Development of a portal to Texas history

To help information professionals learn about issues and considerations in portal building.

The University of North Texas Libraries’ Portal to Texas History provides long‐term storage and access to digital copies of important original materials illuminating Texas's past. This paper describes the development of the Portal technology and content – presenting objectives, processes, and future plans – and defines the larger goal of facilitating collaboration among resource‐holding institutions.

Practical aspects of creating and populating the portal include development of specifications and standards, construction of an application framework, selection of content, production of metadata, and refinement of user interfaces. Planned future enhancements to the Portal will augment sustainability and provide added value for users. The portal project may also serve as a catalyst for wider collaborative efforts in digitization.

The Portal to Texas History project's experiences described in this paper will inform other stakeholders seeking to develop innovative uses of Portal technologies.