Tag Archives: Texas Digital Library

Enterprise Data Storage Project Complete

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On April 2, Information Technology Services (ITS) launched their new “bulk storage” offering to our campus.  This service is significant because it represents the first occurrence of a service that has been designed for campus departments and specifically architected for “high availability” and recoverability within a UT Austin data center.

ITS purchased a little over 1 pedabyte (PB) of storage – that’s 1,000 terabytes (TB) for use by departments and it is sure to become an essential resource for the library.

The Libraries is already one of the largest customers in the ITS data center and this service will be one that we evaluate carefully before making substantial storage purchases in the future.

UT Libraries and data storage needs for the future

storage_imageAs more and more information goes digital, the questions around the storage of all this data grow ever more important. UT Libraries is working on that question through its participation in a key university-wide initiative: the ITS Central Data Storage project committee. As the Associate Director for Digital Initiatives, I represent UT Libraries on this committee, which is working to cost-effectively expand centralized data storage services for the whole campus.

First, a little background on digital storage: In 1991 the cost of a megabyte was about $13.00 and the largest drive you could buy held about 270 megabytes. Since then we have seen the cost of a megabyte decline steadily up till today when the average consumer can now purchase 1,058,576 megabytes (aka 1 terabyte) for $99.00, reducing the cost of 1 megabyte of storage to less than a penny.

So, how many megabytes does UT buy every year? Continue reading UT Libraries and data storage needs for the future

Texas water researchers working with the Texas Digital Library

TDL.org stacked logoThis past month, the Texas Digital Library (TDL) and several prominent water researchers began the process of developing a new collaborative resource for sharing water data across the state of Texas. The Texas Water Digital Library (TWDL) will federate water research currently stored in dispersed databases and websites at various Texas universities. A model for the cooperative efforts of the Texas Digital Library, the TWDL will electronically harvest these resources from cooperating institutions (using a technology called OAI-ORE) and deposit them in a TDL-hosted DSpace repository. This federated repository will create a single place for researchers to search for water data from every part of the state: the Texas Water Digital Library. Continue reading Texas water researchers working with the Texas Digital Library

Conference at UT Austin to feature experts on digital libraries

tcdl-new-logo-mdThis spring, on May 17-18, the Texas Digital Library (TDL) will be hosting the 2010 Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (TCDL) at The University of Texas at Austin. In its fourth year, TCDL provides a forum for TDL members and others to explore issues related to digital libraries and digital scholarship.

The TCDL 2010 conference theme is Collaboration, and the conference program will be packed with experts speaking on issues of partnership and cooperation in the service of advancing scholarly communication.

The TDL is especially excited to announce its two keynote speakers for the event: Dr. Leslie Carr, of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, and Dr. Reagan Moore, from the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Continue reading Conference at UT Austin to feature experts on digital libraries

February issue of TDL Update newsletter now available

TDL-Update-Newsletter-February-2010-1Check out the latest issue of TDL Update (PDF), the newsletter of the Texas Digital Library, to discover the latest news and learn how TDL is working with its members to advance scholarly communications.

The February 2010 issue features the Royce-Darden Gospel Music Collection at the Baylor Electronic Library.

In addition, you’ll find:

  • A story on the development of a shared statewide resource for water data and research: The Texas Water Digital Library
  • Exciting news about the latest version of Vireo ETD Management software, which is now in the testing phase
  • Information about the 2010 Texas Conference on Digital Libraries
  • A reminder about Vireo user resources, including video tutorials, a wiki, and a new Listserv
  • News about Texas Tech University Libraries’ use of digital scanners
  • Information about spring training classes from the TDL

For suggestions about content for the TDL Update, please contact Kristi Park at kristi.park@austin.utexas.edu.

(Cross-posted at TDL.)

UT Digital Repository ranked among the world’s top institutional repositories

TDL.org stacked logoThe UT Digital Repository received some welcome recognition recently when it was ranked #50 in the Ranking Web of World Repositories’ list of the top 400 institutional repositories worldwide. We are excited to see that the repository, which is less than two years old, is already among the best.

The Ranking Web of World Repositories is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group that is part of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain. The group creates the rankings, Continue reading UT Digital Repository ranked among the world’s top institutional repositories