of History of Art, to make two visual collections available online. One, Scholars' Resource, consists of 65,000 high-quality images of core art historical material. The other, the Knight Visual Resources Slide Collection, consists of 20,000 images of architecture, art history and contemporary art from the facility. Both collections will be accessible to the Cornell community and will greatly enhance the art historical content digitally available to Cornell faculty.

DCAPS recently digitized material for an online version of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections' exhibition, "''I Would Found an Institution': The Ezra Cornell Bicentennial" http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Ezra and is currently digitizing material from the division's Human Sexuality Collection that will be part of the Association of Research Libraries 75th anniversary project, "Celebrating Research."

In addition, DCAPS supports the library's Center for Innovative Publishing (CIP) http://cip.cornell.edu, which designs and manages online publishing projects from Cornell and other academic communities, university presses and scholarly societies. Back issue digitization, information indexing and Web design are all service components provided by DCAPS. Projects currently under way include "Medieval Philosophy and Theology" and "Cornell Real Estate Review."

More information about DCAPS and its services can be found on its Web site at http://dcaps.library.cornell.edu.