Welcome to the new blog from the ASU Library Open Collections Curation and Access (OCCA) department! Over the coming months, you can expect to see updates from librarians, archivists, and staff who provide services that connect you with ASU Library’s millions of locally curated resources in print and digital formats.
Part of the Collection Services and Analysis directorate, OCCA is an ASU Library unit initiated in 2022 to align personnel with responsibilities related to lifecycle management for Open Stack Collections and Distinctive Collections. Teams within OCCA include the following:
- Curation and Research Services: This team brings together librarians, archivists, and staff responsible for selecting, contextualizing, and supporting the use of ASU Library’s Open Stack Collections, along with a portfolio of Distinctive Collections, including Rare Books and Manuscripts, the Latin Americana Collection, Design and the Arts Special Collections, and the Child Drama Collection. We also coordinate Ask-an-Archivist and reading room services, and manage the Featured Collections program.
- Digital Preservation and Curation: ASU Library’s openly-accessible digital collections are available through PRISM, which preserves and shares digitized and born digital content from ASU Library's many unique distinctive, archival, and community-oriented collections, and other repositories. Our team supports processes that open the doors of ASU Library by making more resources available for everyone to explore.
- Government Information Collections: ASU Library is a Federal Depository Library, and provides no-fee public access to millions of official information resources from the U.S. government. We also provide access to collections that include official publications from the State of Arizona, and from selected local governments and international governmental organizations.
- Preservation Services: The Preservation Services team maintains the condition and integrity of ASU Library collections in an effort to preserve knowledge, both artifactual and textual, now and for the future. This team also manages workflows associated with reformatting collections for access and preservation.
- Resource Sharing and Operations: Resource Sharing and Operations includes personnel responsible for fulfillment services and physical collection management for ASU Library. Teams within this group include Interlibrary Loan, High Density Collections, and Collections Operations staff.
To learn more about the work we do, keep an eye on this space! If you have questions about ASU Library collections and services, our team is available to help through Ask a Librarian and Ask an Archivist, or you can reach out to me directly.
– Shari Laster, Head, Open Collections Curation and Access