BSU Digital Media Repository News

We've Got Historic Costumes!

2011-06-30T09:33:00.013-04:00

Lime green 1950s women's bathing suit purchased at Fredrick's of Hollywood? Check.

Lilac colored homemade sleeveless dress with heart shaped neckline and princess seams? Another check.

The Mary Beeman Historic Costumes collection includes photographs of select pieces of women's clothing ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s from Ball State University's Beeman Historic Costume Collection. Included in the digital collection are images of dresses, coats, jackets and suits. The physical Beeman Historic Costume Collection contains over 3,000 pieces of men's and women's apparel dating back to the 18th century and is housed in the Applied Technology building.

Multi colored squared suit from the 1990s? Oh yeah, it's in there.

Indiana Online Users Group Archives Digitized and Available in the DMR

2011-06-20T10:36:00.005-04:00

The Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG) is a professional organization for techie-librarians, or anyone interested in electronic information access systems. They recently deposited their paper archives with Ball State University Archives and Special Collections, and a portion of the organization's nearly 30 year history is now available and fully searchable in the Digital Media Repository.

The Indiana Online Users Group Archives digital collection provides online access to the organization's newsletter, IOLUG News, from 1982 to 2011. Editions of IOLUG News often contain information about and schedules for IOLUG events and activities; important announcements for group members; reports from the group's board, committees, and president; and articles, reports, and commentary about projects and professional issues.

Founded in 1982, IOLUG is an organization established for the purpose of furthering the use of online systems, databases, computers and telecommunication systems in libraries. Each year they provide a spring and a fall conference, centering on timely themes for libraries in the digital age, such as cloud computing, mobile applications, digitization, and much more. Learn more about these programs by visiting the digital collection, and consider joining IOLUG today!

The Historic Delaware County Courthouse: Gone But Not Forgotten

2011-06-16T15:53:00.010-04:00

The historic Delaware County Courthouse structure was built in 1887 and occupied a substantial block in the heart of downtown Muncie, a city that was thriving due to the discovery of natural gas in the area. The courthouse featured a clock, an impressive dome topped by a gas torch, and three statues entitled Indian, Agriculture and Industry that represented the history of the county.

This elegant Beaux-arts style courthouse was designed by Indiana architect Brentwood S. Tolan. Utilized until Muncie city officials determined in the 1960s that a modern facility was needed, the courthouse was torn down in 1966.

The Digital Media Repository's Delaware County Courthouse Collection recalls this historic building with architectural drawings, such as elevations, floor plans, and details. Also included is the pamphlet Preserving the Story (cover shown below), written by Muncie newspaper columnist and photographer Dick Greene. This pamphlet describes the history of Delaware County, Indiana's four courthouses.

Attention Civil War Enthusiasts!

2011-06-15T13:17:00.013-04:00

The Digitial Media Repository recently added two new subcollections to the U.S. Civil War Resources for East Central Indiana!

The J.W. Brant Civil War Diary includes extractions he wrote while serving in the Army from August 6, 1862 through November 30, 1863. It also includes a list of expenses possibly written by flora Brant in January 1880. An excerpt of the diary is pictured above.

The Delaware County Civil War Records includes records maintained by Delaware County from 1861 to 1890 related to the awarding of bounties to area soldiers who enlisted in the Union army. Among the bounty records are applications, certificates, checks, transfers, confirmations, and mustering lists produced by the regiments. This substantial addition to the collection deposited 3,878 (!) items for the delight of Civil War buffs everywhere. Below is an image of one of the many bounties paid out by Delaware County.

Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) Archives in the DMR

2011-05-16T08:42:00.005-04:00

We are pleased to announce that the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) Archives collection is now available in the Digital Media Repository.

The collection consists of organizational documents, Board of Director’s records, membership documents, Information Literacy Committee materials, Resource Advisory Committee minutes and reports, Resource Sharing Committee documents, and news releases. For more information about ALI, visit http://ali.bsu.edu/.

Indiana Bridge Company Collection

2011-05-12T12:23:00.003-04:00

We are pleased to announce the Indiana Bridge Company Collection as an addition to the Digital Media Repository.

The collection contains materials from Archives and Special Collections and from the Drawings and Documents Archive, including drawings, photographs, and documents from 1886 to 1981, documenting the work of the Indiana Bridge Company that was headquartered in Muncie. The company built thousands of steel structures through Indiana and around the country.

William Henry Jackson World’s Columbian Exposition Photographs

2011-05-12T12:12:00.003-04:00

The W illiam Henry Jackson World’s C olumbian Exposition Photographs is a new collection in the DMR.

This collection consists of images from two books of plates, White City and Jackson’s Famous Pictures of the World’s Fair, that are images taken by the famous photographer William Henry Jackson for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (aka Chicago World’s Fair). Jackson was famous for photographing the America’s westward expansion.

The Easterner: The Birth of Student News at Ball State

2011-04-26T08:46:00.008-04:00

The Ball State University Student Newspaper collection provides access to full-text searchable digitized student newspapers from Ball State's history, dating to 1922. Included in this collection are The Ball State Daily News (1968-present) and its predecessors, The Ball State News (1937-1968) and The Easterner (1922-1937). At present, issues from 1922 to 1929 are available electronically. The online availability of these early newspapers will provide a first-hand look at the humble beginnings of the student press at Ball State.

The Easterner, the predecessor of the modern Ball State Daily News, published its first edition on March 30, 1922, debuting as a 4-page weekly paper which sold for $0.05 per copy. Subscriptions were sold at $0.40 a term and $0.75 for two terms. Shown above is the staff of the Easterner in 1922.

At the outset, the paper had a distinctly campus feel, devoting itself to the coverage of campus events, including sporting events, performances, elections, and guest speakers, and reporting on the accomplishments of faculty and students. The activities of social organizations were well-documented, helping keep students aware of activities of interest. Jokes, riddles, and poetry could also be frequently found in the inside pages, and cartoons and illustrations could often be found on the paper's cover. The name of the publication reflects the fact that the school was then known as the Indiana State Normal School, Eastern Division.

Thomas J. Breitweiser, Dean of the Eastern Division and Professor of Psychology and History of Education, played a critical role in the founding of The Easterner, serving as the paper's faculty sponsor at its inception. The initial staff of the paper consisted of W. C. Harding as editor, Arthur Campbell as assistant editor, Basil Swinford as business manager, Luther Myers as assistant business manager, Roy Reynolds as advertising manager, Margaret Medsker as society editor, Thelma Carter as exchange editor, Fred Shroyer as circulation manager, and Charles McComas as athletic editor.

Swinford, who graduated later that year, was quite the school stalwart; in addition to his serving as business manager for the paper, he was also the assistant business manager for the 1922 Orient (the yearbook), the secretary-treasurer for his senior class, a member of the Navajo fraternity, a basketball letter winner in 1921, and a member of five additional school clubs. Swinford would go on to serve as Associate Professor of Business Education from 1926 to 1962 at Ball State. His interest in the student press did not wane as a faculty member, as he served as business advisor for the student newspaper during his years as a professor. Basil Swinford would later be honored as a namesake for the Botsford/Swinford halls in the Johnson Complex.

On February 26, 1937, years after the school became known as Ball State Teachers College, The Easterner changed its name to the Ball State News. On September 12, 1968, as a result of the increase in publication frequency, the paper became known as the Ball State University Daily News. In subsequent years, the paper was known by that name, the Daily News, and The Ball State Daily News, and eventually chose The Ball State Daily News as its permanent name.

Thomas P. and Eva Mann Collection

2011-04-25T09:40:00.001-04:00

The latest digital collection in the Digital Media Repository is the the Thomas P. and Eva Mann Collection. It includes local, national, and international postcards, Muncie, Indiana Westwood property assessments and plat maps, correspondence, birth records, and photographs from Thomas Mann and his family. The collection ranges from 1896 to 1959 and documents the Mann family`s history and travels.

For a detailed description about this collection, please view the Thomas P. and Eva Mann Collection finding aid.

Reichenbachia added to Digital Media Repository

2011-03-31T14:08:00.003-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Reichenbachia: Orchids Illustrated and Described is now available in the Digital Media Repository! This four-volume 19th century text was the creative vision of orchidologist Frederick Sander and provides life-sized illustrations and descriptions of several hundred orchids.

Reichenbachia, named after the renown German orchidologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, was created over a four year span from 1886 to 1890 as a collaboration between Sander and English painter Henry George Moon, who provided most of the illustrations. The text was issued in two series, each containing two volumes, all of which were published in two year intervals from 1888 to 1894. The four volumes were dedicated to Queen Victoria; Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia; Maria Feodorovna, Empress of Russia; and Marie Henriette of Austria respectively.

Sander, the main creative force behind Reichenbachia, was born Heinrich Friedrich Conrad Sander in Germany in 1847 and later settled in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, where he sold seeds and later concentrated on orchids. By the 1880's, Sander's nursery covered four acres with roughly 60 greenhouses.

The collaboration between Sander and Moon, a landscape painter, was not without conflict. While Sander wanted the orchids to be depicted in an idealized way, Moon was determined to include natural imperfections in his work, and it was the latter approach that won over in the end. Moon would later marry Sander's daughter in 1894.

All four volumes of Reichenbachia are held in print at Ball State University Archives and Special Collections, which is open to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Wednesday to Friday.

American Cities Historic Maps Digital Collection

2011-03-15T08:40:00.003-04:00

We are pleased to announce that the American Cities Historic Maps digital collection is now available in the Digital Media Repository: http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/AmrcnCtyHis. This collection includes 23 maps for American cities dating from 1855 through 1921. Cities represented include Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Denver, San Francisco, Washington D.C. (pictured below) and others. The types of maps include street, topographic, park, city planning, and harbors. Zoomfy technology is available for detailed map viewing.

3 New Drawings & Documents Archive Collections

2011-03-14T09:33:00.005-04:00

The R. Milton Retherford House Architectural Drawings digital collection includes blueprints of a Queen Anne Style home built during 1890 in the Emily Kimbrough Historic District in Muncie, Indiana.

The Frank H. Wheeler Estate Photographs digital collection contains 39 images of the estate, known as Hawkeye (pictured left), taken by H. H. Coburn Company soon after the house was built. Also included is a portrait of Douglas Wheeler, the son of Frank and Stella Wheeler.

The Daniel B. Young Landscape Architectural Drawings digital collection contains images of Daniel B. Young's design drawings and business and personal photographs.

The Drawings and Documents Archive is a unique resource dedicated to preserving the history of the built environment in Indiana. Physical collections contain over 100,000 original architectural drawings, landscape plans, blueprints, photographs, models and building remnants that tell the history of Indiana’s sites and structures.

New Muncie and Delaware County Historic Photograph Collections

2011-02-13T11:11:00.007-05:00

The Muncie and Delaware County Historic Photographs digital collection includes images ranging from the late 19th century to the 21st century documenting the history of "Middletown" and the lives of early community members. The collection has recently doubled in size with the addition of 20 additional archival photograph collections.

Pictured right is an example from the collection, depicting teacher Rob Black with students from Beech Grove school circa 1904-1905.

The new collection are listed below. Visit the collection to view these additions!

Anderson Street Elwood, Indiana Postcard
C. A. Ralls Photographs
Delaware County Schools Photographs
Field Hockey Team Photograph
Frank Ellis Photograph
Goddard Home Photograph
Horse Driven Hearse Photograph
M. Green Photographs
Muncie High School Photographs
Muncie Post Office Photographs
Muncie Presbyterian Church Photograph
Muncie Washington School Photographs
Old Eden Christian Church Photograph
Old People`s Day, Gaston, Indiana Photographs
Parker-Moore Cemetery Photographs
Ralph Shaffer Photograph
Rarick Family Photographs
Settlers of Delaware County Photographs
Studebaker Family Photograph
Walburn Family Photographs

Muncie Times Collection Expanded

2011-02-10T16:38:00.003-05:00

The Muncie Times Newspaper digital collection in the DMR was recently expanded by 69 issues/2822 pages, bringing the online archive current up to December, 2010. The issues are completely full-text searchable and cover recent topics such as the Kwanzaa celebration, the passing of Selma, Indiana educator Alan Kent Garringer, and Forbes Magazine naming Mrs. Obama the world's most powerful woman.

The timing of this expansion coincides nicely with the newest Archives and Collections exhibit, running February 7-April 1, 2011: The Muncie Times: 20 Years of Service to theAfrican-American Community.

First Installment of Ball State Alumni Memorabilia in the DMR

2011-01-25T13:06:00.004-05:00

The Ball State Alumni Memorabilia digital collection consists of Ball State memorabilia donated by alumni and maintained at the Alumni Center. Ball State University Libraries is scanning and photographing the collection there to create this digital version in the DMR. The first installment is all photographs dating from 1918 to 2001 relating to student life. The collection will be expanded to include other media types, including artifacts such as banners, pins, clothing, etc. Pictured above is one of the photos from the collection depicting the 1941 baseball team at BSU.

Ball State University Course Catalogs Now in the DMR

2011-01-24T10:32:00.005-05:00

New to the DMR is the Ball State University Course Catalogs collection. This digital collection contains searchable versions of BSU course catalogs from 1918 to 1998. It includes information about academic policies and requirements, course descriptions, programs, admissions and unique student opportunities. The collections also links to the catalogs from 1998 to present that Ball State already has available on the University Web site.

Additonal Pierre & Wright Material Made Available in the DMR

2011-01-21T17:45:00.004-05:00

The Pierre and Wright Architectural Records digital collection, added to the Digital Media Repository in August of 2009, consists of drawings, photographs, 3-D models, and ephemera from the architecture firms of Edward D. Pierre, the Pierre and Wright Partnership, and Edward D. Pierre and Associates, ranging from 1920 to 1960.

This month, 85 new assets were added to this online collection. Additions include several examples of domestic architecture from the 1930s and several drawings commissioned by Marian College. Pictured below is a preliminary drawing of a Marian College dormitory and classroom building.

Muncie, Indiana Star Drug Store Inventories in DMR

2011-01-06T10:04:00.003-05:00

We are pleased to announce that the Star Drug Store Inventories are now available in the Digital Media Repository. This digital collection consists of 2 volumes of inventories documenting merchandise and prices at a local drug store in Muncie in 1885. Then inventory includes books that were sold and therefore is used in the What Middletown Read Project.

The Star Drug Store, which was located in downtown Muncie, Indiana, was owned by Geo. H. Andrews. The main room was 24 feet wide and 80 feet deep. With a wareroom in the rear and a 20 foot square room upstairs, all sorts of goods were available to the community. According to an advertisement from the 1881-1882 Muncie, Indiana city directory, the drug store bought large quantities direct from manufacturers and importers and was said to have the lowest prices on the purest goods.

Fall 2010 Student Art Theses Added to DMR

2010-12-29T13:02:00.006-05:00

Visit the Digital Media Repository to view the latest Ball State University art students' theses projects from the 2010 fall semester. While displayed at the Atrium Art Gallery, University Libraries' staff photographed the pieces and made them available to a global audience in the Ball State University Student Art digital collection. Pictured below is a photograph titled "The In Between," part of the "I am Mine" series by Jessica D. Seib.

Thomas L. Ryan Diaries New to the DMR

2010-12-28T15:06:00.005-05:00

Working in collaboration with Muncie Public Library, Ball State University Libraries' newest Digital Media Repository collection is the Thomas L. Ryan Diaries. This digital collection includes four volumes that account the life of early Muncie, Indiana resident Thomas L. Ryan dating from 1886 to 1890.

Thomas L. Ryan was born in 1872 in Muncie, Indiana. After finishing his education in Muncie, Ryan completed a course in engineering at the Hoboken Institute of Technology and studied law under his father. He joined his father`s law firm, which became Ryan & Ryan, in 1898. He was also president of the Highlands Manufacturing Company of Muncie.

Ryan wrote in his diaries every day. He recorded the weather, events at school, activities with friends, trips to the library and around town, chores and projects, and special events.

Muncie and Delaware County Historic Photographs Available

2010-12-10T08:58:00.006-05:00

Nineteen new small photograph collections consisting of 102 images are now available under The Muncie and Delaware County Historic Photographs in the Digital Media Repository: http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MunHisPhoto
This new area of the DMR consists of collections of historic photographs of Muncie and Delaware County from Ball State University Archives and Special Collections. The total number of collections will eventually grow to around 400 consisting potentially of upwards of 5,000 images. It is an eclectic group that will now be much more accessible to researchers. This is a great beginning that will contribute to the continuing growth and usefulness of the DMR.

Pictured above is the 1964 flood in Muncie, Indiana.

New Drawings and Documents Archive collection in DMR

2010-12-08T13:08:00.004-05:00

The Trowbridge and Beals Photographs digital collection is now available in the Digital Media Repository:

http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/Trwbridge　

This digital collection contains 51 photographs taken by Raymond W. Trowbridge and Jessie Tarbox Beals in the 1920s and 1930s of fashionable suburban houses in northern Illinois and Wisconsin. The houses were designed by architects Russell S. Walcott and Robert Work. Pictured below is a photograph of the Clifford Off house.

Ball State Art Students and their Scenography for Mascagni's L'amico Fritz

2010-11-30T09:20:00.005-05:00

Under the tutelage of Associate Professor of Art Scott G. Anderson, painting students in the Department of Art were immersed in the study and production of operatic stage design for the Ball State Opera Theatre Spring 2010 production of Pietro Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz. The resulting art exhibit, Ball State Art Students and their Scenography for Mascagni's L'amico Fritz, was displayed in the Atrium Gallery 11/2/2010 - 12/3/2010 and digitized for the Digital Media Repository. The digital exhibit is available in the Ball State University Student Art collection. Pictured above is Maquette for Act II by Kathleen Ryan and Andy Hinck.

Ronald V. Morris American and Indiana History Images Added to DMR

2010-11-29T09:57:00.005-05:00

The Ronald V. Morris American and Indiana History Images digital collection includes slides of historical sites and living history productions taken by Ball State University professor of history Ron Morris in the 1980s and 1990s. These images are used in teaching at BSU, and are available to a global audience in the Digital Media Repository. Pictured below is an image from the collection: Battle of Perryville reenactment, Union infantry reenactors firing rifles from behind a log fence.

Announcing the Brigitte M. Sys Fashion Jewelry Digital Collection

2010-10-29T16:55:00.005-04:00

The Brigitte M. Sys Fashion Jewelry digital collection is now available in the DMR. This collection features earrings, necklaces, brooches, pins, and bracelets in a variety styles including Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Pictured here is a statement necklace from the 1970s.

Full Transcripts Available for Vietnam War Era Veterans Oral Histories

2010-10-22T14:47:00.009-04:00

Recently, transcripts were completed for all 26 of the Vietnam War Era Veterans Oral Histories in the Digital Media Repository. They were uploaded as PDFs and are viewable online alongside the videos. online.
Transcripts are a valuable element to any oral history project. With the completed PDFs in the DMR, the content of the videos is completely full text searchable. Also, reading the transcripts is a perfect way to skim the interview for relevant content. Timecodes were placed in the transcripts to aide in this type of research. Above is a screenshot of the interface that allows users to read the transcript and view the video at the same time.

Made available in March of this year, the oral histories in this collection were conducted by students from Michael W. Doyle's HIST 499 Oral History Workshop course in Fall 2009. The students enrolled in the immersive-learning course learned methods of oral history research and conducted interviews with local military veterans of the Vietnam era. The interviews were recorded using HD technology.

Gear-O-Gram BorgWarner publication available in DMR

2010-09-22T10:59:00.006-04:00

The Gear-O-Gram magazine of BorgWarner Corporation (Muncie) is now available in the DMR. The digital collection includes 167 issues of the magazine published by and for employees of the BorgWarner Corporation located in Muncie, Indiana. Published from 1944 to 1972, the magazines include details of employee activities, announcements of service awards and accolades, and general interest pieces about automobile transmissions. Pictured right is an issue from July of 1945.

The BorgWarner Corporation had a long history in Muncie, beginning in 1928, when the auto part manufacturing company merged with three Midwestern auto part makers, one being Warner Gear of Muncie, Indiana. The company expanded quickly and experiencing annual sales of $50 million in 1929 to over $600 million by the late 1950s when Borg-Warner became a leading manufacturer of automatic transmissions. BorgWarner's Muncie manufacturing plant closed its doors in 2009.

Ball State University Building Plans Collection Enhanced

2010-09-17T15:38:00.005-04:00

The Ball State University Building Plans digital collection is a representative sampling of architectural plans and blueprints for Ball State campus buildings dating back to the construction of the Administration Building in 1899. The plans were digitized from the original drawings held by Facilities Planning and Management.

Recently, metadata from the collection was enhanced to provide better access to subjects and architects as well as further describe the content of the images. Use the Advanced Search feature and show terms in the Subject - LCSH field to get a full list of the buildings and landmarks that are covered, such as Beneficence, seen here.

Additional Resources Available In the Pierre and Wright Architectural Records Collection

2010-08-31T13:44:00.007-04:00

This month over 200 new assets were added to this online collection. Additions include several 1930s images relating to Fendrick's Famous Foods, a restaurant that used to exist on N. Illinois St. in Indianapolis and the old Indianapolis Firestation No. 18 among others. Pictured above is a window design from Fendrick's.

Famous Bible Leaves Available in the DMR

2010-08-26T08:45:00.007-04:00

The Original Leaves from Famous Bibles digital collection is now available in the Digital Media Repository.

This collection of 60 leaves from famous Bibles, from the earliest ever printed to items dated in the 20th century, was assembled and collated by Otto Ege and Philip Duschnes. Ege was renowned for compiling medieval texts. The collection (with originals in BSU Archives and Special Collections) includes incunabula and a leaf from the 1611 King James Bible, among other rare items.

Pictured above is an example from the collection, an Armenian manuscript Bible from the twelfth century.

Ball State University Commencement Programs Available in the Digital Media Repositiory

2010-08-09T12:55:00.011-04:00

The Ball State University Commencement Programs digital collection is now available online in the Digital Media Repository. This collection includes graduation ceremony programs from 1913 to present. Use the collection to discover commencement and baccalaureate speakers, graduate rosters, and degrees conferred. The collection is full text keyword searchable.

Drawings by Indiana’s Gladys J. Miller Now Online

2010-08-06T11:09:00.005-04:00

Students, faculty, and researchers now have online access to the Gladys J. Miller Architectural Records Collection. Architect Gladys J. Miller is one of Indiana’s first female architects.
This collection is the latest Drawings and Documents Archive addition to the Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository. The collection contains 185 architectural drawings from fifty of Miller's commissions from 1950 to 1979 and reflects the career of one of Indiana’s award-winning architects.

Only the third registered female architect in Indiana, Gladys J. Miller (1926- 1993) graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949. She went on to manage her own successful architectural firm in a climate when few women practiced architecture on their own. A year before graduation, Gladys received the Beaux Arts Institute of Design Award, now the Van Alen Institute (New York City), Award, which enabled her to travel extensively in Europe before beginning her career.

After her return, she worked as a designer and draftsman in Philadelphia and later moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, with her husband, architect Ewing H. Miller II, FAIA, whom she had met in college. In 1958 in Terre Haute, Gladys established her own architecture firm, Gladys J. Miller Architect. Also known professionally as Gladys Good Miller, she was known familiarly as “Hap” or “Happy” to her friends and colleagues.

Gladys’ firm specialized in residential architecture, as depicted in the Margaret James Adamson home (1961) (illustrated here), remodeling of the Indiana State University president’s house (1965), and the conversion of a barn into a residence for the Prox family (1978), all located in or near Terre Haute.

She also built small commercial buildings, such as the Dobbs Park Nature Center and the Covered Bridge Girl Scout Council headquarters, both located in Terre Haute. Gladys’ husband donated the collection to the Drawings and Documents Archive in the late 1980s, along with drawings by his own firm and those of his uncle and father, which comprise the Johnson and Miller Architectural Records Collection.

Three generations of the Miller family were influential architects in Terre Haute during the majority of the twentieth century, and the Johnson and Miller collection reflects their significance to Indiana’s built environment. As with many important drawings available in the archive for research, the rolls of project drawings were in a basement storage room for years until they were donated to the archive.

To view the Gladys J. Miller Architectural Records collection in the DMR, visit http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MGldJArch. For more information, contact Carol A. Street, University Libraries’ Archivist for Architectural Records, CAStreet@bsu.edu, 765-285-8441.

Muncie and Delaware Historic Maps and Atlases Collection Expanded

2010-07-30T09:48:00.005-04:00

This month, 64 additional local historic maps were added to the Muncie and Delaware County Historic Maps and Atlases collection in the Digital Media Repository. The collection has been expanded to include additional townships and local geographic areas such as Smithfield and Selma (shown). These maps are a valuable resource for those interested in the growth of Delaware County during the nineteenth century. This collection utilizes Zoomify.

University Libraries’ Strategic Initiatives Result in Increased Use of the Digital Media Repository by Students, Faculty, and Researchers Globally

2010-07-23T15:58:00.007-04:00

The Ball State University Digital Media Repository (DMR), http://libx.bsu.edu, a project of the University Libraries, allows students, faculty, and global community researchers to access primary source materials as varied as historic photographs, oral history interviews, films, and three-dimensional models.

In order to increase use of the repository, librarians, archivists, and system administrators have employed listserv announcements, Wikipedia, blogs, Facebook, and other social networking tools in addition to library instruction, description improvement, and metadata harvesting efforts. Google Analytics, a freely available tool that gathers Web site traffic statistics, provides insight into the efficacy of the University Libraries’ digital asset publicity efforts.

As the number of collections has grown and diversified, local and international researchers have made use of the resources for scholarly, professional, and personal pursuits. In fact, since the 2007 spring semester, the repository has seen a 67.6% increase in site visits in comparison to data from the spring 2010 semester. Furthermore, data from the spring 2007 and spring 2010 semesters indicates a 31% increase in the number of different countries and territories from which the repository was accessed.

The consistent growth of the DMR’s site visits from the local and international communities suggests that efforts to improve digital asset visibility and discoverability through increased use of social networking tools, as well as library instruction and email announcements, are effective.

Researchers find primary sources housed in the Digital Media Repository by directly navigating to the Web site, discovering a link to the DMR from another site, and conducting Web searches. A greater percentage of researchers discovered the DMR in the 2009-2010 academic year through referral sites, rather than search engines. The increased influence of referring sites is consistent with the University Libraries’ efforts to publicize digital collections in online environments such as Facebook and Wikipedia, as well as the utilization of metadata harvesting projects, such as OAIster.

For more information, contact Carolyn F. Runyon, Archivist for Digital Development and University Records, CFRunyon@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

Delaware County Aerial Plat Maps Digital Collection Successfully Completed as LSTA Digitization Grant Project

2010-07-16T11:57:00.007-04:00

Students, faculty, and researchers now have access to a collection of 858 aerial plat maps of Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana, available globally through Ball State’s Digital Media Repository (DMR), http://libx.bsu.edu, a project of the University Libraries.

The development of the collection was made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) digitization grant for $26,806 awarded to the University Libraries for 2009-10. The grant project was a collaborative effort of the University Libraries and the Delaware County Auditor’s Office, who supplied the maps for digitization.

Created in the 1970’s by the Sidwell Company, each plat map consists of an aerial photograph, which was last updated in 1992, overlaid by a Mylar plat line map, originally drawn in 1976. The aerial plat maps were used by the Delaware County Auditor’s Office to keep track of splits and combines of properties. They were kept in 15 large bound books in the public access area of the Auditor’s Office. The plat maps were periodically updated using red pencil by the Auditor’s staff to mark the division and consolidation of plats, thus maintaining current records on the residential and commercial property.

These valuable historical documents were heavily used in the Auditor’s Office, and many were deteriorating from excessive use. Digitizing them has allowed for new and increased use and 24/7 access. The digital maps can be used to research individual properties and the changing landscape of the community, including land development, land use, urban sprawl, zoning changes, community growth, and illustration of the breakup of family farms.

Researchers accessing the digital collection are able to search for specific maps using a variety of keywords, including street names, incorporated areas or towns, township name, subdivision or addition name, Public Land Survey System numbers (section, township and range), or the plat map number assigned by the Sidwell Company. Plat key maps are also included in the collection to find specific parcels of land at the township level.

This was the fifth consecutive LSTA digitization grant received by the University Libraries. LSTA digitization grants have resulted in significant Indiana-related digital collections being added to the University Libraries’ DMR and to the Indiana State Library’s Indiana Memory online resource.

LSTA grants are funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act and administered by the Indiana State Library. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

Digital Media Repository Passes the Quarter-Million Mark

2010-07-06T13:16:00.007-04:00

Since its creation, the DMR has sustained a growth rate of more than one new collection per month so that it currently contains 77 collections, plus numerous subcollections. As a result of this aggressive digitization effort, on May 26, 2010, the Digital Media Repository crossed the threshold of one quarter-million digital items – to be exact, 253,322 items are now available in the DMR collections via 92,829 individual and compound records.

To put this growth rate into perspective, Ball State University Libraries have created an average of 68 new records per day, and have placed one new item online and available to the public through the DMR every 2.5 minutes for over five years. This is an unprecedented rate of digital collection building for an institution of our size.

The key to our efficiency and overall success has been the model of interdepart-mental cooperation that was built into the project’s structure. The DMR is a joint project of three separate units, each of which have personnel who lend their particular brand of expertise in the collection building process.

The first is Archives and Special Collections where the archivists research, describe, and prepare the materials for digitization. The second is Metadata and Digital Initiatives, with personnel who digitize the artifacts, create the metadata, and construct and then populate the DMR collections. Third is Library Information Technology Services, where personnel maintain the CONTENTdm content management system and Web servers and create customizations or enhancements as needed.

Representatives of the three departments form the DMR Working Group, chaired by John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives & Special Collections. He also serves as the DMR
project coordinator.

For more information, contact James A. Bradley, Head of Metadata and Digital Initiatives, JABradley2@bsu.edu, 765-285-5718.

2010 Beginnings Art Exhibition in the DMR

2010-07-02T09:17:00.015-04:00

Items from the Beginnings art exhibition, on display through July 10th in the BSU Art and Journalism Building, were digitized and made available through the Digital Media Repository's Ball State Student Art digital collection.

Pieces were photographed using state of the art equipment and metadata records were created for each item, making the artworks are searchable and accessible in an online format. View the items here. Pictured right is Figure Study (Contour of Varied Width) by Shane Eagan.

"Beginnings is an annual exhibition of student artwork completed in the first year of study. The foundation courses represented are Drawing I and II (figure drawing) and Foundations I (2-D design) and II (3-D design). These courses concentrate on media exploration and technique, the elements and principles of composition, the applied and theoretical use of color, developing a command of an artist’s vocabulary, and defining a meaningful context for visual expression" (http://www.bsu.edu/calendar/event/0,1361,--28318,00.html). The exhibitions are free and open to a general audience.

Students Create K-12 Lesson Plans Using Resources from the University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository

2010-06-29T15:22:00.009-04:00

Ball State history education students are using the Digital Media Repository to create lesson plans targeted for the second, fourth, and sixth grades.

A project by students in Dr. Ronald V. Morris’s Social Studies 392 class during the 2010 spring semester illustrates how students are using digital resources produced by the University Libraries for educational purposes. Five groups of students researched and prepared lesson plans that adhered to Indiana state standards and guidelines, using materials from the Ball State Digital Media Repository.

The DMR collections used include the Middletown Women’s History Collection, U. S. Civil War Resources for East Central Indiana, World War II Government Publications, and World War II Films. The plans will be added to the DMR and linked from the specific collections that they utilize and support.

According to Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, “A fundamental goal of the University Libraries is to support students’ pursuits of academic success.” These lesson plans may be used by teachers throughout Indiana and perhaps beyond. The students’ work provides one more avenue for expanding Ball State-produced digital assets globally.

U. S. Civil War Chandler Cross, Courtney Nowak, and Tiffany Pienta prepared lesson plans on the U. S. Civil War using materials from the East Central Indiana digital collection. The lessons provide resources that afford fourth grade students opportunity to study the war through photographs, letters, and other digital resources and to create posters and present a play based on their work.

Community Helpers in World War II Students Tyler Buis, Doug Furman, Marion Miller, and Alexandra Ruble designed five lessons to increase second grade students’ knowledge of different types of careers and volunteer activities that helped communities during World War II. They utilized pamphlets from the World War II Government Publication digital collection that described volunteer activities in health, medical care, and nursing; recreation; child care; schools; family security; and fire fighting. Each second grade student role plays as a mayor of a town during WWII and must choose four different community workers that will most benefit their community.

World War II Moises Fairchild, Chase Gervais, and Jared Stites created five lessons to introduce sixth grade students to World War II and key events that occurred during that period. The unit used the World War II Films collection in the DMR to examine Pearl Harbor, women in the war, home life, and the victories over Germany and Japan. Students watch the films and complete activities regarding information covered in them, including writing journal articles as if they were there when the events occurred and creating a timeline of events.

Women’s History Two groups used the Middletown Women’s History Digital Collection for their lesson plans. Katie Bradshaw, Kalene Heckman, and Tyler Roberts developed a unit for fourth grade students to study how women made a living, created a home, educated their children, and engaged in community activities. Tasks the Ball State students developed for the elementary students to perform utilizing the digital resources included creating a play about the role of women in Middletown during the 1880s through the 1930s and developing a learning project for community organizations.

Sarah Cortesi, Kristen Gibson, Nikki Jones, and Stephani Ward created a five-day unit for fourth grade students to discover what women’s lives were like in Middletown between the 1880s and 1930s that focused on women’s rights and suffrage, exploring how life has changed for women by comparing the past to today. Activities included participating in a mock vote, using photographs from the digital collection to compare with ones from their families, creating an informational brochure for a women’s organization, and studying jobs that women worked based on photographic evidence.

For more information, contact John Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5058.

Additional Items Available from the Art History Images Collection

2010-06-25T13:41:00.007-04:00

The Art History Images digital collection is a selection of significant artworks, ranging in date from prehistoric to the late 1990s, and include styles from Abstract Expressionist, Fauve and Surrealist, to Pop and beyond. In October 2009, images were selected in consultation with the Ball State Department of Art for use as a teaching aid and to coincide with specific textbooks.

This month, 689 works were added to the collection, bringing the total number of artworks represented to 1519. View the latest additions, such as Cassatt's Mother and Child and Pollock's Lavender Mist here.

Note: Images are licensed through vendors for use at Ball State University. Thumbnails are available to the general public, but links to the larger full-resolution versions of the images are limited to Ball State students, faculty, and staff only.

Libraries’ LSTA Mobile Computing Grant Project Brings Ball State Digital Media Repository to Smartphones

2010-06-11T16:12:00.006-04:00

The University Libraries are expanding their hand-held mobile device Web presence through the support of an LSTA Technology Grant from the Indiana State Library. Researching and developing mobile device access to library information resources has been an interest at the University Libraries since 2005.

Phase 1 of this project involved updating the University Libraries’ mobile site www.bsu.edu/libraries/mobile, including enhancing the CardCat Mobile application, a mobile-device-friendly interface to the Libraries’ online catalog.

Phase 2 introduced a computer availability application to allow students and faculty to plan their visit to the library facility. See www.bsu.edu/libraries/mobile/comp_avail.php comp_avail.php.

Phase 3 is the University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR) Mobile user interface at http://libx.bsu.edu/m/index.php.

The DMR Mobile application provides mobile-device- friendly access to the CONTENTdm-based Digital Media Repository. It is the first small screen interface for CONTENTdm repositories. With browse functionality to access digital assets and metadata for the image collections, DMR Mobile is a feature-rich program. Search functionality will be added to it this summer.

An early question that was addressed was whether to build a mobile-devices specific app, or to develop a more diverse mobile Web user interface (UI). Because we want to reach as many user devices as possible, we decided to build a mobile Web UI. DMR Mobile is linked in the Academic Resources section of the mobile Web site.

Grant participants include Daniel J. Lakes, Part-time Mobile Computing Developer; Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries and co-PI; and Bradley D. Faust, Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services and co-PI.

For more information, contact Bradley D. Faust, Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services, BFaust@bsu.edu, 765-285-8032.

Hawk and Putnam Diary Collections Provide a Glimpse into Historic Muncie Lives

2010-05-27T14:19:00.014-04:00

Two new diary collections, the Norene Hawk Diaries Collection and the Frederick Putnam Diaries Collection, were published in May. Both collections chronicle the lives of Muncie citizens around the turn of the century.

According to 1910 census data, Norene Hawk was the daughter of George and Mary Hawk, and was born in 1878. She resided at 1020 E. Main Street in Muncie, Indiana. The three diaries that comprise the digital collection include accounts of Hawk's work in a real estate business located on the Willard Block as well as her job as a stenographer for W. L. Little, providing insight into working women's experiences in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This collection is the product of a collaboration with the Muncie Public Library.

Frederick Putnam was born February 11, 1818, in Charleston, New Hampshire. Much of his early life was spent in poverty. Attracted by the opportunities the West offered to young men, Putnam left New Hampshire in October 1838, eventually settling in Muncie, Indiana. During his time in Muncie, Putnam married, fathered four children, opened his own businesses, and served as the Delaware County Treasurer and Assistant Auditor. Putnam died January 18, 1901, at the age of 82. The 13 volume collection of diaries and transcripts contain Putnam's reflections and observations of various events that occurred during his life.

For more collections highlighting Muncie's history, browse the Middletown Studies subject category in the DMR.

Students’ Interviews with Vietnam Veterans Added to Digital Oral Histories Collections

2010-05-20T08:35:00.013-04:00

Recording the memories and stories from people’s pasts and making them available for future generations is a goal that oral historians and archivists share and promote. The University Libraries have collaborated with Department of History faculty and students to accomplish this objective by making digital audio and video interviews conducted by Ball State students available globally through the Ball State Digital Media Repository (DMR).

The latest digital oral history collection to be included in the DMR is the Vietnam War Era Veterans Oral Histories, (http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/ VtnmOrHis), consisting of 26 interviews conducted by students in Dr. Michael W. Doyle’s HIST 499 Oral History Workshop in the fall semester of 2009.

Students in the course learned methods for conducting oral history research and then interviewed local military veterans from the Vietnam War era. The video interviews were recorded using HD technology. More than half of the students presented their work at a recent panel discussion, also attended by 7 of 26 interviewed veterans. According to Dr. Doyle, “One former Army captain (and Ball State alumnus) stood up to say that he had never spoken to anyone, not even his wife and children, about his experiences in combat in Vietnam. ‘That night [following his interview],’ he said, ‘I got the first good sleep I’ve had in over forty years.’”

Several Ball State personnel are included among the interviewees, including the University Libraries’ own Cecilia Bond, Head of Metadata and Copy Cataloging (pictured right). She served in the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam War and shared her experience in the video interview.

Students from the class are working on transcriptions of the interviews. When completed, the transcripts will be available with the collection in the DMR. Currently only the videos are available online. These video interviews join a growing collection of digital oral histories in the DMR. Other veterans’ oral history collections include the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group and the Cantigny First Division. The DMR also boasts many Middletown Digital Oral Histories.

The University Libraries have been recognized through publications and conference presentations as a leader in the area of digitizing oral histories. We are pleased to partner with the Department of History and other academic areas to bring the work of Ball State students to the world and make digital content produced at Ball State available globally to support teaching, learning, and research through the DMR.

For more information on this collection or others in the DMR, contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

New Digital Collection Documents Muncie During the Gas Boom Era

2010-04-30T11:44:00.004-04:00

The Historic Muncie Souvenir Booklets digital collection provides students, historians, and other researchers with a glimpse of Muncie during the Gas Boom of the late 1800s.

When abundant pockets of natural gas were discovered in Muncie in the 1870s, the quiet farming community of 7,000 people began to develop overnight. Real estate values soared and manufacturers began to set up shop, lured by the promise of cheap energy. Muncie’s reign as the “Magic City,” or the “El Dorado of the West,” had begun.
The six books that comprise the Muncie Historic Souvenir Booklets Collection document this era through the view of various Muncie advocates, including the Dynamo Club, the Muncie Commercial Club, and the Central Indiana Gas Company. These promotional materials, designed to entice other manufacturers and businesses to relocate to Muncie, tout the city’s fine parks, shady streets, friendly citizens, and astonishingly rapid growth.

Students and historians interested in Muncie and the Indiana Gas Boom can review these accounts of the growth and decline of natural gas in Indiana. As a testament to the “limitless” supply of gas, pillars of flame were kept burning for years. Today’s natural gas experts have estimated that as much as 90% of the supply was wasted by these flambeaux. In less than 20 years, the supply of gas was depleted.

These booklets also provide a rich source of photographs and illustrations of Muncie from the 1890s through the 1920s. Images include prominent Muncie homes, parks, the Eastern Indiana Normal School, and the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Business.

Original copies of the booklets are located in the University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections. The complete digital collection is available at http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MunHistBklt collection.php?CISOROOT=/MunHistBklt. For more information, contact Katherine Givens, DMR Resident, at KGivens340@comcast.net

April's New DMR Collections

2010-04-23T15:52:00.028-04:00

American Almanacs digital collection consists of representative samples from almanacs published in the United States primarily during the 18th century.

Samuel G. Bartel Architectural Records digital collection includes drawings for school houses, commercial buildings, churches, and modest residential homes in Indiana from 189

4 to 1920.

Historic Children’s Books digital collection contains 131 monographs published during the 19th and 20th centuries for youth.

Indiana Natural Resources Maps digital collection has maps depicting natural gas, coal, and petroleum deposits as well as locations of stone quarries, pipelines, and wells from the 1880s to the early 1900s.

More Works Included in the BSU Student Art Collection

2010-04-16T15:22:00.017-04:00

The Ball State University Student Art digital collection includes images, videos, and electronic art created by Ball State University students. The collection continues to grow as new exhibitions are photographed on campus.

Works include paintings (like Cacti, pictured left), drawings, sculpture, photographic prints, mixed media, and more. Several new selections were were recently added to the Digital Media Repository in the following categories:

The 75th annual Student Art Show

Nina B. Marshall Memorial Exhibition

Spring 2010 Thesis Exhibitions

New Additions to the Charles E. Bracker Orchid Photographs Collection

2010-04-05T08:14:00.005-04:00

The Charles E. Bracker Orchid Photographs digital collection features photographs taken by Dr. Charles E. Bracker, professor of botany and plant pathology at Purdue University from 1964 to 1999. His late wife, Anri Bracker, cultivated orchids as a hobby.

Dr. Bracker took nearly 30,000 digital photographs of orchids, a selection of which are featured in this digital collection. Prints of many of the photographs, along with the entire collection of digital images were donated by Dr. Bracker to Archives and Special Collections of the Ball State University Libraries in 2009.

To view the latest additions, including Masdevallia princeps (pictured above), click here:

http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=2010&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=%2FBrckrOrchd

Four New Collections Added to the DMR in March

2010-04-01T12:41:00.013-04:00

Delaware County Aerial Plat Maps. http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/DelPltMps This collection, our 2009-10 LSTA grant project, contains aerial plat maps received from the Delaware County Auditor’s Office, created in the 1970s to track divisions and combinations of properties in Albany, Daleville, Eaton, Gaston, Muncie, Selma, and Yorktown.

Thomas Neely Diaries. http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/NlyThmsDiar This collection consists of digital copies of five volumes of diaries kept by Delaware County pioneer Thomas Neely (if you drive on or cross Neely Road on the BSU campus, you may recognize the name) from 1867 through 1901. These diaries are just the first in series of a digital diaries collection that will be developed in the DMR.

Vietnam Era Veterans Oral Histories. http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/VtnmOrHis. This collection consists of video interviews conducted by students in Professor Michael Doyle’s Ball State University History 499 Oral History Workshop class in Fall 2009. The videos are available now; the students are currently transcribing the interviews, and searchable transcripts will be made available as soon as they are ready.

Wayne M. Weber Architectural Records. http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/WMWbrArch. This collection from the Ball State University Drawings and Documents Archive includes photographs and drawings of Indiana covered bridges from Weber’s nearly 30 years (1940s – 1970s) photographing, documenting, and preserving these colorful structures. Weber was an accomplished architect and architectural photographer.

Student Publication Uses Images from the DMR to Celebrate Women's History Month on Campus

2010-03-25T13:38:00.009-04:00

Entitled The Girls' Club, Ball Bearings, a Ball State University student-produced news magazine and website, created an interactive timeline featuring historic female leaders of the university.

Beginning in 1925 with the first African American graduate, Jessie Nixon, and ending in 2004 with the appointment of Dr. JoAnn Gora as the first female president, the timeline takes viewers through the rich and diverse history of women at Ball State using images found in the Digital Media Repository.

View the timeline.

My Favorites Feature in CONTENTdm

2010-03-16T12:53:00.014-04:00

The Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR) system includes more than 200,000 digital assets across 89 collections. These digital resources, each of which has a research and teaching focus, can be searched, read, played, and captured for class presentations, lectures and other research endeavors. The My Favorites module in the CONTENTdm system
includes a variety of useful tools for repurposing these digital assets for academic use.

The My Favorites link can be found on the Global Menu bar in the DMR, http://libx.bsu.edu. At this site, users are presented with the My Favorites page, which includes controls in the left column and any objects marked for inclusion in My Favorites on the right. Of course, users must select digital assets as they search or browse the DMR with the “add to favorites” option to populate My Favorites. CONTENTdm allows up to 100 digital objects to be saved in My Favorites.

The BSU PowerPoint Generator is the last option in the My Favorites left column.

This powerful tool was developed by library personnel for use with the CONTENTdm system. The BSU PowerPoint Generator creates presentation files with images and metadata that can be used on Windows and Mac OS X systems.

The first four options in the My Favorites left column are viewing and sorting features for digital objects:

Slideshow viewer – Create a display of digital image files saved in My Favorites for viewing in a new window with slideshow controls. Available within every installation of CONTENTdm.

Compare feature – Select two objects in My Favorites for a side-by-side comparison in a new window. From the new window, choose another digital image to compare.

Remove item – Easily remove items from My Favorites by selecting the object number and clicking the remove button. An “are you sure” prompt is presented before the object is
removed from My Favorites.

Move item – Sort or rearrange items in My Favorites using their object numbers.

The fifth option in the left column, “Save as a Web page,” provides the opportunity to create a new Web page with links to objects in My Favorites. Click the “Create” button to build a custom HTML-formatted Web page that can be loaded into Blackboard or linked on a Web site for use by students or colleagues. The objects on the saved page are clickable, leading the viewer back to the record for the object in the DMR. The filename under which the file is saved will be used to create a title presented at the top of the page.

For more information, contact Bradley D. Faust, Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services, BFaust@bsu.edu, 765-285-8032.

Schuyler N. Nolan Landscape Architectural Records Collection Added to Digital Media Repository

2010-03-11T15:09:00.016-05:00

Students and faculty in Ball State’s nationally top-five-ranked landscape architecture program, as well as researchers around the world, now have global access to digitized works of a noted Indiana landscape architect’s collection housed in the Drawings and Documents Archive, a collaboration between the University Libraries and the College of Architecture and Planning.

The University Libraries are digitizing landscape architectural collections for worldwide access in the Digital Media Repository, beginning with the Schuyler N. Nolan Landscape Architectural Records Collection.

“Adding to the record of landscape architecture and landscape architects stored in our Drawing and Documents Archive is very important,” said Professor Malcolm D. Cairns, Department of Landscape Architecture, when he first heard of the Nolan Collection going online. While the digital collection currently has 70 items available, it continues to grow as more digital assets are added. It can be found online at http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/NlnArchRcrd.

Nolan’s extensive use of the local library paid off when he began his own landscaping company while still in Illinois. He steadily built his reputation in residential landscape design and did very well until the Depression affected his clientele. He then worked at the Indianapolis Parks Department, where he designed gardens for the 1933, 1934, 1937, and 1939 Home Shows, and worked at the Indiana State Highway Commission, where he designed roadside plantings throughout the state from 1935-1937.

After 1937, Nolan practiced as a landscape architect and experienced much success designing a wide range of commissions. From his work during World War II designing aircraft building plants and naval officers’ quarters, to tony residential work for many of Indianapolis’
elite, such as J. K. Lilly and Harrison Eiteljorg, Nolan built functional yet artistic spaces for his clients.

After Nolan’s retirement, an unfortunate basement flood destroyed most of his drawings and business records. He donated the surviving drawings to Ball State’s Drawings and Documents Archive in 1979, thus preserving his work for future researchers and landscape architects.

For more information, contact Carol A. Street, University Libraries’ Archivist for Architectural Records, CAStreet@bsu.edu, 765-285-8441.

Ball State University’s Digital Media Repository Gets a New Look

2010-03-08T15:59:00.013-05:00

Last September 2009, the University Libraries began to revise the public interface and feature set for the Digital Media Repository (DMR), an electronic resource that provides
digital content to a global audience.

System administrators, public service librarians, metadata librarians, and archivists worked cooperatively to develop a new user experience by updating the overall look of the interface, improving navigation, incorporating interactive Web 2.0 technologies, and adding new search options.

The DMR Public Interface Working Group utilized data collected using Google Analytics to inform decisions regarding the site’s width and interactive features. For example, during the 2008-2009 academic year, 95.4% of DMR researchers accessed the site using monitors capable of viewing 1040px or wider resolutions. Based on this finding, the group decided to widen the 700px width to 940px.

To offer more interactive elements to the DMR Web site, the group included the Flash-based media viewer, Cooliris, on the home page and a new collections spotlight Java applet to
interface pages. A social bookmarking tool, AddThis, was also included as part of the interface. This tool allows users to share DMR content on social networking sites such as Digg, MySpace,
Facebook, Twitter, and Delicious.

Other enhancements to the updated interface include additional ways to search content by subject, location, format, contributor, and individual collections directly from the browse pages.

Members of the DMR Public Interface Working Group are Eric B. Fisher, Information Services Librarian; Amanda A. Hurford (co-chair), Digital Initiatives Multimedia Developer; Carolyn F. Runyon (co-chair), Archivist for Digital Development and University Records; Amy E. Trendler, Architecture Librarian; and Budi Wibowo, Head of Digital Libraries and Web Services.

We welcome comments about the new interface. To learn more or make suggestions, contact Amanda A. Hurford at AAHurford@bsu.edu or Carolyn F. Runyon at CFRunyon@bsu.edu.

African American History Resources Available Online Through the Ball State University’s Digital Media Repository

2010-02-19T16:44:00.004-05:00

In celebration of Black History Month, Ball State University Libraries is pleased to announce the availability of six collections of African American History resources available online in the Digital Media Repository, the Munice Times Newspaper, Black Middletown Oral History Project Collection, Black Muncie Oral History Project Collection, Other Side of Middletown Photograph Collection, the Muncie Post-Democrat Newspaper and the Other Side of Middletown Oral Histories.

Black Middletown Oral History Project Collection

The Black Middletown Oral History Project digital collection includes oral history interviews conducted by Rutledge M. Dennis and Vivian V. Gordon from the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University in 1981 as part of a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The collection documents the history of African-Americans in Muncie, Indiana, and covers topics as diverse as segregation, the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Depression, organized labor, economics, and religion.

The Ball State University Libraries were able to digitize and make available online the oral histories with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library.

Black Muncie Oral History Project Collection

The Black Muncie Oral History Project digital collection includes oral history interviews conducted between 1971 and 1978 by long time African American residents of Muncie, Indiana Hurley Goodall and J. Paul Mitchell. The project was funded by the Muncie Human Rights Commission and covered various topics including segregation, the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Depression, organized labor, economics, and religion.

Other Side of Middletown Oral Histories

The Other Side of Middletown Oral Histories digital collection consists of oral history interviews documenting the African American community in Muncie, Indiana. The interviews were conducted by Professor Eric Lassiter and a group of students as part of a collaborative ethnographic project on Muncie's African American community. The project was sponsored and funded by the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. The project resulted in an award-winning book, The Other Side of Middletown: Exploring Muncie's African American Community.

Other Side of Middletown Photographs

The Other Side of Middletown Photographs digital collection consists of over 150 images that illustrate the history of the life and achievements of African Americans in Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana through photographs donated by members of the community. The collection of the photographs was undertaken by leaders in the local African American community, including Hurley Goodall, Eric Lassister, Elizabeth Campbell, and Michell Natasya Johnson.

Muncie Post-Democrat Newspaper

The Muncie Post-Democrat Newspaper digital collection contains issues of the historic anti-Ku Klux Klan newspaper published by Muncie, Indiana mayor George Dale from 1921 until his death in 1936, and continued as a local newspaper after his death until the 1950s.

Muncie Times Newspaper

The Muncie Times Newspaper digital collection consists of over 300 volumes of the bi-weekly publication produced by Bea Moten-Foster since 1991. The newspaper serves the African American communities of Muncie, Richmond, Marion, New Castle, and Anderson, Indiana.

Ball State’s Digital Media Repository Receives New Public Interface

2010-02-12T08:42:00.004-05:00

The Ball State Digital Media Repository (http://libx.bsu.edu), a project of the University
Libraries, now has a new look. Students, faculty, and other researchers who use this online repository, which currently consists of 89 collections and almost 200,000 digital assets, will
find many improvements, ranging from a new design to enhanced searching capabilities.

Some of the highlights to the new public interface for the DMR include these:
• Faceted and improved collection search options
• Improved navigation and browsing
• Implementation of Web 2.0 social networking tools
• An interactive media viewer on the homepage

One highly visible change is the use of cooliris media viewer to allow researchers new to the DMR to browse selected resources in an interactive environment. AddThis, a social bookmarking tool, lets users easily share DMR content on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Users will be able to search content by subject, location, format, contributor, and individual collections directly from the browse pages in the new interface.

A DMR Public Interface working group has been evaluating and designing the new look since September 2009. The working group consists of Eric B. Fisher, Information
Services Librarian; Amanda A. Hurford (co-chair), Digital Initiatives Multimedia Developer; Carolyn F. Runyon (co-chair), Archivist for Digital Development and University Records; Amy E. Trendler, Architecture Librarian; and Budi Wibowo, Head of Digital Libraries and Web Services.

The working group conducted user surveys, analyzed use statistics, and surveyed other repositories to identify and select effective ways to enhance the usability of the DMR through the public interface. The new interface will provide better ways for students and faculty to select and utilize the rich digital resources available in the DMR for teaching, learning, and research.

Friends Memorial Church Collection

2010-01-06T07:52:00.007-05:00

When Muncie’s Friends Memorial Church celebrated their centennial in 2008 by removing the contents of a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of their building in 1908, they found an unpleasant surprise. Water had seeped in through a hole in the metal container holding the historical objects carefully placed there a hundred years before. Many of the items were damaged, mildewed, or moldy. Some seemed beyond repair or salvage.

Mrs. Pat Barnett and other members of the congregation contacted John Straw in the University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections to see what might be done to preserve these valuable relics of the church’s past. John Straw and Maren L. Read, Archivist for Manuscript Collections, paid a visit to inspect the items and provide professional advice.

The result was a collaborative project between the Friends Memorial Church and the University Libraries to digitize the contents of the time capsule and make them available in the Digital Media Repository (http://libx.bsu.edu/). The same was done for other items in the church’s archives and for materials in the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections about the history of the church.

The Friends Memorial Church Collection is now available online at the following address: http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/FrndsMem Items in the digital collection include photographs, a handwritten church roster from 1906, the building contract, histories, directories, reports, and issues of the Muncie Evening Press and the Muncie Evening Star with articles and photographs about the church. The water damage done to the items is apparent in several of the digital images.

The Friends congregation held their first meeting in 1876. The first meetings were in a private home north of the Courthouse Square and later in a public hall above retail rooms across from the old Delaware County Courthouse in the 100 block of North High Street. The first church building was erected at Mulberry and Seymour streets in 1903, and the current church was built in 1908.

The Libraries’ collaboration with the Friends Memorial Church will continue as more items from their archives are digitized and made available over time. For more information on the Digital Media Repository, contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, or 765-285-5078.

Newest DMR Collection Represents Community Partnership

2009-03-26T10:01:00.010-04:00

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

2009-03-17T16:54:00.005-04:00

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

2009-01-09T13:13:00.011-05:00

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

2008-12-30T14:52:00.018-05:00

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

2008-12-23T10:47:00.016-05:00

The Muncie Civic Theatre Programs 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

2008-11-26T13:46:00.012-05:00

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

2008-11-07T13:16:00.012-05:00

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

New DMR Collection: French Revolution Pamphlets Collection

2008-10-31T15:38:00.006-04:00

The Ball State University Libraries are pleased to announce the publication of the French Revolution Pamphlets Collection in the Digital Media Repository. This collection consists of French Revolution pamphlets ranging from 1779 to 1815. Although the French Revolution happened in the decade ranging from 1789 to 1799, this collection of pamphlets documents the time leading up to the revolution through the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815).

Often privately printed due to newspaper censure by the monarchy, the pamphlets were used to disseminate information and ideals concerning nationalism, citizenship, personal freedoms, and social injustice.

The items were scanned, OCR'ed, packaged as PDFS, and uploaded to the Digital Media Repository. This collection is an example of CONTENTdm's embedded PDF interface, which allows quick scrolling, printing, and downloading of digital documents.

Middletown Digital Oral History Collection Featured in Indiana Libraries

2008-10-10T11:32:00.023-04:00

Indiana Libraries Volume 27, Number 2 features "Bringing the Voices of Communities Together: The Middletown Digital Oral History Project" by Maren Read and Amanda Hurford. The article addresses the LSTA grant-funded project to digitize oral history collections from African American, Jewish and Catholic communities of Muncie, Indiana and make them available online in the Digital Media Repository.

It explains the steps taken to complete the project, such as planning, training, digitization, transcription, metadata creation, online presentation. Anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the DMR and those thinking about starting a digital oral history project now should find this article interesting.

Read the article in Cardinal Scholar: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/182/

View the collection in the DMR: http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MidOrHis

New DMR Collection: Joseph Fisher World War II Scrapbook

2008-10-03T11:10:00.011-04:00

The latest collection added to the Digital Media Repository is the Joseph Fisher World War II Scrapbook. The collection consists of a scrapbook compiled by Fisher's mother containing letters, mementos, photographs, newspaper clippings, and inserts accompanying military allotment checks.

This collection, like other digital scrapbooks, was a special challenge to present in the DMR. We wanted to show the structure of the book, while at the same time provide searchable information for each item therein. In order to accomplish that, the scrapbook is presented in it's entirety in item number one of the collection, followed by a separate record for each artifact.

Stay tuned for Phase II of this collection, which should include an additional page-turning interface.

Google Maps Available for Muncie Sanborn® Collection

2008-09-26T16:16:00.013-04:00

The Muncie Sanborn® Fire Insurance Map Collection now has an interactive twist! Using Google Maps, users can now easily visualize the locations shown on these maps from 1883-1911. Clicking on the colored sections of each zoomable map takes you to that digital record in the DMR. Thanks to members of Archives and Special Collections, GRMC, and LITS for making this useful tool available.

Contact Angie Gibson, GIS Specialist, for more information.

Check it out here: http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm4/sanborn_google.php

Browse A-Z, by Subject/Geographic Area, Department or Format

2008-09-10T14:09:00.010-04:00

Recently added to the new DMR interface are several different ways to browse over 50 unique collections: A-Z, the default, shows thumbnail views from the collection. Subject/Geographic Area, Department, and Format all offer expandable and collapsable lists to organize the collections into logical categories. A cookie lets the DMR remember your preferred sorting method, and will open that view when you return, all making it easier for the you to find what you are looking for!

New DMR Collection: Ball State Campus Maps

2008-08-29T16:56:00.007-04:00

The Ball State Campus Maps Collection is the newest collection to be added to the Digital Media Repository. Access it here: http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/BSUCmpsMps

The collection contains maps of the Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana starting in 1929-2000. These maps are a valuable resource for those interested in the growth of the Ball State University campus over the last century. The maps are from the Geospatial Resources and Map Collection (GRMC) and Archives and Special Collections.

This collection uses Zoomify technology.

Thumbnail vs Grid View

2008-08-22T15:33:00.010-04:00

Did you know you can easily change the DMR results view?

To quickly switch back and forth between the Thumbnail and the Grid View, use the Change View buttons in the center of the medium blue tool bar.

Thumbnail View, the default, displays a small representative picture and the title for each item. The Thumbnail View is good for simple browsing. Click "Grid View" to view more information about each item, such as subject, description, or date. The Grid View allows you to gather more information and easily assess relevance before viewing the full item record.

The Change View buttons are new customized enhancements to the DMR. You can still change the view option and other settings the old way, by going into "Preferences."

Zoomify Now Implemented in the DMR

2008-08-15T12:37:00.002-04:00

Zoomify (http://www.zoomify.com/default.htm) is a piece of imaging technology new to the DMR. It allows users to view, zoom, and pan detailed images in a more quick and efficient way.

The Muncie and Delaware County Historical Maps and Atlases Collection (http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/HistMaps), and the Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps of Muncie, Indiana (http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/SanbrnMps) both feature this technology.

When in a collection, just click the "Zoomify" button to be directed to the easy-zoom interface. Zoomify will soon be added to more DMR collections.

Visit the Digital Media Repository

2008-08-05T15:38:00.001-04:00

Visit Ball State University Libraries Digital Media Repository at http://libx.bsu.edu/