New Online: First Digital Archive of Scholarship Related to Transgender Issues
UPDATE May 10, 2017 First of Its Kind Digital Transgender Archive to Receive Funding Extension (via COTHC)
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From the College of the Holy Cross:
K.J. Rawson, assistant professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross, recently launched the world’s first Digital Transgender Archive (DTA), a collection of transgender-related historical materials. Rawson’s project was recognized in 2013-14 with funding from the American Council of Learned Societies Digital Innovation Fellowship, awarded each year to a handful of academics to advance digital humanistic scholarship.
The DTA is designed to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world
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In the past two years, 15 Holy Cross students have worked as research assistants with the DTA, collaborating on the process of digitizing, recording, and entering historical materials into the database. Processing materials requires students to read and analyze individual artifacts to develop subject terms, compose abstracts, and provide any additional relevant information.
In addition to gaining critical experience in the hands-on work of building an archive, Rawson says it has been a transformative experience for many students. One recent graduate is considering a career in library science; another is pursuing transgender-related social justice work.
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The collection is built by more than 20 different archives and organizations from around the world. Eight are universities including, Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library, Cornell University, Duke University, the University of Victoria, and the University of Michigan.
Read the Complete Launch Announcement
Direct to Digital Transgender Archive (DTA)
Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Digital Collections, Digital Preservation, Funding, Libraries, News
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.