Ball State University
Digital Media Repository
…a project of the University Libraries
Scholarly Resources for Teaching,
Learning, and Research
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
Growth of the Digital Media Repository
• February 10, 2005: 5,000 photographs in 3
collections in the Middletown Digital Archives
• February, 2010: Nearly 200,000 digital objects in
89 collections in the DMR, including
• Architectural Drawings and Slides
• Artwork
• Audio and Video
• Maps and Atlases
• Photographs
• Publications (Newspapers; Scholarly Journals)
• Sheet Music
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
New Public Interface - January 2010
• Working Group charged with improving the user
experience, enhancing navigation, utilizing Web 2.0
technologies, and adding new search options
• New interface increases visibility, search engine
rankings, usability, and use
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
Some Google Analytics and Survey Results
• 95% of DMR users are able to view wider pages
without having to scroll horizontally
• 95% use browsers that support Java and all users had
some version of flash installed
• 85% prefer to browse using an alphabetical arranged list
of collection titles
• Narrative responses indicated a preference for more
information than just titles and images on the Browse
pages
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
Enhancements to DMR Public Interface
Web 2.0 Enhancements include:
• Cooliris media viewer to allow users to browse
collections from home page in an interactive environment
• AddThis social bookmarking tool to allow users to
easily share DMR content on social networking sites like
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Delicious.
• Flickr photostream to encourage user interaction with
digital assets
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
Enhancements to DMR Public Interface
Navigation and Browsing Enhancements include:
• Left side navigation bar on all pages with options to
browse by subject, location, format, and contributors
• Browse pages that arrange content by subject, location,
format, contributor, and individual collections
• Added brief descriptions of collections to the Browse
pages
• “Spotlight on New Collections” with user controlled
revolving images
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
Enhancements to DMR Public Interface
Searching Enhancements include:
• Search boxes added to splash pages
• Predefined advanced searches by subject, location,
format, and contributors
• Faceted searching
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
New DMR Public Interface
Let’s see the new DMR interface in action
http://libx.bsu.edu
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends