Clay tablet collection now available online via CONTENTdm

Clay tablets and other archeological objects from the University Library of the VU Amsterdam University are part of the Library's first special collection to go online.

The University Library owns a small collection of 5,000 years old archeological objects from the ancient Near East (present day Iraq and Iran). The collection, titled the Van der Meer-Cools collection, consists of 49 clay tablets and 94 other objects.

It is the first of the University Library's special collections to be made available online as part of the digital collections built using OCLC's CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software. The digital collection includes metadata and images of the archeological objects, which were photographed from various angles including the top, bottom and sides.

In the future, the Library plans to develop an online ordering module, as well as digitize more of its collections and make them available via CONTENTdm, including its portrait collection consisting of about 1,500 etched portraits; all historical maps of the VU (until 1900); the complete letter collection (16th -19th century); and the collection of manuscript fragments.

(2008 12 19)