5 questions for ... Nadia Nasr

Photo by Desireé Stover

New university archivist to create online access to rare holdings

By Jan Lucas

In a paneled room on the fifth floor of TU’s Albert S. Cook Library, the librarian in charge of TU’s past is looking to the future. She’s Nadia Nasr, who assumed the position of university archivist on December 3.       

Would you tell me a little about your career?

I came to TU from Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, where I was the digitization supervisor and the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage program (MDCH) coordinator. Pratt’s central library is the State Library Resource Center. In this role it provides free digitization services and digital collections hosting through the MDCH program. MDCH is a statewide collaborative program established to digitize collections of valuable books, manuscripts and other archival materials for scholars and others wishing to view them. As program coordinator I arranged all aspects of digitization projects. Before that I worked at the McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi, which is where I earned my Master of Library and Information Science degree. 

Why is it crucial to digitize archival materials?

Digitizing expands access, while at the same time helping to preserve rare, fragile and/or one-of-a-kind items. Digital images of these items can be made available online, thereby reducing (but not eliminating) the need for handling of originals.

What sorts of things are housed in TU’s archives?

Some of the most interesting things include historic books, photos, documents and yearbooks, portraits of past principals and presidents, and china and tea services. Our two most notable collections are former governor Robert Ehrlich’s Congressional papers and the Paul H. Gantt collection. Gantt served as director of the Special Projects Division during the Nuremberg trials.

What all does your position entail?

This job is different from previous ones because in addition to digitizing archival materials, I’ll also be in charge of them—at the Pratt I was digitizing other institutions’ materials and making them centrally accessible online from the MDCH Web site. As university archivist I’ll be organizing and documenting TU’s existing collections, bringing in and documenting new collections and making them accessible in person and online. I’m going to literally and figuratively throw open the doors of the archives by using technology to provide 24/7 global access to collections, conducting tours of the archives and building an archival instruction program to teach students how to use materials for research. I’ll also be working to expand the holdings and tointroduce the archives to a more diverse group of users. Visitors should feel comfortable and welcome in the archives—I don’t want it to be a daunting place.  

How does one undertake such a large-scale digitization project?

Initially I’ll be assessing current holdings to find out what we have, what we need to keep and what should be stored elsewhere or even disposed of. Next I’ll work on improving intellectual control over materials by repurposing existing or creating new documentation and making it accessible both in house and online. Once we’ve acquired our digitization equipment, software and support staff, we’ll start digitizing materials. The archives will also have to redesign its Web presence to accommodate the new documentation and information. It’s a huge project, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

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