Digital Humanities, Public History, and the Library BECOMING THE DH TEAM Digital Humanities, Public History, and the Library Brick & Click, 2016 Amanda Langendoerfer Interim Associate Dean of Libraries for Special Collections and Museums Truman State University Janet Romine Interim Associate Dean of Libraries for Research and Instruction

INSPIRATION Library’s Strategic Plan Lewis, David W. A Strategy for Academic Libraries in the First Quarter of the 21st Century, 2007 Digital Services and Content Student, Faculty, and Community Services Library Learning Environment

GOALS Improve digital fluency in students Collaborate with interested faculty Develop library staff expertise in digital humanities Computer Literacy Essential Skills Review Committee (Fall 2014)

Goals of Special Collections Migration to digital and improved online presence Provide public access to context/intellectual background for collections Provide framework for future digitization projects

COURSE OVERVIEW Approached by faculty member—organic development of a digital humanities course HIST 366: History of Eugenics Examines the history of the eugenics movement Support for the Special Collections Department: what can “we” do to help? Public history aspect

THE PLAN Meeting with the Learning Technologies Team (wow, what an experience) Should have started 6 months ago Clearly identified learning objectives and outcomes Constant communication: emails and meetings before classes begin…and after classes begin

COURSE STRUCTURE Identification of Learning Objectives: Content Development Technical Skills Design Skills Project Management

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT Available content/collection overview History of Eugenics Movement Exhibition Development Themes stylistic features (i.e. timelines) rubric/measurement of success Issues: Privacy & Copyright

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT Platform WordPress Google Sites Wiki Plugins Timelines Image Galleries Digitization Scanners OCR & Metadata Image Manipulation Photoshop

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT Information Architecture Exhibition Development Schemes & Structures Navigating & Searching User experiences Reading the Web Exhibition Development Types of Exhibits Audience Storyboard/Wireframing Design Elements (color, light, font, etc.)

TEACHING the course Content First? Integrated? Before MIDTERM Research Instruction (3rd class period) Designing a Web Exhibit (5th class period) Lab Session: Intro to WordPress (7th class period) After MIDTERM Privacy and Copyright (Selection of material) Digitization Demo WordPress sessions tailored on as needed basis (2) Open lab & Independent work

OUTCOMES/ASSIGNMENTS Storyboard/Wireframe Overall design Thematic pages Script Document Selection Copyright and Privacy Justification statement for online publication

WEB EXHIBIT RUBRIC Design (30%) Content (30%) Navigation (30%) Documentation Citation (10%)

BECOMING THE DH TEAM Library Faculty ITS COLLABORATION: SPACE & MATERIALS Focus of course on library material Special Collections/Unique material Data sets/Text Mining (Content Vendors) Familiarity with projects that can be incorporated into curriculum Providing lab space, demonstrations in library facilities Library Faculty ITS

BECOMING THE DH TEAM Library Faculty ITS COLLABORATION: Course Designers & Instructors Facilitating specialized instruction specific to courses Researching techniques Content analysis Copyright specialists Tech instruction Web design Scanning OCR/Metadata WordPress Library Faculty ITS

Moving forward Planning time Staff expertise Lab space/tech availability Flexibility vs Structure Determining level of Tech instruction (Self-Assessment vs Reality) Content vs Skill Development

QUESTIONS? Amanda Langendoerfer: alang@truman.edu Janet Romine: jiromine@truman.edu