The University Library not only preserves books, but also manages the Special Collections of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. To make these collections more accessible, many objects have been digitised and made available via the VU Imagebase. Over the past six months, the University Library has licensed more than 6,000 items.
The rights of many images had not been sorted out or had not been added. As a result, for instance, the HDC photo collection - part of the Archives collection - has been completely invisible online for 10 years.
But over the past six months, the University Library has worked hard to change this, resulting in more than 6,000 added licences. Among other things, this means that it is now possible to view, download and use over 2,200 photos related to VU Amsterdam via CC BY licence. The 'Manuscripts and Early Printed Books' and 'Maps & Atlases' collections will be made available as Public Domain.
Special Collections
The Special Collections consist of 5 sub-collections, namely Academic Heritage, Archives, Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Maps & Atlases and Art. These are mainly physical objects, which the University Library makes available for research and education. By making the collections available digitally, they can be put to even better use while visibility is increased. All this contributes to the objectives of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network.
Photo: MFFI/AZVU, Amsterdam 1968 (CC BY 4.0)