Ball State Libraries Develop Digital Commons for Centralized Access to Digital Resources for the Desktop

The University Libraries’ vision is for students and faculty to be able to go to one Web page to access thousands of digital resources at the desktop, resources that are available through the University Libraries to teaching, learning, research, and classroom instruction. This vision is guiding development of the Libraries’ Digital Commons.

Development is progressing rapidly. Web pages to provide access to many of the elements are currently available on the University Libraries’ Web site, including:

· Digital Media Repository, http://libx.bsu.edu, including access to over 67,000 images, videos, audio, journals, newspapers, and other digital objects produced at Ball State University to support the educational process
· Images and More, www.bsu.edu/library/images, including sources for Art and Architecture, General Interest, Image Collections at Ball State, State Collections, U.S. History, and World History
· Digital Video Collections, www.bsu.edu/library/archives/digitalvideo, including sources for Ball State’s Video Collections, Other University’s Signature Collections, U.S. Federal Agencies, International News, National News, Web Cams, Video Blogs, Video Sharing Sites, and General Video Collections
· Articles and Databases, www.bsu.edu/electronicresources/databases.asp, including subject and title access to thousands of articles through over 190 academic databases
· Electronic Journals, www.bsu.edu/libraries/journals/subject_all.asp, including subject, title, and keyword access to 10,272 online journals.
· e-Books, www.bsu.edu/library/electronicresources/ebooks, including access to thousands of titles through 28 electronic book lists and collections and 14 individual e-books
· Electronic Theses and Dissertations, www.bsu.edu/library/collections/archives/thesesanddiss, including access to Ball State's Master's Theses, College of Architecture and Planning Undergraduate Theses, Undergraduate Senior Honors Theses, Undergraduate Theses, and other theses and dissertations through the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and Proquest Digital Dissertations
· Virtual Reference Resources, www.bsu.edu/library/electronicresources/referenceshelf, including a re-organized Web page that will provide access to more than 200 resources in categories such as General Resources, Reference Resources, Personal Interest, Government Sources, Literature and Art, and Education and Career
· Ball State Virtual Press, www.bsu.edu/library/virtualpress, including access to Ball State publications and other resources

In addition to bringing these existing digital elemetns together, and increasing the number of resources available in each element, The Digital Commons will include also include the following new or enhanced elements:

- World Wide Web Resources, including subject, title, and keyword access to hundreds of Web sites in categories like General and Reference, Area and Cultural Studies, Arts and Humanities, Business, History, Languages and Literature, Medicine and Health, Science and Technology, and Social Sciences
- Ball State Institutional Repository, including scholarly works by Ball State students and faculty
- Geographic Information System (GIS) Resources, including access to 62 resources for an Introduction to GIS, GIS Dictionaries, Indiana Resources, U.S. and World Mapping, GIS Tutorials, and U.S. and World GIS

Watch for the premiere of the Digital Commons soon.

For more information, contact John B. Straw, Ball State University Libraries’ Director for Archives and Special Collections Research Center, JStraw@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5078.