The Digital Library of the Caribbean: A Multi-Institutional, International Digital Library

The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) was established in 2004 with nine (9) founding partners, five from the Caribbean and four from the United States. Today, dLOC has over one hundred (100) Partners and over forty (40) Associate Partners, who are based in the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Its operational hubs are at the University of Florida, which leads on the technical and administrative infrastructure, and Florida International University, which leads outreach efforts focused on users, communications, and scholarship. The hubs regularly collaborate on certain administrative tasks.

A cooperative of Partners and Associate Partners dLOC provides users free and open access to Caribbean cultural, historical, scientific and research materials held in archives, libraries, museums, private collections, and other institutions of memory and preservation. Operating on a shared governance structure, each partner has an equal voice and contributes to dLOC’s evolution and success. More information about our operating model, Partners, Associate Partners, and current initiatives can be found on our Program Site.

Partner Institutions are at the core of dLOC and they contribute the Caribbean, circum-Caribbean, and Caribbean Diaspora focused resources found on our site. Following a post-custodial methodology, dLOC and its operational hubs make no claims of ownership on any of the material available on the website. Partners and Associate Partners retain all rights to their materials and provide access to the resources. The post-custodial approach is a fundamental tenet of dLOC operations.

In essence, dLOC is a collection of collections and is known for its partner collections, its Caribbean Maps and Caribbean Newspaper collections. Our user community includes scholars, students, teachers, independent researchers, and indeed anyone with a curiosity about the Caribbean. Together, the dLOC community works to promote and perform educational outreach in Caribbean Studies, to develop new works of digital scholarship, and to pursue other research and teaching initiatives.

Welcome to dLOC where something new awaits you with every click.