The Five Colleges of Ohio initiated a program in 2009 to integrate digital collections into the curriculum using funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation. Over 30 collections have been developed across various disciplines, with more than a third focused on science education. Examples described include the Denison University Herbarium digitization project and the Oberlin College Paleontology Collection digitization. The resulting collections provide opportunities for enhanced student learning and collaboration between faculty, librarians and students.

1. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration
Enhancing Science Learning with Digital Collections
Jessica Clemons, The College of Wooster; Moriana M. Garcia, Denison University; Aimee R. Jenkins, Kenyon College;
Deborah Carter Peoples, Ohio Wesleyan University; Alison Scott Ricker, Oberlin College.
Background 1 2 5 Results
In 2009 The Five Colleges of Over 30 collections across the
Ohio initiated a program to curricula are in
integrate digital collections into development. More than a third
the curriculum, funded by The are in science or impact science
Andrew Mellon 2004 2005 education in cross-disciplinary
Foundation. This poster studies. An example of the
describes science collections latter is a GIS photo archive
designed to enrich teaching and using GPS devices to geo-tag
learning environments of Digital Collections photographs taken by students
specific courses. These projects in the field. Older pictures are
also make private collections 1. Tree Growth Data for the Bohannon and Kraus Nature retrospectively geo-tagged so
publicly accessible, with Preserves (OWU) students and researches can
applicability beyond the Five 4 2. Surficial Geology Changes Over Time in Wayne County track the changes over time.
Colleges. (WOO) 3 This project has applications in
geology, environmental science,
3. Denison University Herbarium (DEN)
4. Auxin Transport During Gravitropism and Phototropism history and other disciplines,
Methods using GFP-based Biosensor (OWU) strengthening collaborations
5. Denison Virtual Earth Material Gallery (DEN) across disciplines and serving
Librarians and teaching faculty 6. Paleontology Specimen Teaching Collection (OBE) the liberal arts focus of the
jointly develop grant proposals, 7. Curated Database of Molecular Structure (KEN) consortium.
peer reviewed by campus 8. Agro-Ecological Local Histories (WOO)*
committees comprised of 9. Herbarium Teaching Collection and Flora of Ohio
faculty, librarians, and Specimens (OWU)* Conclusions
administrators. Criteria for 10. Geological Images Teaching Collection (OBE)*
projects include integration into * not shown In addition to IR archiving, the
the curriculum, and enhanced resulting collections will be
usability and access to materials available in the OhioLINK Digital
through effective digitization. Resource Commons (Fig.
An assessment plan for each
digital collection is required. The 6 7 A A). They provide unparalleled
opportunities for student
grant supports a full-time Digital learning, and make accessible
Specialist to coordinate specimens, data, graphs, sound
technical aspects and help files, and images that were
develop institutional previously available only in one
repositories at each campus, lab or facility. The collections
utilizing DSpace. make students active
participants in new scholarly
activities and forge important
partnerships among faculty,
librarians and staff.
Acknowledgements
Faculty collaborators: Greg Wiles , Shelley Judge, Matthew Mariola, College of Wooster; Andrew McCall, Erik Klemetti, Denison Univ.; Yutan Getzler, Kenyon College; Chris Wolverton, Laurel Anderson, David
Johnson, Nancy Murray, Ohio Wesleyan Univ.; Steven Wojtal, Karla Parsons-Hubbard, Oberlin College. Digital specialists: Marsha Bansburg, Alan Boyd, Meghan Frazer, Emily Haddaway, Catalina Oyler,
Kristen Pantle. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant supports the project Next Steps in the Next Generation Library: Integrating Digital Collections into the Liberal Arts Curriculum. Project blog: oh5-nlg-
Five Colleges of digitization-project.blogspot.com/
Ohio

2. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
a Denison University
Herbarium
http://drc.denison.edu/handle/2374.DEN/84
The Denison University Herbarium (Fig.
a) aims to catalog and digitize all of the
specimens in the Biology Department
collection, with the earliest ones dating
from the mid to late 1800s. Much of the
b c herbarium was lost during the 'Science
Hall' fire in 1905, but the collection was
replenished using specimens from
Denison professors and other naturalists
(Fig. b, Clara A. Davies). The first phase
of the project has digitized and
cataloged the specimens from the state
of Ohio (Fig. c, Royal Fern). Students use
the specimens to inform their classes on
local flora.
Contact: Moriana M. Garcia
garciam@denison.edu

3. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
a Denison Virtual Earth
Material Gallery
The Denison Virtual Earth Material
Gallery is a sampling of the specimens
in the Geosciences Department
collection previously only cataloged in
a manuscript book started by Prof.
Clarence L. Herrick (Fig. a) in the
b 1890s. The items in the collection are
varied, from representative mineral
samples (Fig. b, galena with quartz
and rhodochrosite), to rocks from
important geologic locations. The
collection is used both as an example
of important Earth materials, and as a
source of research for students during
the course of their Denison career.
Contact: Moriana M. Garcia
garciam@denison.edu

4. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Ohio Wesleyan University
Chris Wolverton
Assoc. Professor of Botany / Microbiology
Deborah Carter Peoples
Science Librarian
Emily Haddaway
Digital Librarian
More Information:
http://libguides.owu.edu/NGL_Science
Contact:
Deborah Carter Peoples
dapeople@owu.edu

5. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Ohio Wesleyan University
Laurel J. Anderson
Assoc. Professor of Botany / Microbiology
Deborah Carter Peoples
Science Librarian
Emily Haddaway
Digital Librarian
More Information:
http://libguides.owu.edu/NGL_Science
Contact:
Deborah Carter Peoples
dapeople@owu.edu

6. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Ohio Wesleyan University
Herbarium Teaching Collection and
Flora of Ohio Specimens
David Johnson,
Professor of Botany / Microbiology
Nancy Murray
Curator, Joseph A. Swallen Herbarium
Deborah Carter Peoples
Science Librarian
Emily Haddaway
Digital Librarian
More Information:
http://libguides.owu.edu/NGL_Science
Contact:
Deborah Carter Peoples
dapeople@owu.edu

7. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Baist’s Real Estate Atlases of Columbus, Ohio
Ohio Wesleyan University
John Krygier
Assoc. Professor of Geography / Geology
David Walker
Asst. Professor of Geography / Geology
Deborah Carter Peoples
Science Librarian
Emily Haddaway
Digital Librarian
More Information:
http://libguides.owu.edu/NGL_Science
Contact:
Deborah Carter Peoples
dapeople@owu.edu
Detail from Baist’s Atlas, 1920, part of Clintonville neighborhood
in north-central Columbus

8. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Oberlin College
Paleontology Collection
dcollections.oberlin.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISO
ROOT=/paleo
The physical collection consists of 9,000
accession numbers, many associated
with multiple specimens, amassed by
faculty, students and others since the
1800s. Students working with
b
Associate Professor Karla Parsons-
Hubbard have been learning hands-on
systematic research, while organizing
and digitizing the collection, which had
experienced uneven preservation
efforts over the decades. Over 150
images are now digitized, with more in
progress. Associate Director of Libraries
Alan Boyd co-sponsors the project.
Contact: Alison S. Ricker
aricker@oberlin.edu

9. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Oberlin College
Geological Field Images
Digitization in progress
More than 800 images of geological
structures, photographed in the field by
Professor Steven Wojtal, are being
digitized, described, and augmented
with geospatial data. The images, most
of them originally formatted as 35mm
b slides, have been shared for years with
colleagues and secondary school
teachers. The online collection will
make possible virtual field trips through
regions that students cannot visit
personally, and enrich classroom and
lab instruction. Associate Director of
Libraries Alan Boyd co-sponsors the
project.
Contact: Alison S. Ricker
aricker@oberlin.edu

10. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Kenyon College
A Curated Database of Molecular Structure
http://us-2.wijiti.com:8080/i/kenyon/
Our NMR database allows users, via a web
portal in DSpace, to submit and retrieve
raw spectroscopic and supporting data. The
supporting data includes information such
as an image of the processed spectrum,
spectrum type (i.e. 1H, 13C, COSY, etc).
synthetic procedure, molecular structure,
molecular formula, molecular weight,
IUPAC name, common name, etc. Our
database is a place where orphaned spectra
can find a home and higher quality versions
of published data can be archived. This
collection will allow student-to-student
data continuity and help strengthen
scholarly collaboration between researchers
at different institutions.
Contact:
Aimee R. Jenkins
jenkinsa@kenyon.edu

11. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
The College of Wooster
GIS-Based Photographic Archive
Observations in the Wooster, Ohio area
have yielded some surprising changes linked
with land use change, stream erosion and
two locally devastating tornadoes.
Systematic observations through
photography can lead to generation of
hypotheses and scientific inquiry.
This geo-referenced database of archived
photographs collected during field studies
will chronicle environmental change in the
Wooster, Ohio region. This archive will help
answer questions such as: Why are streams
dramatically cutting into the stream beds
and banks? How fast do boulders move
down a stream?
View the collection at:
GIS-Based Photographic Archive
Contact:
Jessica Clemons
jclemons@wooster.edu

12. Faculty, Librarian and Student Collaboration (Five Colleges of Ohio) - AAAS 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
The College of Wooster
Farmer Oral History Collection
Each fall, students in the Sustainable
Agriculture class go out into the field to hear
first hand accounts of what it is like to be a
farmer in Wayne County. Prior to beginning
the collection, the interviews were kept on a
professor’s personal computer.
Partnering with the library has had several
positive effects. Students have more
thorough discussions on how to interview
people. This has improved the overall
quality of interviews. The knowledge they
learn is shared with a wider audience, from
their peers to community members.
Please feel free to listen to the interviews:
Farmer Oral History Collection
Contact:
Jessica Clemons
jclemons@wooster.edu