Capturing a Graying Literature: The U.S. Forest Service Research Legacy

Abstract

Among the "natural resource" collections in the ScholarsArchive@OSU is the "U.S. Forest Service Research Legacy." Research findings from the U.S. Forest Service make up a significant portion of the core of any U.S. forest research library collection. Oregon State University Libraries began considering how it might contribute to preserving this research legacy in late 2004. An informal assessment of digitization plans within the U.S. Forest Service was undertaken in 2005. In February 2006, this project was added to the Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects. This article relates the history and current scope of this collection, told from a subject librarian's perspective.