Prioritising preservation through access: Placing digital stewardship at the heart of digital collections access at Yale Library

Abstract

This paper examines Yale Library’s transformation from a fragmented digital collections environment into an integrated digital stewardship model that places preservation at the heart of access. Over the past decade, Yale has established a sustainable framework for managing its digitised and born-digital special collections. It began by implementing core systems, including Alma and ArchivesSpace for metadata, Preservica for content preservation, and custom middleware to maintain synchronisation across all components. The library’s most significant advances include the Metadata Cloud, which automates complex metadata mapping between systems, and its adoption of International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) standards to ensure collections work seamlessly across platforms. Everything feeds into its discovery ecosystem: Archives at Yale, QuickSearch and LUX. The library has broken down the data silos that once blocked its work, built a stronger preservation infrastructure, and created seamless discovery paths for researchers across every platform. Of course, nothing comes without trade-offs. The systems now depend heavily on each other. When one component fails, it affects the whole chain. Processing takes longer because teams must meet rigorous preservation standards. Staff constantly navigate the tension between traditional archival descriptions and users’ expectations for granular, item-level access. This paper demonstrates that integrating preservation into access workflows, while complex, creates more sustainable, reliable and user-centred systems. The paper provides practical guidance for institutions seeking to transition from short-term digital access solutions to long-term digital stewardship. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at http://hstalks/business.