A look ahead

Next semester looks promising so far.

The Archives will be participating in the UT Tyler 40th Anniversary celebration (a semester long event), which should bring considerable publicity and attention to our work and the people who made the university possible.

The Webb society has a terrific group of members who are eager to dive into some nitty gritty work, which brings the possibility of exciting projects (some of the ideas tossed around: helping the Smith County Historical Society index original texts and newspapers; collecting oral histories of prominent community members; documenting forgotten and neglected cemetaries, in conjunction with the genealogical society).

Dr. Newsom, faculty sponsor of the Frank R. Smyrl chapter of the Webb Society (and a truly inspiring professor, mentor, and historian), has arranged an internship for the Spring 2011 semester with the Old Mill Pond Museum (through the City of Lindale). About six students (including myself) are enrolled.

I have also been asked to speak at a statewide conference in Austin next January (the STEM 2011 Bridging Research & Practice conference) on ways to integrate specific technologies in history classrooms. At this point, I expect to present demos on Livescribe technology and the Prezi tool. I have attempted to raise interest in this topic on my own campus all semester (we seem to lack the infrastructure, motivation, or personnel to host a conference at this point in time). Fortunately for me, Texas STEM Centers have been looking for a way to collaborate with educators and professionals in English/Language Arts, History, and the Social Sciences.

My ultimate hope is that, as an ambassador for UT Tyler, I can generate interest on my own campus - and beyond. I would really love to see a cross-departmental effort (including our own STEM center, the history/political science department, the education department, and our resident geographers, anthropologists, and archaeologists). With the success of recent Project Based Learning initiatives among the history departments of local public schools (and with the growing interest in "History 2.0", if you'll pardon my meme), I think we could expect broad participation from the community.

A really ambitious project might incorporate local non-profit groups including the Genealogical Society (which has already embraced collaborative digitization efforts), local museums, and historical conservation groups.

In the meantime, however... I've got to finish what's on my plate right now.