Wrap-up: Curating & Exhibitions Interest Group Virtual Meetup on “How to Create Digital Exhibits with Library Collections and Archives”

On February 20, 2020, the Curating & Exhibitions Interest Group hosted its first virtual meet-up with a topic on “How to Create Digital Exhibitions with Library Collections and Archives.” Three panelists were featured in the event including:

• Rachel Shaevel, Metadata Librarian and Cataloger at the Chicago Public Library and Co-chair of Digital Exhibits Committee, Chicago Collections Consortium

• Gretchen Neidhardt, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Chicago History Museum, and Co-chair of Digital Exhibits Committee, Chicago Collections Consortium

• Andrew Bullen, Information Technology Coordinator, Illinois State Library

Moderated by Carol Ng-He, Exhibits Coordinator, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, and Founder & Organizer of the Interest Group, the meet-up covered presentations on examples of digital exhibits that are developed by the Chicago Collections Consortium and the Illinois State Library. The panelists walked us through the process from selecting the online platforms, their main features, pros, and cons, as well as the challenges and their solutions. Issues about digitization, image optimization and web editing for the exhibit were addressed. Joshua Lynch from the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub (IDHH) who was in the audience was invited to make a brief introduction of IDHH and the possibility of hosting digital exhibits on their portal.

A total of 54 attendees participated in the event.