Resources for Alums, Volume 1: DPLA

This summer Pitts starts a new blog series highlighting Resources for Alums! Take advantage of these tools post-graduation in and out of the library with recommendations from the experts in Pitts.

We kick off the series with a suggestion from Spencer Roberts, Pitts Theology Library’s Systems & Digital Scholarship Librarian. Spencer recommends The DPLA, which provides access to over 34 million digital objects found in libraries across the US. Anyone can browse the collection of images, texts, videos, and sounds from 41 different contributing libraries and archives.

To help people navigate this vast pool of materials, the DPLA recently introduced special topic collections, exhibitions that highlight specific areas, and sets of primary sources to help educators and students explore important topics. They also developed guides to help different users know where to start.

For Candler alum, the DPLA can be a fantastic source of historical materials that can be used in ministry, outreach, and research. For instance, DPLA has over 13,000 results for “sermon” including texts, images, and recordings. It also has over 3,800 results for “hymn”, 43,000 results for “Methodist”, and over 208,000 images of churches.

Use the DPLA to find inspiring texts and visual aids for sermons, primary sources for teaching and research, and community-related resources to help connect with your audience. Most of the digital objects in the DPLA are out of copyright and can be used as needed (with appropriate double-checking, of course). Access is available to anyone online at http://dp.la.

Stay tuned for more suggestions for resources for Emory Alums next week!