Current Digicenter Projects
The Furman Digicenter is constantly engaged in new and compelling projects. Here are a few of the projects on which we are currently or will soon be working.
Furman University Natural History
This interdisciplinary project is designed to increase access to disparate data sources related to Furman University's Natural History. In conjunction with the Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences departments, the Digicenter is creating a collection dedicated to preserving the natural history of Furman University, initially focused on the Furman Lake, sustainability, and the environmental impact of humans. Currently the collection contains over 100 digital objects - including photographs, maps, audio recordings, and presentations. In the coming months we will be adding additional content and creating a site accessible to the public.
Dr. Robert C.Tucker's Travel Collection
Recently, Special Collections recieved the travel materials created and collected by Dr. Robert Tucker, Furman University's former Library Director. This collection is made up of photographs, journals, and other materials from all over the world - including East Asia, Scandinavia, Central Europ, Mexico, and the West Indies. The Digicenter is in the proccess of digitizing the materials and will soon begin organizing and assigning metadata to the resulting digital objects. Dr. Tucker's detailed slide-specific notes and journals will be invaluable as we create a collection to highlight his extensive travels.
Overland Trip from Indonesia to England: 1976
In 1976, Education professor Shirley Ritter took a trip overland from Indonesia to England; the Digicenter has digitized and edited the images chronicling her travels, and Dr. Ritter has provided detailed descriptions for each of the images. The images and their metadata are currently being reviewed by Dr. Ritter and will eventually be placed into LUNA for the general Furman community to view and use. Additionally, the Digicenter has created and will make available an interactive online GoogleEarth map that traces Dr. Ritter's journey.
Photographs of France
The Digicenter is currently working with Pat Pecoy to digitize her substantial slide collection containing more than 2,000 photographs of France. Now that the slides have all been digitized and edited, Dr. Pecoy is working through the arduous task of reviewing and adding metadata to each of the images. Once completed, this collection will be further enriched through geocoding and mapping.
Historical Letters
Working with Special Collections, the Digicenter has digitized original letters written by Richard and James Clement Furman as well as other members of the Furman family; The letters were written between January 1777 and July 1891 and include correspondance during both the Spanish American and Civil Wars. Currently, the Digicenter is transcribing the contents of those letters to make them easier to search and read, and once completed, the letters and their text will be uploaded to LUNA.