Page 42 - Campus Technology, January/February 2019

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to begin to explore the artifacts digitally and discover sup- porting material and relevant links.
The students have produced museum-quality exhibits that incorporate scanned images by using CamScanner; photographs and videos by using tools like Apple iMovie, YouTube and ProCyc MyStudio; and animations by using tools such as Blabberize. Cloud storage and collaboration options are available through Microsoft Office 365. The college loans students iPads and laptops for the work — common tools that were found to be more than adequate to accomplish most of the tasks needed to create the AR exhibits.
Technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and multimedia and visualization tools have been proven at many other institutions for their value as a supplement to, or replacement for, physical access to certain materials. But Washington College’s unique insight, beyond that, is to of- fer students a role in the curation of archival materials, using AR — the Augmented Archives programs have established a process that includes students as true participants in the scholarship of these assets.
“One of the things we wanted students to come away with is that scholarship isn’t just for academics,” explained proj- ect co-lead Raven Bishop. “Students involved in investiga- tive curation will be asking relevant research questions and sharing their findings and scholarship with the wider world.”
Co-lead Heather Calloway reflected on the growth of the Augmented Archives initiative over time: “Every term now, we are digitizing more and more of our assets. This is open-
ing up new possibilities for us in the long run, in terms of greater access to our collection.”
AR technology helps provide an authentic experience of scholarship for students and researchers alike. Real-world outcomes are paramount in the college’s Augmented Ar- chives strategy. The team’s hope is that archival materials
curated with AR technology will get much further exposure to ongoing scholarship and as well as become a lively part of the campus culture at Washington College.
Meg Lloyd is a freelance writer based in Northern California.
Project leads Raven Bishop (left) and Heather Calloway (right)
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019