In recent years, the traditional use of digital collections simply as proxies for the physical has shifted to a paradigm of viewing collections as data suitable for computational use and novel research methods. A metadata strategy with robust description can provide access and inspire new contextual narratives and knowledge. The presenters saw great potential for a collections as data exploration in a significant World War I archival collection to highlight lesser-known stories, including those of the Pioneer Infantry, women, and noncombatants. This case study presentation will discuss approaches to digital collections metadata, digital storytelling, data visualization and mapping, and will present real-world techniques that participants can use in their own work.
The World War I Service Records collection contains a rich record of the experiences of students and alumni who engaged in military or community service. The collection, however, was accompanied by extremely minimal folder-level metadata, which, in combination with CONTENTdm's limited visualization capabilities, presented major challenges for exposing the collection's rich data and making its contents available. The presenters will share approaches to creating granular but scalable metadata and will discuss the use of ArcGIS and other digital humanities tools for bringing hidden stories of diversity to light.
