About Digital Collections

Digital Collections is your all-in-one portal into the UC Berkeley Library’s digital gems.

The digital materials you find here — images, text, audio, and video — enrich and support the work of Berkeley’s faculty, researchers, students, and staff. Digital Collections stems from the vision of the Digital Lifecycle Program, which serves the Library’s mission to preserve, protect, and provide access to the information it holds. This includes digital collections, archival records, and other materials that provide enduring value for intellectual inquiry, research, and discovery.

Our principles

(These principles and policies were developed in part with reference to and reliance on those of other academic libraries, memory institutions, and professional organizations, including University of Michigan, University of Illinois, the Society for American Archivists, American Library Association, and others.)

The Library encourages and supports research, teaching, and scholarship to advance global knowledge and understanding. By digitizing and sharing its treasures, both old and new, the Library can enhance research and scholarship across the world.

An imperative to enhance unfettered access to Library-digitized or acquired digital content guides our decisions related to digitization, discovery, and access. At the same time, the Library aspires to balance and inform such access to the digital historical record with legal, contractual, ethical, and safety considerations.

In providing digital access to materials and metadata from Library collections, the Library:

  • Adheres to copyright law, including the transfer or license of copyrighted materials to or by the university, and supports the exercise of fair use and the dissemination of materials in the public domain;
  • Respects people’s statutory and common law rights to privacy and individuals’ publicity rights, and adheres to applicable legal requirements in protecting those rights;
  • Adheres to provisions in agreements we have entered into regarding materials in our collections; and
  • Accounts for social and religious customs, and other circumstances (including documented evidence of a clear and imminent threat of personal or legal harm, or risks of exploitation of people, natural or cultural resources, or indigenous knowledge) that may impact use of some materials in our collections.

The Library, at its own discretion, may restrict access to or use of digital reproductions and update metadata according to each of these principles. We further acknowledge the historical and evolving social, cultural, and political contexts in which the materials under our current stewardship have been created, collected, and used. We approach access decisions in relation to those contexts and in consultation with communities of origin where appropriate.

Given our commitment to preserving the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly and historical record, we are unable to correct errors or inaccuracies present in original items. Requests for takedowns, access restrictions, or metadata updating will be considered only in keeping with recognized legal rights and the principles above.

Tell us more about our collections

Wondering why certain materials are available online? 

The Library has made best faith efforts to value and respect the complexities involved with making available and describing digital materials. If you have further information that might affect our determinations about the online availability of items, please follow the steps below:

  1. Copyright matters

    If you believe material should be taken down due to purported copyright infringement:

    • Please follow the procedures set forth by the UC Berkeley Information Security & Policy department for submitting a claim, and send an e-mail to: dmca@berkeley.edu.
    • Your e-mail will need to provide Information Security & Policy with sufficient information to locate the material (e.g. URLs) and identify the material’s copyright owner. 
    • Your request must also include: 
      • A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the information you identified is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
      • A statement that the information you provide in your communication notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act as the owner or on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly being infringed.
         
  2. Other matters

    If you believe the online availability of the material should be addressed under any other policy principle listed above, please email digitalinitiatives@berkeley.edu or send the information requested by mail to: DLP Program - AUL Digital Initiatives, 255 Doe Annex - University Library, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 with the following information in your correspondence:

    • Your contact information (including email address).
    • Exact URL where you found the material or information online.
    • Details that describe the material (title, collection name, number of items, etc.).
    • The reason you believe the digital material or its description should be revised, updated, or edited.
    • A statement that includes one of the following: (1) the information you provide in your communication is accurate and that you are authorized to act as the owner or on behalf of the owner of the material, or (2) the information you provide in your communication is accurate and you have an interest in the material or its description.

    After we hear from you, the Library will:

    • Upon receipt of your correspondence, acknowledge the message via email.
    • Begin to assess the next steps and, in the process of assessment, possibly follow up with you for more information.
    • Upon completion of the assessment, take appropriate action and communicate that action and our decision to you.

Have you found an error in an item record?

If you would like to suggest updates to digital item metadata, please email digitalinitiatives@berkeley.edu with the following information:

  • Your contact information (including email address).
  • Exact URL where you found the material or information online.
  • Details that describe the material (title, collection name, number of items, etc.).
  • The reason you believe the digital item metadata or item information should be revised, updated, or edited.
  • A statement that the information you provide in your communication is accurate and that you are authorized to act as the owner or on behalf of the owner of the material and the description therein.

Permissions requests

If you have questions about how you can use digital materials made available through this site, please see our Library permissions policies.