Throughout the Over
There: Missouri and the Great War’s planning
phase, project partners focused on project promotion and collection assessment. Since the fall of 2012, project staff have
identified, reviewed, and evaluated significant Missouri World War I
collections. During the planning phase,
project staff evaluated 609 Missouri World War I collections. Materials included diaries, personal and
official correspondence, pamphlets, periodicals, bulletins, postcards,
propaganda, currency, calendars, scrapbooks, sheet music, and books, which
amounted to 149,773 pages of material reviewed at 108 institutions from across
the state! In addition to the primary
source documents, staff also evaluated a variety of three-dimensional artifacts
pertaining to World War I. In
preparation for the implementation phase of the World War I project, staff
selected five collections (771 pages) from three institutions to test the
digitization workflow. The digitization
process includes scanning, creating metadata and transcripts, conducting quality
control checks, and uploading the material to Missouri Digital Heritage’s
CONTENTdm server.
Beyond identifying collections to digitize, staff worked diligently
to promote the project though traditional presentations and social media. Project partners and staff hosted three
informative programs at the Cape Girardeau Public Library (Cape Girardeau,
Mo.), the National World War I Museum (Kansas City, Mo.), and the Museum of Osteopathic MuseumSM (Kirksville, Mo.) where regional organizations gathered to
learn more about the project and how they could contribute. After formal presentations, staff met with
institutions individually which resulted in the ability to view collections at
several new institutions. As for social
media, this blog has presented weekly posts concerning individuals and
organizations related to World War I, since its launch in October 2012. Furthermore, the project’s Facebook account
offers patrons daily interactions with Missouri’s World War I history and highlights
collections and institutions staff have encountered throughout the span of the
project.
With the implementation phase of the World War I project now
underway, project staff selected an additional 35 collections (approximately
4,765 pages) from six institutions to be digitized in the upcoming grant period. Institutions from the test period and the
implementation phase include: JasperCounty Records Center (Carthage, Mo.), Missouri History Museum (St. Louis,
Mo.), Museum of Osteopathic MuseumSM (Kirksville, Mo.), NationalWorld War I Museum (Kansas City, Mo.), Powers Museum (Carthage, Mo.), StateHistorical Society of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.), University of Missouri LibrariesDivision of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books (Columbia, Mo.), and Universityof Missouri-Kansas City LaBudde Special Collections (Kansas City, Mo.) Project staff is continuing to work closely
with many other institutions to develop formal collaborative agreements for
future digital imaging grants. Institutions include, but are not limited to, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum (Independence, Mo.), the Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections (Kansas City, Mo.), the Missouri State Museum (Jefferson City, Mo.), the Museum of Missouri Military History (Jefferson City, Mo.), the National Archives and Records Administration (St. Louis, Mo.), St. Louis University Archives (St. Louis, Mo.), Truman State University Special Collections and Archives (Kirksville, Mo.), the Walt Disney Hometown Museum (Marceline, Mo.), and Washington University Archives (St. Louis, Mo.)
As the digitization project
develops further, so have new opportunities for project promotion. Project staff have begun preliminary
discussions about the merits of presenting at the following state, regional,
and national conferences: Missouri
Association for Museums and Archives, Association of Midwest Museums, Midwest
Archives Conference, and Society for Military History Conference. Additionally,
Megan Spilker, the National World War I Museum’s graphic designer, designed printed
promotional material for distribution by project staff and collaborating
institutions. Thanks, Megan!
We look forward to continuing this project, establishing Missouri
as a leader in our nation’s World War I centennial remembrance movement.
