Baptists in Burma: collaboratively mapping missionary archives

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-05-2015-0004
Date08 February 2016
Pages11-30
Published date08 February 2016
AuthorJoshua Finnell
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology
Baptists in Burma:
collaboratively mapping
missionary archives
Joshua Finnell
Denison University, Granville, Ohio, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this case study is to discuss and analyze the process of developing and
sustaining a multi-institutional digital humanities projects across several institutions.
Design/methodology/approach – This case study will provide an overview of a multi-institutional
digital humanities project from the planning phase to implementation. In particular, this case study will
discuss identifying institutional partners, collaborating with a design, designing for curricular
integration and best practices for sustaining a project of this size and scope.
Findings Sustainable collaboration develops slowly over time. Communication and consensus-
building are key components to completing and sustaining a multi-institutional digital project. Scalable
design is a crucial step in planning for project expansion.
Originality/value – Though many journal articles articulate “best practices” for collaboration among
geographically dispersed institutions, very few case studies discuss “best practices” within the context
of project development, from initial idea to completion.
Keywords Religion, Archives, Mapping, Digital humanities, Grants, Liberal arts colleges
Paper type Case study
Introduction
In 2013, the Five Colleges of Ohio, a higher learning consortium consisting of Denison
University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University and The
College of Wooster, was awarded a three-year grant by The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation to strengthen the digital capabilities of the libraries and embed the use of
digital scholarship practices into the liberal arts curriculum. Entitled “Digital
Collections: from Projects to Pedagogy and Scholarship”, this grant focused on the
creation of digital resources to enhance faculty and student research, teaching and
learning using emerging aspects of media literacy, scholarly communication,
information literacy, information management and digital publishing.
Specically, the purpose of the grant centered on ve primary objectives (Five
Colleges of Ohio Consortium Receives Mellon Foundation Grant,Five Colleges of Ohio,
2015, p. 1):
(1) Provide the libraries with resources to foster development of curriculum-driven
digital collections in partnership with students and faculty while expanding the
scope of the projects whenever possible to include digital scholarship practices.
(2) Hire a digital scholar who will foster the development of new collections, support
digital scholarship efforts and engage our campus communities in related
considerations of pedagogy.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5816.htm
Baptists in
Burma
11
Received 11 May 2015
Revised 2 July 2015
Accepted 20 July 2015
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.32 No. 1, 2016
pp.11-30
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-05-2015-0004
(3) Mount additional efforts to capture and provide open access to student and
faculty scholarship.
(4) Support continued professional staff development and collaboration within and
across the Ohio Five library organizations to best address the needs of faculty
researchers.
(5) Facilitate the creation of new collaborations with similar institutions,
particularly those focused on the digital humanities, and broadly disseminate
the products and processes developed under the grant.
With a focus on multi-institutional projects, the grant placed a specic emphasis on
expanding the scale and scope of proposed digital humanities projects, and encouraged
both librarians and faculty members to identify unique collections both within and
beyond the Five Colleges of Ohio. Historically, the most unique items of institutional
history are housed in a university’s archives and special collections. This is especially
true at liberal arts colleges where institutional history is often rich with a multiplicity of
hidden narratives concerning class, race, gender and sexuality. Unfortunately, most
colleges and universities face an ever-growing backlog of unprocessed archival
materials. Writing about the dangers of neglecting the backlog of unprocessed
institutional archives in the Journal of Archival Organization, John R. Thelin observed:
The institutional cost of this malady is that subsequent generations of newcomers to the
college and university community, ranging from students, administration, faculty, and board
members, forfeit much of the graphic and symbolic memory of the drama and characters that
animated the campus over time (Thelin, 2009,p.5).
Unprocessed or uncataloged collections become hidden, preventing the utilization,
research and promotion of any given collection of materials that would have otherwise
been integrated into a course or research project.
In 2008, The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), in conjunction
with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, created a program and funding model for
educational and cultural heritage institutions to begin cataloging hidden collections,
with a goal of standardizing workow. When the program ended in 2014, the
“Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Building a New Research
Environment initiative” had distributed 129 grants to institutions across the USA and
Canada (Council on Library and Information Resources, About the Program, 2015,p.2).
Though the initial program ended, CLIR recognized that much more support was
needed to counteract the large amount of unprocessed materials in archives across the
country. Moreover, since 2008, the evolution of institutional repositories and digital
archives provided a new platform for archives and special collections not just to be
discoverable in a library catalog but also as standalone digital collections with
contextual narratives. In January 2015, CLIR launched “Digitizing Hidden Special
Collections and Archives: Enabling New Scholarship through Increasing Access to
Unique Materials”. This new initiative focuses on the development of digital
representations of unique and signicant special collections and archival material. A
newly focused national conversation about cataloging, digitizing and promoting unique
archival materials has, in turn, sparked an interest in turning primary campus resources
into pedagogical tools. Over the past few years, several universities and colleges have
DLP
32,1
12

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT