Discovery and access

Accessing this unique treasure trove is a key component to MDPI's success. Making it available online to current and future generations of scholars and researchers is just as important as preserving it. IU is using the Avalon Media System to make it easier for libraries and archives to provide that access. This open-source system has been co-developed by the libraries of Indiana University and Northwestern University, with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and is based on the widely used Hydra and Fedora digital repository technologies.

Together with existing tools such as the IUCAT online library catalog and Archives Online archival collections discovery system, Avalon will enable members of the IU community, the public, and researchers around the world to discover, view, and listen to audio and video digitized from IU’s collections, with access granted based on the rights status of the recordings. Sample items may be previewed through IU’s Avalon-based Media Collections Online website