Project Title:  Iowa Civil War Diaries Collection

 

Department/organizational unit(s):  Digital Library Services

 

Mentor Name(s):  Nicole Saylor

Brief project description: UI Libraries Special Collections and the Iowa Women’s Archives hold primary source materials that document the Civil War, 1861-1865 and President Abraham Lincoln with a particular focus on letters and diaries of Iowas who served as soldiers, nurses, and supply administrators. So far, only a few diaries have been digitized. This project would involve surveying UI Libraries holdings of Civil War diaries and other related documents to develop the Iowa Civil War Diaries Collection.

Examples of key activities:

• Examining archival collections to identify items for the online collection
• Identifying other documents for eventually inclusion in a larger Civil War collection
• Work with Preservation on scanning and preserving the diaries
• Identify equipment needs
• Exploring transcription options and making recommendations
• Digitizing some of the diaries
• Metadata creation and enhancement
• Web page content and design work

 

Number of students that can be accommodated: Either 1 or 2

 

Duration: Fall 07 and beyond

 

Training:

Prerequisite skills: Basic computer skills

Acquired skills: Working knowledge of CONTENTdm, PhotoshopCS, and Adobe Contribute software; collection development skills; experience using Dublin Core; digitizing photograph and paper documents; HTML/web design skills, research and writing skills

 

Software/Hardware Involved:

• CONTENTdm (digital asset management software)
• PhotoshopCS (photo editing software)
• Adobe Contribute 4.0 (web design software)

 

External expertise requested in/for:  Preservation help with handling/preserving diaries

 

Tangible end product, if any:  Civil War Diaries Collection site