Women’s Stories / Southern Places
Speaker Bio
Ken Middleton is Digital Initiatives Librarian and Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. He received the ABC-CLIO Online History Award and the ACRL Women's Studies Section Significant Achievement Award for developing Discovering American Women's History Online, a database that currently improves access to more than 620 digital collections. His tenure as editor of Microform & Digitization Review (2005 to 2012) included a theme issue on women's history digital collections. He started the collaborative blog Women's History Sources in 2009. Middleton was Co-Principal Investigator for an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant in support of Tennessee's statewide digitization program.
Abstract
The digital collections developed by Middle Tennessee State University's Walker Library and its partners provide excellent examples of the value of collaboration among LAMs (libraries, archives, and museums). Historians are key team members for most of our large projects, providing the historical context that the majority of digital collections lack. Working with a geographic information specialist on grant proposals has opened the door for including GIS in collections currently in development. This presentation will offer snapshots of digital projects that grew out of this spirit of collaboration and that deepen our understanding of women's history: Shades of Gray and Blue combines compelling stories/biographies of women on the Tennessee home front with highly visual sources from 50 repositories; Civil War to Civil Rights uncovers women's lives in "lost" African American communities using multiple sources and GIS; and Southern Places documents fading historic landscapes (churches, Rosenwald schools, etc.) in which women have played key roles. In addition, the presenter will note the pros and cons of software packages (CONTENTdm, Omeka, and Wordpress) that were used in developing these sites. Finally, the presenter will ask the audience to explore the possibilities for collaboratively developed women's history digital collections that cross geographical and disciplinary boundaries.
Women’s Stories / Southern Places
The digital collections developed by Middle Tennessee State University's Walker Library and its partners provide excellent examples of the value of collaboration among LAMs (libraries, archives, and museums). Historians are key team members for most of our large projects, providing the historical context that the majority of digital collections lack. Working with a geographic information specialist on grant proposals has opened the door for including GIS in collections currently in development. This presentation will offer snapshots of digital projects that grew out of this spirit of collaboration and that deepen our understanding of women's history: Shades of Gray and Blue combines compelling stories/biographies of women on the Tennessee home front with highly visual sources from 50 repositories; Civil War to Civil Rights uncovers women's lives in "lost" African American communities using multiple sources and GIS; and Southern Places documents fading historic landscapes (churches, Rosenwald schools, etc.) in which women have played key roles. In addition, the presenter will note the pros and cons of software packages (CONTENTdm, Omeka, and Wordpress) that were used in developing these sites. Finally, the presenter will ask the audience to explore the possibilities for collaboratively developed women's history digital collections that cross geographical and disciplinary boundaries.