Supporting Faculty Research through Collaborative Digital Projects: The Mongolian Altai Inventory

This article provides an overview of a collaborative project of the University of Oregon Libraries, Infographics Lab, and an art history professor to create a virtual research guide, entitled, "Archaeology and Landscape in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia." Offering accompanying digital image archives, this project serves as a model for humanities data preservation and presents a collaborative strategy for promoting faculty research output in a new media environment. In addition to the typical challenges faced in digital projects, the specialized nature of the content and multiple participants with varied areas of expertise added further challenges. Drawing on "lessons learned," a new model was created for libraries to support and preserve faculty research.