Creating Digital Projects with Cross- Departmental Teams

Rob Withers

Jenny Presnell

Bob Schmidt

Miami University Libraries

Why create digital projects?

Motivators

AccessibilityPreservationPublicity of little known resources

Team members and partners

Development Team:Miami Mysteries & Ghost Stories

Rob Withers (Electronic Info Svcs Librarian)Rob Casson (Electronic Info Svcs Librarian)John Millard (GIS Librarian)Jenny Presnell (Humanities/Social Sciences

Librarian)Bob Schmidt (Archivist)Shannon Van Kirk (Art/Architecture Librarian)Assistance from Digitizing Unit

Development Team:African-Americans at Miami

Rob Withers (Electronic Info Svcs Librarian)Pat Bullock (Multicultural Librarian)Kris Jacobson (Art/Architecture staff)Jenny Presnell (Humanities/Social Sciences

Librarian)Bob Schmidt (Archivist)Assistance from Digitizing Unit

Overview of the projects

Selection

Miami MysteriesPre-existing materials

African-AmericansExcerpts from pre-existing collection

78 records, including:20 newspaper articles20 letters17 photographs6 public records2 audio recordings1 transcript of television broadcast

374 records, including:180 newspaper articles/editorials74 newspaper articles with

photograph(s)52 letters/personal communications40 photographs15 public records5 advertisements

Arrangement of Materials

Miami MysteriesArranged by incidentIncludes explanation of documents

African-AmericansFour access pointsCross-linked subject headings

Differences in the Projects

SizeResources available/selectionNumber of access pointsBackground

Processes and Tools

Copyright

Public domain resourcesNewspapers, transcripts, audiotapes

Tools for Creating Projects

Database driven forms for adding, editing, and deleting records.

Dynamic master lists of subjects & material types.

(link)

Technical Details

Scripting languages: php, MySQLMetadata: basic Dublin Core format

Publicity

Promotional materialsTie-ins to seasonal eventsNetworking with related

organizations

What we learned

Successes

We made it!Heavy collection usageIncreased visibility for resources in

ArchivesInterest in partnering with other

groups

Areas for Improvement

Communicating expectationsDefining processes and standards

Future Directions

Miami Mysteries

Caretaker looks for new materialsGroup re-convenes to assess new

materials

African-Americans

Additional materials gathered and added each semester

Reminiscences projectOral history interviews

Contact Information

Jenny Presnell - presnejl@lib.muohio.edu

Bob Schmidt - rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu

Rob Withers - rwithers@lib.muohio.edu