Although it’s hard for us to believe, the end of Fiscal Year 2006/07 marks only the first full year of Digital Library Services’ existence as a departmental unit. See below for a list of some of our accomplishments, compiled for the upcoming Libraries’ Annual Report . But there’s no rest for the digital, so we’re launching into more of the same, along with new projects like implementing an upgrade for our digital asset management software, loading our digital collections 
data into the Libraries’ in-development Web 2.0 resource discovery tool , and planning for four (!) new half-time digital library fellows . Stay tuned for an even more expansive and collaborative FY07/08.
–Jen Wolfe
Metadata Librarian
DLS FY2006/07 Annual Report
For its first full year in operation, Digital Library Services underwent a period of growth and transition. DLS began fiscal year 2006/2007 with a reorganization in reporting structure, shifting from the Collection Management department to the newly-formed Library Information Technology division. Paul Soderdahl was promoted to Director of LIT, but also retained his duties in DLS as Acting Head until new hire Nicole Saylor took over this role in April 2007.
Throughout this period, DLS continued to develop departmental infrastructure, policy and procedures while building innovative digital collections. The unit’s primary repository, the Iowa Digital Library , grew from 16 collections housing nearly 82,000 items to 32 collections containing over 145,000 items. A few of this year’s highlights from IDL include:
Collaborating with the College of Dentistry to commemorate its 125th anniversary, DLS and the Libraries’ Preservation Department worked on preserving and providing digital access for a collection of faculty and students photographs dating back to 1883.
DLS coordinated the digitization of the papers of Mildred Wirt Benson, UI alumna and original ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew novels. The collection, including hundreds of items of correspondence, short stories, scrapbooks, and ephemera, also featured an expanded home page contextualizing the items and their significance.
As the inaugural project in a partnership with the Libraries to make the Press’ out-of-print titles available online, DLS digitized 19 books from the Iowa Short Fiction Awards series.
Continuing its role to provide outreach and leadership for digital initiatives on campus, DLS worked with faculty and staff from the University of Iowa Museum of Art and the School of Art and Art History on the migration of existing data to develop a cross-searchable art digital collection. When completed, it will feature thousands of digitized art objects by local artists and UI graduates, as well as the entirety of the museum’s holdings.
Digital Library Services also expanded its collaborations within the Libraries. In addition to working with content providers in departments such as Special Collections, University Archives and the Iowa Women’s Archives and branches such as the Rita Benton Music Library, DLS began mainstreaming some of its processes into regular library workflows in order to improve efficiency and accommodate our growth. This included working with Web Services on the design of collection home pages, consulting with Public Relations to develop a coordinated plan to promote our collections and services, and beginning a pilot project with Central Technical Services on metadata production.