By J. Adrian Aumen, College of Arts & Sciences,
And Nella Letizia, WSU Libraries
PULLMAN, Wash. – In the early 1970s, the Tejon Indian Tribe in southern California essentially vanished from U.S. memory when it was mistakenly omitted from the Department of the Interior’s list of federally recognized tribes. It took until 2012 for the tribe to be “reaffirmed.”
Gloria Morgan, chair of the Tejon Cultural Resource Committee, talked about the effort to reinstate the tribe during a recent workshop at Washington State University’s new Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation (CDSC). Morgan and members of several other Native American tribes came to the Pullman campus for hands-on training in digitizing cultural resources for their communities.
“We want to digitize records of birth, marriage, death and more,” she said. “Having the files in digital form makes them easier to find and easier to defend. We don’t expect to be challenged again, but we didn’t expect to be challenged the first time.”
Resource for WSU and external research, teaching
Eyewitness accounts of national historic events; detailed images of cultural treasures; personal reflections on life, love, influential people and transformative experiences – all this and more is being preserved, ethically and responsibly, through the CDSC.
A collaboration between WSU Libraries and the College of Arts and Sciences, the CDSC provides members of WSU and its extended community access to digitization hardware and software for a variety of scholarship and curation projects, many that cross academic and public/private distinctions.
Housed on the fourth floor of Holland Library, the CDSC provides best practices for the organization, digitization and preservation of unique collections. It offers assistance for scholars to explore new and emerging models of digital research, publishing and peer review.
It supports curriculum development, particularly the introduction of technology into university courses, and offers faculty and students hands-on experience with digitization tools such as video equipment and photo-editing software.
Preserving golden and diamond memories
In the fall, a group of WSU arts and sciences alumni took part in an interactive storytelling event led by Rebecca Goodrich, assistant director of the digital technology and culture program, and facilitated by students and CDSC staff. Thirteen Golden (’55) and Diamond (’65) Graduates and several of their spouses experimented with digital tools and creative ways to preserve memories of their college days and of significant people and events in their lives since then.
Among the entertaining and inspiring stories is David Warren’s recollection of his journey from being an English major (’65) and student body president, to marching for civil rights with Martin Luther King, Jr., to living in Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram, to leading an American “model city,” to presiding over a university and championing access to affordable education.
Thanks to the CDSC, you can listen to Warren’s story online and read or listen to other enlightening and poignant stories from CAS Golden and Diamond Grads.
To learn more about the CDSC’s various resources or to schedule their use, contact cdsc.info@wsu.edu.
What can I do at the CDSC?
• Data curation: get help with ethically and responsibly curating cultural resources and managing collections
• Digitization: digitize photos, documents and/or objects for research or resource management
• Preservation: learn about best practices for the organization and preservation of digital cultural heritage
• Workshops: learn how to use digital tools and how to share knowledge with others
• Training: graduate students and faculty can explore technology for introducing hands-on activities into their curriculum
• Grant writing: get assistance with writing grant proposals for digital projects
• Research: conduct research on digital scholarship and explore new and emerging models of digital research, publishing and peer review
• Conferences: CDSC organizes conferences and lectures on digital scholarship and curation in collaboration with WSU faculty
• Scholarly communication: share scholarly work, get support for open-access publishing and access resources to assist with data management and assessment of scholarly impact.