NEVADA AND LAS VEGAS MEMORY: DIGITAL TREASURES FOR READERS, AUTHORS AND THE LITERARY IMAGINATION

Vegas Valley Book Festival, November 3, 2012

Defining Digital Collections

digital collection: A collection of library or archival materials converted to machine-readable format for preservation or to provide electronic access.

Example: Menus: The Art of Dining http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/menus/

From the Online Dictionary of Information Science :http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_d.aspx

Why Digitize?

Light blue pant suit with matching fur-trimmed hat and coat

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Goals of digital collections are to provide increased access to unique, rare, or hard to handle physical collections, 24/7 worldwide.

Defining Digital Libraries

digital library: A library in which a significant proportion of the resources are available in machine-readable format accessible by means of computers.

Example: Mountain West Digital Library established by the Utah Academic Library Consortium – UNLV is a member: www.mwdl.org

From the Online Dictionary of Information Science :http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_d.aspx

Explore: American Memory

The Library of Congress American Memory project connect educators to primary sources. _______________

This massive project provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. Extensive teacher resources are also available.

Digital Collections and Educators

Library of Congress: American Memory: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

International Children’s Digital Library: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/education/

Poet’s Voice – A Digital Poetry Collection: http://hcl.harvard.edu/collections/digital_collections/poets_voice.cfm

University of Wisconsin Literature Digital Library: http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/Literature

Mountain West Digital Library: http://www.mwdl.org/

Explore: Mountain West Digital Library

The Mountain West Digital Library is a central search portal for digital collections about the Mountain West region. ________________

Goal is to provide free access to resources in over 350 collections from universities, colleges, public libraries, museums, historical societies, and government agencies, municipalities, and counties in Utah, Nevada, and other parts of the U.S. West.

Digital Library Development at UNLV

UNLV Digital Collections built around content that documents Southern Nevada: mining, railroads, water issues

High resolution, free images, globally accessible 24/7

Grant-funded projects Education consultant building learning

objects Teacher guide to collection (NTS)

Not what you’d expect in a library

Bluebells pose outside of Pan Am jet

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• Maps

• Costume designs

• Menus

• Technical reports

Using Digital Library Collections Three kinds of content

Web site text, images, and content Database of digitized resources Learning objects or education content (mixed

into both areas) Two methods to find things

Browse Collections Search results within collections via:

Keyword searching (most users) Advanced search – subject terms (expert users) Custom results (pre-selected browse paths)

All About Access

Baneberry test, Nevada Test Site, largest above ground test

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Access depends upon:

high-quality, standards-based, shareable metadata

(*library role)

UNLV’s Digital Collections

Southern Nevada: History in Maps: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/maps

Menus: The Art of Dining: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/menus

Showgirls: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/showgirls

Welcome Home, Howard: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/hughes/

Coming soon!!: Dino at the Sands Rebel Yell and Las Vegas Age newspapers African American Experience in Las Vegas

Out of the Library…

Students and faculty portrait on stairs of Las Vegas School

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Connecting the primary materials in digital collections to users and researchers

…And into the Imagination

Historic menus used for scientific study

Showgirls collection connects former dance partners

Historic photo results in donation of modern collections

Shared stories / shared history

Nevada Test Site Oral History Projecthttp://digital.library.unlv.edu/ntsohp/

Demo

Inspiring Designs and Social Features

Rate an image

Comment on an image

Share a story

Menus: The Art of Dininghttp://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/menus

Demo

Extending the Reach - Classroom

Connecting educators to content, some methods

Introductory Text Inquiry Questions Primary Source Sets Timeline Materials Scavenger Hunt

Southern Nevada: The Boomtown Yearshttp://digital.library.unlv.edu/boomtown/

Demo

Feedback from Educators

Survey Monkey feedback

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“Thank you for all your hard work you put into this website. I teach 4th grade here in Las Vegas, and this site will be used frequently this next school year.”

Time to Explore!

1. Try to find a Vegas menu from a casino you have visited

2. Look for a photo of the construction of the Hoover Dam

3. Imagine what life would have been like in a Southern Nevada mining boomtown

4. Contrast two stories told by narrators in their own words describing their experience watching a nuclear test

5. Choose your favorite neon sign from the Vegas skyline

Discussion Questions

How might I use these activities to inspire my own creativity?

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How might I share them with my family or friends?

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What would you like to see online?

Your Feedback is Appreciated

1. Complete a collection survey: Boomtown Years: http://

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Y5rxIAt9_2fMhIGT_2fipw9GvQ_3d_3d

Historic Landscape: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WKJ2ZXR

Dreaming the Skyline: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/skyline/survey

Collaborative Content

Postcard of Lorenzi Park, Las Vegas, circa 1930 ___________

New areas of digital collection development center around partnering with educators and users

Crowdsourcing History

HistoryPin: http://www.historypin.com/curated/

Citizen Archivist: http://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/

Future Directions

Would love to hear more from users New type of digital curation, digital publishing How can we make the digital collections more

useful for you? Staff are available for demos Any interest in additional development of

learning objects (user-contributed)? Future collaborations

African-American Experience in Las Vegas project funded for 2012-2013

Cory LampertHead, Digital Collectionscory.lampert@unlv.edu

Thank You!

Contact

www.digital.library.unlv.edu