The objective of the History of Acadians Virtual Exhibition was to document, digitize, and provide web access to the sources and original documents in the holdings of the Mount Allison University Archives that relate to the history of Acadians on campus and in the community. In this way the Archives hopes to draw attention to the value of archival material as both a research tool and a teaching tool.
Most of the information featured was drawn from the Mount Alison University Archives collection, including publications such as The Argosy, Allisonia, the Allisonian yearbooks, and the University calendars. Related archival documents were selected from various fonds. The project implementation was broken into the following processes:
*Research and Selection
*Scanning
*Topic identification, arrangement and text
*Metadata collection
*Web design and access
SCANNING and PHOTOGRAPHY
Scanning was carried out by the University Archivist and Archival intern at the Mount Allison University with an Epson Expression 10000 XL flatbed scanner. Master tiff files were created and public access images have been captured to the following standard:
File format: JPEG
Compression: Uncompressed
Digital resolution: 300 dpi
Images are stored on an external hard drive as well as on the Mount Allison University server. Every effort was made to respect the integrity of the original documents. Therefore, minimal action was taken to correct imperfections in the originals. Cropping the original photograph was inevitable in certain instances. Occasionally, long outside scans were stitched together into panorama images using the open-source image editing software, IrfanView, version X.
METADATA
Structural metadata has been gathered during the scanning process. The structural metadata files contain information about the pagination of the document and correlation between filename and identification (retrieval) numbers.
Descriptive metadata for fonds includes: title / statement of responsibility, dates of creation, physical extent, biographical sketch, custodial history, scope and content, source of title, related materials, associated materials, findings aids, immediate source of acquisition, physical description, notes, and retrieval number.
Descriptive metadata for items includes: retrieval number, title, date, restrictions on access, use and reproduction.
WEB DESIGN
Web design of the virtual exhibition was carried out by Renée Belliveau, Young Canada Works Young Professional Intern at the Mount Allison University Libraries and Archives (2018-2019), on the Mount Allison University Libraries and Archives' LibGuide platform. The banner was created from a reproduction of a map in the J. Clarence Webster collection using Photo Editor Movavi 5.6.
EXHIBITION
The History of Acadians at Mount Allison University virtual exhibition will be supported online through the Mount Allison Libraries and Archives LibGuide platform from April 2019 onward.