Middlebury's digital archives reach 1 million views on Internet Archive
In October 2015, Special Collections began using Internet Archive as our primary means of storing and providing access to our digital holdings.
Our decision was, and remains, quite unconventional. While most college and university archives in the United States rely on specialized, expensive software systems to manage their digital assets, we chose instead to commit ourselves to a non-profit service that was free of charge, open to anyone with an Internet connection, and dedicated to the lofty goal of providing “Universal Access to All Knowledge.”
What began as a modest collection of scanned texts and historic photographs has since expanded to over 17,000 items representing a full range of analog and born-digital media. Using Internet Archive not only made archival processing easier and less costly, it noticeably improved the visibility and accessibility of our archives for users around the world right from the start.
Today, we are delighted to announce that the items in our digital collections have reached 1,000,000 unique views and downloads!
Engagement with our digital archives is still trending upward, our collections continue to grow, and we are continually finding new ways of connecting Internet Archive with other services - such as JSTOR, the Digital Public Library of America, and FromThePage — to improve access and discovery for our users.
Visit us at Middlebury College Special Collections at Internet Archive (go/ia)
For more Special Collections content, be sure to visit us on Instagram.
Questions? Email specialcollections@middlebury.edu