Digital Collections Collection Development Policy

• Only UB Libraries faculty and staff who work in the Distinctive and Special Collections unit may contribute materials to Digital Collections.

Digital Collections accepts materials that meet the following guidelines:

• support teaching, learning and research at UB
• represent unique, rare or distinctive resources
• reveal hidden or underrepresented voices
• hold cultural, historical or scholarly significance
• complement or strengthen existing collections

There are specific requirements for the rights and accessibility of materials:

Rights

• materials must be in the U.S. public domain; or
• the University at Buffalo holds the copyright for the materials; or
• the copyright holder grants permission to the UB Libraries.

Accessibility

All files must meet the standards of the university’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Policy standards before submission. This policy ensures that people with disabilities can access Digital Collections with assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

Digital Collections staff provide guidance and remediation support to improve accessibility across digital resources.

Digital Collections provides public access to a wide range of objects digitized from the UB Libraries’ collections.

Access to some objects may be limited to members of the University at Buffalo community because of copyright or other restrictions.

Digital Collections staff assess the physical condition and format of materials before digitization to ensure their safe handling. When necessary, staff undertake conservation or reformatting work to protect original materials and support their long-term usability.

The UB Libraries store and preserve digital objects in accordance with established digital stewardship practices to support continued access.

The UB Libraries may withdraw objects from Digital Collections when necessary.

Requests to remove objects must be submitted in accordance with the Notice and Takedown Policy.