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This paper aims to explore two separate legacy oral history digitization projects at one institution and how the project teams approached the different issues and challenges these projects presented.

The approach compares two case studies of how digitization of legacy oral history collections was carried out. The paper discusses these projects utilizing a lifecycle model approach and reveals how archival and digital humanities perspectives drove some of the projects’ differences.

The authors find that when working with digitizing legacy oral history collections, each collection will require different approaches and methods of problem solving. In large institutions with multiple repositories, it can be useful for project teams to consult each other to develop best practices.

The two case studies presented in this paper can serve as models for other institutions digitizing many oral history collections and serve as a model for communication and collaboration in larger institutions with multiple repositories.

This paper compares and contrasts two case studies of digitization projects involving legacy oral history collections in different units of one large institution. Project teams were influenced by different approaches. One project was conducted by archivists and the other led by a digital humanities librarian. Differing professional foci provided different perspectives about collection characteristics and, subsequently, led to different approaches that impacted implementation of the projects.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affordable access and digital preservation solutions for digital collections developed by under-resourced small- and mid-sized cultural heritage organizations.

The paper presents a case study of Jeffco Stories, a collection of digitized oral histories created by the Jefferson County Public Library in Colorado.

This paper describes how the Jefferson County Public Library undertook a migration project of its oral history digital collection into an open-access platform, Omeka, and selected DuraCloud as a hosted digital preservation service.

As a case study, this paper is limited to one institution’s experience with selecting access and digital preservation solutions.

This paper is relevant to librarians and archivists who are exploring access and preservation solutions for digital collections and to those who are considering migrating to open-access content management systems and cloud-based digital preservation solutions.

This paper presents a case of a public library and the challenges in finding affordable access and digital preservation solutions for small digital collections.

The purpose of this study is to answer the questions: Can students discern the difference between oral histories digitized at archival quality (96 kHz/24-bit) versus CD-quality (44.1 kHz/16-bit)? and How important do they believe this difference is? Digitization of analog audio recordings has become the recommended best practice in preserving and making available oral histories. Additionally, well-accepted standards in performing this work are available. However, there is relatively little research that addresses if individuals can hear a qualitative difference in recordings made with best practices versus those that have not.

In all, 53 individuals participated in the study, where they listened to three sets of oral histories and had to decide which was the archival-quality recording versus the CD-quality recording and mark their answer on a survey.

Students could discern less than half of the time on average which was the archival quality versus the CD-quality recording. Further, after listening to the differences, they most often indicated the difference was “a little bit important”.

This research does not suggest that archivists abandon well-established sound digitization practices that produce results that audio archivists (and those able to hear fine-grain audio differences) find superior. Rather, it does imply that additional work may be needed to train listeners to discern these fine-grain differences, and appreciate the highest-fidelity replication of original audio recordings.

This research addresses a gap in the literature by connecting audio digitization practices to its impact on listener perception.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the processes and procedures utilized by Jacksonville State University's Houston Cole Library to digitize an oral history collection and provide access to it through the Library's catalog, web presence, and the state‐wide digital repository initiative, Alabama Mosaic (see www.alabamamosaic.org).

The paper is based on the Library's experiences in acquiring, digitizing, creating metadata for and making accessible a collection of oral histories.

The paper describes the obstacles overcome, issues encountered, procedures established, and ramifications of the project.

Many institutions are currently digitizing unique collections as part of repository initiatives, both institutional and collaborative. Effective practices and guidelines must be developed in order to streamline the process and provide the most complete access to these unique collections. The paper provides a practical model to address these issues.

The paper provides common practices for the digitization, creation of metadata, and provision of access for unique oral history collections; it also provides insights into issues that can arise and how best to address them.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the University of Wisconsin Law School Library sought to create easily searchable oral histories by partnering with the University of Kentucky and the University of Wisconsin Oral History Program. Through this partnership, a digital archive of fully searchable and indexed oral histories with links to relevant articles, Library of Congress keywords, summaries and maps is being created, giving users the ability to delve into the Law School’s history more deeply and with more historical perspective than ever before.

The implementation of the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) and the development of a daily workflow for adding University of Wisconsin Law School oral histories to the program is closely examined. The pros and cons of the program are discussed as well as the future of the Law School oral histories.

The OHMS program is a powerful tool that allows researchers to quickly and easily locate relevant portions of an oral history, saving the time required to review hours of an interview. OHMS also allows archivists and librarians to better organize and catalog each oral history by providing important metadata tools that provide context and background on each unique oral history.

The University of Wisconsin Law School is the first law school to implement the OHMS program in concert with an institutional repository. The program, which is free and open source, may be of great value to historians, archivists and non-profits who wish to make their content more visible and more searchable.

This paper aims to examine how an open-source information management system was developed to manage a collection of more than 10,000 oral history interviews at the University of Kentucky Libraries’ Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

Digital library architects at the University of Kentucky Libraries built an open-source information management system for oral history using the open-source tools Omeka and Blacklight. Additional open-source code was developed to facilitate interaction between these tools.

Information management systems that address needs of libraries and archives can be built by combining existing open-source tools in complementary ways.

This work at the University of Kentucky Libraries serves as a proof of concept for other institutions to examine as a potential model to follow or adapt for their own local needs. The SPOKEdb framework can be replicated elsewhere, as the major and minor components are open-source. SPOKEdb at its conceptual level is a unique information management system based on its tailored approach to serving the needs of oral history management at various user levels including both administrative and public.

This research paper explores the roles of electronic texts in research projects in the humanities and seeks to deepen the understanding of the nature of scholars' engagement with e-texts. The study used qualitative methodology to explore engagement of scholars in literary and historical studies with primary materials in electronic form (i.e., e-texts). The study revealed a range of scholars' interactions with e-texts during the whole research process. It uncovered a particular pattern of information-seeking practices in electronic environments called netchaining and the main types of uses and contributions of e-texts to research projects. It was found that e-texts play support and substantive roles in the research process. A number of influences from electronic environment are identified as challenges and aids in working with e-texts. The study does not have statistical significance. It indicates a need for further research into scholarly practices, training requirements, and new forms of service provision. Study results are relevant for the development of digital collections, information services, educational programs, and other forms of support for the use of technology in research. The results can be also used to inform approaches to text encoding and development of electronic information systems and have implications for organizational and industry policies. The study found a range of scholars' interactions and forms of intellectual engagement with e-texts that were not documented and analyzed by earlier studies. It provides insights into disciplinary variations in the humanities and contributes to the understanding of scholarly change catalyzed by information technology.

The purpose of this paper is to explore roles of electronic texts (e‐texts) in research enquiry in literary and historical studies, and to deepen the understanding of the nature of scholars' engagement with e‐texts as primary materials. The study includes an investigation of references to e‐texts and discussions about researchers' citation practices in interviews.

Qualitative methodology was used to explore scholars' interactions with e‐texts in 30 research projects. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to examine citations and any other acknowledgments of e‐texts in participants' prepublications and published works. In‐depth semi‐structured interviews provided data for findings about researchers' citation practices.

Formal acknowledgments of e‐texts do not represent the depth and breadth of researchers' interactions with e‐texts. Assessments of the relevance and trustworthiness of e‐texts, as well as considerations of disciplinary cultures, had some impact on researchers' citation practices.

The study was based on in‐depth data‐gathering from a small group of participants. It does not have any statistical significance and the findings cannot be generalized, but comparisons with other scholars in literary and historical studies are possible. The study indicated a need for further investigation of changing academic practices in general and citation practices in particular.

The findings have implications for the development of standards and institutional support for research in the humanities.

The study provides new insights into the phenomenon of a very small number of citations of electronic sources in publications in the humanities, and considers issues related to citations from the perspective of changing academic cultures.

This paper looks critically at the way technology is currently used in social studies education and makes the argument that technology can better serve teachers and students as a tool of engagement and inquiry rather than as a supplement to existing practices. In this paper, social studies education is characterized as a quest for reflective inquiry, as a social science, and as a medium for citizenship transmission. Technology can assist in the teaching of all three elements from a constructivist, or inquiry-oriented, perspective. Relevant examples are provided whenever possible and deemed necessary. The paper concludes with a proposal for widespread change in the way social studies teachers utilize technology by focusing on teacher education programs. Teacher educators must contradict students’ perceptions of traditional social studies instruction with habits of increased technology usage in order to equip future teachers with the skills required to implement pedagogical change in their classrooms.