The University of Nebraska at Kearney Archives has historically failed to capture diversity; there are several strong Latino/a communities in the region, but no archival collections documenting them. Coming to the Plains: Latino/a Stories in Rural Nebraska is a collaboration between the Archives and faculty from Modern Languages and Communications. This collaboration creates new records in the form of oral histories with transcripts and translations and art photography. The project trains students to conduct oral histories with Latino/a immigrants living in several rural Nebraska communities. The use of broad, open-ended questions allows participants to shape the narrative in order to highlight what is most important to them. Active documentation strategies such as oral history increase the possibilities for collecting diversity in a way that demonstrates respect for participants and gives communities input into the sharing of their story.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Libraries have been using Omeka.net for online exhibits and as a portal for access to selected special collections, including Omaha Histories and the Queer Omaha Archives. This presentation will highlight our best practices for metadata, workflows, and exhibit-based storytelling through the use of the hosted Omeka.net service. We will discuss our local metadata practices and our experiences with batchloading metadata into Omeka.net. We will also describe our workflows for digitization requests, metadata alignment, quality control, and project tracking and discuss our use of Omeka.net as an exhibit platform to tell stories drawn from the U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives. These experiences show how Omeka.net can be a valuable tool for collections and outreach efforts. Omeka.net has proven itself a valuable tool for collections and outreach efforts at UNO Libraries Archives & Special Collections.
Metadata Coordinator for Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Angela Kroeger is the Metadata Coordinator for Archives & Special Collections at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Libraries. They earned an MLIS from the University of Missouri in 2015 and served as Nebraska Library Association President in 2016/2017.
In recent years, the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Libraries have shifted from a centralized model of digitization, in which digitization activities occurred primarily within the Archives department, to a decentralized one that now includes library technicians in Technical Services and Access Services. This expansion has resulted in marked efficiencies in scanning, metadata creation, file upload, and has enabled the Libraries’ digital repositories to grow at a much faster rate. In this session, UNC librarians will discuss the process involved in creating interdepartmental workflows, training existing library staff for digitization work, managing and tracking projects, and involving staff in mass digitization projects. Attendees will leave with strategies for implementing an interdepartmental digitization program at their own institutions.
