Changes are coming to many of Milner Library’s digital collections! Beginning August 7, users will notice an improved image viewer, new look-and-feel, and additional mobile capabilities when browsing digitized content from Illinois State University’s Special Collections, Archives, and other repositories of historical materials. These enhancements serve to make the library’s distinctive digital materials more accessible and user friendly. They are the product of a year-long task force comprised of representatives from Library Information Technology Services; Cataloging, Acquisitions, and Processing (CAP); and the Digitization Center.

Only collections hosted on Milner’s main delivery platform CONTENTdm will receive this update. Illinois State University course catalogs and yearbooks, ISU ReD, and The Vidette Digital Archives are maintained in separate systems and will remain the same. While item URLs will change in the new CONTENTdm interface, any bookmarked links will redirect to the new pages.

If you’re unfamiliar with the unique primary source databases created by the Milner Digitization Center, now’s a great time to explore! These collections house tens of thousands of digitized images, texts, and AV resources to choose from. Recent additions include the Hazle Buck Ewing Women’s Suffrage Collection and the Circus Route Books Collection. Digitization Center staff add content to existing collections such as Historic Heralds all the time.

If you have any questions or comments, please submit feedback on these changes to Digitization Coordinator Karmine Beecroft.