{"id":292181,"date":"2026-02-04T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/academia-government\/blog\/unlock-the-power-of-digital-special-collections-with-academic-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T05:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:57","slug":"unlock-the-power-of-digital-special-collections-with-academic-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/academia-government\/blog\/unlock-the-power-of-digital-special-collections-with-academic-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlock the Power of Digital Special Collections with Academic AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turning hidden gems into strategic assets<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As digital collections expand in both scale and complexity, the challenge of managing, showcasing and preserving these resources grows ever more urgent. The latest whitepaper from Clarivate, \u201cTurning Hidden Gems into Strategic Assets,\u201d<\/a> explores how forward-thinking librarians are leveraging academic AI to enhance their digital special collections that drive research, teaching and institutional identity.<\/p>\n

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The Evolving Role of Digital Collections<\/strong>
\nDigital collections are no longer just about preservation. They are central to a university\u2019s mission, supporting scholarship, teaching and community engagement. Yet, as Wolfgang Mayer of Vienna University Library notes, traditional workflows often struggle to keep pace with the demands of modern digitization projects.<\/p>\n

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“It\u2019s not only about metadata creation, but also metadata correction. There were thousands and thousands of hours spent by cataloguers during the last decades to either correct false data or to adopt rules that have changed. These things could be made so much easier with AI if AI is trained by the correct guidebooks.” Wolfgang Mayer, Head of Content & Data, Vienna University Library<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cataloging, metadata enrichment and exhibition building require significant expertise and time, resources that are increasingly stretched in today\u2019s academic environment.<\/p>\n

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Introducing Alma Specto: Academic AI-Driven Innovation<\/strong>
\nDeveloped in close partnership with leading libraries such as Vienna University Library and Bocconi University Library, Alma Specto<\/a> is an innovative solution designed to address the unique challenges of managing digital special collections. It leverages AI in academic libraries<\/a> to automate and enhance metadata creation, making collections more discoverable, accessible and valuable to researchers, students, and the broader academic community.<\/p>\n

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Alma Specto supports libraries to:<\/strong><\/p>\n