WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) today released the first publication of “OITP Perspectives” – a new publication series created to complement OITP Policy Briefs.

The publication, “Digitizing Hidden Collections in Public Libraries,” was written by Gwen Glazer, staff writer/editor and social media coordinator at Cornell University, who served as the Google Policy Fellow for OITP in summer 2010.

OITP Director Alan Inouye said the purpose of the new series is to provide an outlet for topics that are more specialized than those covered by policy briefs. OITP Perspectives publications will be intended for primary digital release.

“OITP policy briefs are useful for many purposes, but they can require an extended time to develop,” Inouye said.

“This new series provides a needed outlet for OITP to make a more rapid response to current issues.  Additional publications for the OITP Perspectives series are already in the works in the areas of cutting-edge technology services, copyright, and e-books.”

Glazer’s piece offers an overview of digitization challenges facing small and medium-sized libraries, presents options for large-scale digitization projects, and suggests ways to share newly created digital collections.

“This publication is a significant start to the perspectives series because it delves into an issue that public librarians care deeply about but are not sure how to handle,” Bonnie Tijerina, chair of OITP’s Advisory Committee, said.

“To find real solutions to these digitization challenges, public librarians must overcome all the hurdles that prevent capturing these hidden collections. A key hurdle is developing collaborations to pursue new initiatives to bring hidden collections online. I believe this publication will be a valuable tool for finding such collaborators. ”

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