Last week PhilPapers, “a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers,” sent letters to academic librarians asking for financial support to sustain their work. As a recipient of such a letter, I would like to invite philosophers, librarians, and others interested in volunteer-run digital projects like PhilPapers to talk about issues raised by the organization’s call for support.  Among other topics, we can consider such questions as what is the value of such a service for scholars? for graduate students? for undergraduates?  Is asking for subscriptions from libraries the most appropriate method for supporting resources like PhilPapers?  Should libraries regularly factor funding for such services into collections budgets and how should libraries prioritize such funding with traditional journal and database subscriptions?  All are welcome to bring their opinions and their questions to the table.

If you are unfamiliar with PhilPapers or their call for subscriptions, here are a few links to more information:

Check out PhilPapers here: philpapers.org/

See PhilPapers public notice calling for institutional subscriptions here: philpapers.org/post/8146

For an overview of the response from librarians see this post from Wayne Bivens-Tatum, philosophy librarian at Princeton University: blogs.princeton.edu/librarian/2014/04/a-last-bit-on-philpapers/

Glenn Willumson, School of Art & Art History;  Richard Freeman, Smathers Libraries

Supported by a library mini-grant, this project is a collaborative venture between the library and the School of Arts and Art History to make the photographs of the construction of the first transcontinental railroad available to the public.  Professor Glenn Willumson digitized the original large-format (10 x 13 inch) glass-plate negatives made, by Andrew Russell, photographer of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868 and 1869.  Richard Freeman, University of Florida’s anthropology librarian, oversaw the creation of the website, which makes approximately 190 of his 240 photographs widely available for the first time.  Equally important, the website will be dynamic, encouraging interactivity with its viewers in hopes of gathering knowledge associated with the photographs–about photography, railroad technology, the mid-19^th century West, the growth of cities, the extent of Russell’s documentation, and the location missing photographs from this body of work.  It is hoped this digital photographic archive will be a first step in a larger digital project that will make the almost 1000 stereographs of the railroad construction available to the public and prove to be a model for future collaborative efforts on campus and with users throughout the world.