The University of Portland: Streamlining digital access and management

The University of Portland faced the challenge of managing digital materials across two separate platforms, one for Digital Collection Assets and another for their Scholarly Institutional Repository. This setup created inefficiencies, limited discovery, and made it difficult to provide a seamless experience for users. To bring together archival materials and scholarly works while simplifying operations, the university chose AM Quartex as their unified solution.

By adopting Quartex as a single, cohesive platform, the University of Portland Clark Library was able to eliminate information silos, streamline workflows and enhance accessibility for both administrators and end-users. This transformation not only improved operational efficiency but also ensured that their digital assets could be managed and discovered with ease.

Digital Services Librarian, Philip Vue led the complex migration of collections from CONTENTdm and Digital Commons. This meant integrating disparate data structures, some with standard Dublin Core metadata and some without, into a scalable, flexible, and easily discoverable platform. The transition to Quartex successfully met the library team’s key priorities.

The first was scalability. With just one person overseeing the digital collection and institutional repository, it was paramount that the migration was both easily manageable and straightforward to scale. It was also vital that once the platform was established, digital assets could be managed all in one place.  Quartex’s intuitive interface and powerful tools made it easy to transition and manage assets. As the collections grow, the system can expand without requiring more time or expertise. AM Quartex's intuitive interface and powerful backend tools, combined with dedicated support from the AM Quartex team, made it easy to transition and manage assets

Another challenge was the flexibility required whilst migrating and merging two systems with different metadata schemas. Philip required a flexible solution that would allow seamless integration of non-standard data alongside the standard Dublin Core records. Quartex’s customisable fields allowed for this, creating a richer metadata structure, tailored to both collections, without extra work. 

Consolidating the university assets on Quartex also helped to improve discoverability. Custom fields make it easy to distinguish between scholarly works and archives, while the advanced search function allows users to find materials quickly. The platform’s intuitive and user-friendly interface, combined with its CMS tools, enables the effortless creation of digital exhibits and curated landing pages. Time constrained users and curators, such as Philip, can easily create these discovery pathways without the need to navigate around external developers or a challenging user experience, further streamlining access to the collections.
 

The migration to Quartex has transformed how the University of Portland manages its digital heritage and scholarly output. Now on a single, scalable platform, the previously separate Digital Collection Assets and Scholarly Institutional Repository are united, offering a cohesive resource for the academic community. Enhanced discoverability and contextual presentation have unlocked new potential for teaching, learning, and research, all managed efficiently by Philip.