On April 1st, the first digital exhibition from Special Collections and University Archives´ (SC/UA), "John Milton and the Cultures of Print," went live on the Rutgers University Libraries' website. This digital exhibit captures the physical exhibition on display at the Special Collections and University Archives Gallery in Alexander Library from February 3 to May 31, 2011. Its release coincided with Rutgers' hosting of the Northeast Modern Language Association conference.

Users can view the images one at a time with text or full screen, zoom in to see details on the image, or play an automated slideshow. While the physical exhibit can only remain on display for a short time, the digital exhibit can be dynamically retrieved and displayed in perpetuity.

What is unique about this digital exhibition is that it highlights an innovative use of the Rutgers University Community Repository (RUcore). Individual objects in the physical exhibit are digitized, in this case books or manuscripts, along with their associated identifying information (metadata), capturing both "section or case" and "caption" information. They are then retrieved dynamically with the object, and displayed through a presentation tool intended to recreate the organization, look and feel of the physical exhibition. This is an imaginative way to utilize the intellectual resources within the repository.

This project was a collaborative effort between SC/UA and Technical and Automated Services (TAS). Many people worked on the exhibition tool and the technology that underlies it. Particular thanks goes out to the exhibition project team: Fernanda Perrone and Caryn Radick of SC/UA and John Brennan, Chad Mills, Carla Zimmerman, Sam McDonald and Linda Langschied of TAS.

"John Milton and the Cultures of Print" digital exhibit can be viewed at: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/exhibits/milton/