About

What exactly is a digital collection? As the name implies, such collections contain material that has been digitized according to prevailing standards, described in such a way as to facilitate its discovery and use, preserved so that the digital collection will be accessible over the long term, and, finally, published online. The University Libraries’ digital collections encompass a wide variety of formats, including photographs, print materials, audio recordings, artworks, artifacts and other resources. Our digital collections are created to support the teaching and learning activities of UB faculty and students, enhance scholarship and research, and increase access to rare or fragile items that may be too delicate to be handled regularly by the public.

Today, the Libraries offer distinct collections that cover such diverse subject areas as African American studies, American literature, architecture, biology, medicine, music, psychology and UB history. All of the Libraries’ digital collections provide centralized access to UB’s diverse inventory of legacy and teaching collections for purposes of instruction, scholarship and archival preservation.

The University Libraries offer public access to a wide range of information, including historical and primary source materials. Materials in the University Libraries’ Digital Collections should be evaluated in the context of the period in which they were originally created. The University Libraries do not endorse views expressed in such materials.