Kent State University’s long and extensive history has been continuously documented and studied. Those looking for the highlights of the university’s past can find it all in one place: the University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives: Digital Collections on the kent.edu website. This next installment of "Where on the Web?" highlights pages across the Kent State website of special interest and use to the Kent State community.
The Digital Collections web page provides access to Special Collections and Archives digitized materials, ranging from general Kent State history to specific events like the May 4, 1970, Kent State shootings. Other main collections are the Oral Histories of the Kent State shootings and the Borowitz True Crime collection. These archives and collections, as well as assistance from the team behind the collections, are available to all Kent State faculty, staff and students.
Cara Gilgenbach, head of Special Collections and Archives, interim university archivist and associate professor, works closely with the in-person and online inner workings of the collections and archives.
“Our overall mission as a department is to support research, teaching and even just lifelong learning,” Gilgenbach said. “It doesn’t have to be that you’re doing a class project, you could just want to look at this stuff because you’re interested in it.”
The website showcases varieties of multimedia collections to best document the history of each collection. The collections can have items such as photos, audio and video recordings, artworks, maps and more.
Another feature the website offers is the digital Daily Kent Stater archive and Chestnut Burr digital archive. This allows users to see digitized copies of all printed issues of the Kent Stater dating from February 1926 to August 2020 and the student-produced yearbook published from 1914 through 1985.
“The main goal with digital programs is access,” Gilgenbach said. “Before archives were able to put content online, you could really only use these materials if you could visit in person.”
Even though the website is continuously being updated with new content, there is even more to see in-person that may not be featured online. The Special Collections and Archives section of the library receive many instructional requests both for class and individual purposes. Due to the pandemic, they are only accepting visits by appointment. Any Kent State faculty, staff, student or member of the general public can make an appointment to visit the in-person archives.
Haley Antell, digital initiatives outreach librarian and assistant professor, expressed the importance of visiting the archives in person and reaching out for any additional assistance.
“We are also happy to provide follow-up help,” Antell said. “If someone comes across something and they need more context or have other questions, we put these up to help people access them, and we’re happy to provide further access to people.”
Learn more about the University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Digital Collections at omeka.library.kent.edu/special-collections/ .
Read the last installment of Where on the Web? at www.kent.edu/today/news/where-web-13000-web-courses-just-click-away-linkedin-learning.