Abstract
In the late 1990s, the explosion of electronic resources resulted in large-scale digitisation projects amid the need for the preservation of digital information. The KB, National Library of the Netherlands, has been actively involved in these activities. Now, it is proposing better ways to both preserve physical library materials and improve their accessibility for educational purposes. This article describes two ongoing projects that involve preservation and public engagement. One, in its early stages, is to test the applicability of 360° imaging to support virtual access to the special collections’ storage. The second is the virtual reality production, for educational purposes, of children’s pop-up books. Both projects could inspire other libraries to introduce three-dimensional or virtual reality technologies and their applications to new audiences. This article describes each project, shows the methods used, and discusses the expected outcomes.
Highlights
Collection management is an essential part of everyday library activities
Purpose-built high-density facilities usually follow one of two designs: the ‘Harvard model’, which was designed for manual retrieval, and the ASRS model, where retrieval is performed by a robotic mechanism
The first model was created at Harvard University in 1986 and is used in libraries all over the world, especially in North America (Weeks and Chepesiuk, 2008)
Summary
Collection management is an essential part of everyday library activities. This responsibility includes, among other tasks, selecting, acquiring, maintaining and storing collections. Over the past 30 years, the KB has digitised books, periodicals and newspapers on a large scale These resources are digitised to both preserve them and to facilitate access. In 2020, both websites were visited in total around 10 million times To further this massive digitisation effort, the KB is proposing enhanced ways to preserve its physical library holdings and improve, for educational purposes, patrons’ access to and engagement with them. The KB is in the early stages of testing the feasibility of 360 imaging to support virtual access to its special collections These holdings will become less visible overall if the KB implements plans for a new automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) to preserve its entire physical collection. The final section offers design guidelines and ideas for future work
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