UTSA Libraries recently partnered with HathiTrust to provide students and faculty access to an extensive collection of digitized books and serials from major research libraries.

By Ryan Schoensee, Communications Specialist

UTSA Libraries recently partnered with HathiTrust to provide students and faculty access to an extensive collection of digitized books and serials from major research libraries.

HathiTrust is a collaborative digital repository that provides long-term preservation and access services to its members. Consisting of both public domain and in-copyright content, its collections include digitized works from a variety of sources including Google, Microsoft, the Internet Archive and partner university libraries.

In 2008 HathiTrust began with a small group of universities working together to develop a repository that would allow them to easily archive and share their digitized collections. Quickly expanding, HathiTrust now includes nearly 100 participants with a total of 13 million items in its repository.

With such an extensive collection available to its participants, membership to HathiTrust has quickly become a hallmark of a top research institution. Its notable members include The University of California system, The University of Texas system, The University of Michigan and many other major research libraries.

“HathiTrust seeks to preserve and ensure ongoing access to the cultural and scholarly record and has been characterized as one of the largest and most valuable library initiatives of the 21st century,” said Posie Aagaard, assistant dean for Collections and Curriculum Support. “Its vast repository exposes a wealth of print research materials that have never before been available in digital format. It is a great resource for our faculty and students.”

HathiTrust collections are included automatically in the UTSA Libraries QuickSearch.