MABEL Soft Launch / Summer 2019

On June 25, 2019, the beta version of Western’s Multimedia Archives Based Electronic Library (MABEL) will be available to the university community. This central repository will allow for the discovery, sharing, and preservation of Western's digital assets, which includes images, video and sound recordings, and textual documents.

MABEL was developed to provide access to digital content in support of communications, research, and teaching & learning activities at Western, while also allowing for the responsible stewardship of unique materials and valuable digital assets created or managed by Western.

What’s the difference between Western CEDAR and MABEL? 

Western CEDAR provides open access to scholarship and creative works produced by the Western community, making the research, scholarship, and creative works of WWU faculty, staff, and students easily discoverable to anyone in the world. 

These two platforms have separate purposes and different kinds of content, and can be used together in complementary ways to support the wide array of teaching, learning, and research activities at Western. 

Content in MABEL can be used to support and enable:

• Academic and scholarly research
• Primary source instruction
• Preservation of digital assets
• Marketing & outreach activities

Western employees who work with digital assets on behalf of their organizational units will be able to use MABEL to manage and share those assets. Although access permissions for content in this platform will vary, members of the larger university community (employees, students, and beyond), will also be able to use MABEL for search and discovery of public-facing collections. 

MABEL is the result of an intensive, multi-year cross-campus university partnership involving numerous stakeholders, content creators, archivists, and library professionals.

The name MABEL is in part an homage to Mabel Zoe Wilson, Western's first full-time librarian and the namesake of the Wilson Library building, which is still part of Western Libraries’ main complex. Mabel Zoe Wilson served as librarian from 1902-1945. Tasked with creating a library from virtually nothing, she worked through four decades to grow, catalog, and organize the collections, initiate services, and teach students effective library use.

Work to improve and further develop MABEL will continue throughout the summer as a team of web developers and content experts will make additional improvements. The goal is to replace the beta version with the launch of an improved version in the fall of 2019.  

• How to find MABEL: You may visit MABEL here: https://mabel.wwu.edu/
• Content Contributors: If you are a member of Western’s University Community, and you are interested in hosting your unit’s content in MABEL, please email grp.mabel.training@wwu.edu to learn more. 
• Interested in helping us improve the display and function of MABEL? Contact us.