Newest DMR Collection Represents Community Partnership

The Yorktown-Mount Pleasant Historical Alliance Collection contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and other artifacts representing the rich history of Yorktown and
Mount Pleasant Township, Indiana, from 1888 to 2007.

This collection is an example of how partnerships between cultural institutions and digital repositories can be so advantageous. Through this collaboration, University Libraries adds to its collection of digital research materials, and the Yorktown-Mount Pleasant Historical Alliance is provided the opportunity to have its artifacts digitally preserved and made available to a global audience.

If you would like to collaborate with University Libraries and the Digital Media Repository, contact Project Coordinator John Straw.

Ball State DMR Represented at Regional Conference

Tomorrow, March 18, 2009, marks the start of the Fourth Annual Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group Conference, to be held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Members of Ball State Metadata and Digital Initiatives and Archives and Special Collections will be reporting on special DMR projects, metadata issues, automation techniques, and more. See the conference website for details, or contact a BSU MADI librarian or archivist for more information on thier presentation.

http://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/mug/

Rotating Videos in Educational Resources Realia Collections

This Zulu Witch Doctor Doll video is a frame-by-frame example of a 3D Rotating Video included in the Digital Media Repository. These videos, assembled using VRWorx software, allow us to show 3D objects from all sides. In the DMR, users can control the rotation speed, zoom in, and zoom out in the video.

The DMR contains digital representations of several "realia" items from University Libraries Educational Resources. Realia refers objects used by educators in order to teach students about world cultures, science, music, and other real-world concepts. The DMR contains Dolls, Fossils, Musical Instruments, and more. To view all the realia collections, Browse Collections and sort by Format. Click on 3D Objects. These are only a sampling of what's available for checkout from Educational Resources.

Muncie Economic Development Oral Histories Use Embedding Technology

The Muncie Economic Development Oral Histories, also known as Muncie's Response to Economic Change: An Oral History, includes oral history interviews with local civic and business leaders involved in past and current efforts to address long-term economic change in Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana.

It is a subcollection of the larger Middletown Digital Oral History Collections, which is comprised of over 200 audio and corresponding transcript files embedded together on the same page. Embedding the PDF transcript was easy--that functionality comes standard with the latest version of CONTENTdm. However, we wanted to have the audio and transcript in the same window so that users could listen and read along at the same time.

The resulting interface allows users to just that. Read Budi Wibowo's article on how to embed the audio player here on page 8 of Library Insider Vol. 6 Iss. 12.

Muncie Civic Theatre Collection Displays Searchable Theatre Programs

The Muncie Civic Theatre Collection includes programs from plays presented by the Muncie Civic Theatre from its inception in 1931 through 1986, with additional programs from 1996 and 2005.

View the collection here: http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MunCiv.

The programs were scanned in the Ball State University Libraries Digitization Center. Each was OCR processed, so the documents are fully searchable in the DMR and through Google. They were uploaded to the DMR in PDF format. Metadata records indicate the performance dates of each play.

BSU Libraries Obtain Book Scanner

The BookDrive DIY book scanner is the latest addition to the University Libraries' Digitization Center.

This book digitization solution was purchased as part of an LSTA Digitization Grant awarded to create a Middletown Women’s History Digital Collection. The collection contains several bound materials such as scrapbooks and diaries that we couldn't safely capture on a flatbed scanner. Due to the fragility and uniqueness of materials the collection, it was necessary to purchase a scanner that "cradles" the items, rather than stressing the bindings with traditional flatbed scanning. Digitization of bound materials began this week with minutes from the Community Woman’s Club Records, ca.1904-1955. We'll continue through the rest of the grant materials and move to other rare and historic bound items from Archives and Special Collections soon.

Zoomify Update: Save & Print and Collection List

We've enhanced Zoomify functionality in the DMR to include a "Save and Print" Feature. Sometimes when users view digital maps or other images, they're only interested in a certain section. Perhaps they locate the historical site where their home now sits, or they find a tiny town of particular research interest. In those cases, users might want to save or print just that zoomed portion instead of the entire map. The "Save" button lets users do just that -- by opening a new window that allows right-clicking to save, print, or email the zoomed image.

The DMR collections that utilize Zoomify are:
Ball State Campus Maps
Campus Building Plans
The Daniel W. Hartwig Photograph Collection of Indiana Courthouses
Muncie and Delaware County Historical Maps and Atlases
Muncie Chevrolet Plant Architectural Drawings
Ostland Atlas Collection (Image shown is from this collection.)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Collection