Out-of-Print Books as e-Books: A Collection Analysis

In recent years, archival institutions have begun to digitally archive or preserve the items in their collections. This way, items are more accessible to those wanting to perform research but not necessarily handle the original documents and are not likely to be permanently damaged. One example of a digital preservation project is the one that forms the basis for this paper- the Oklahoma Historical Society's collection of out-of-print historical books that have been made available as e-books. Created over three years ago, this collection contains 22 books about Oklahoma and Texas history. The original publication dates of the books cover the years 1975 to 1986, and the conversion to e-books covers a period of nine years - 2010 to 2019. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the collection of out-of-print books on Oklahoma and Texas history that have recently been made available as e-books by the Oklahoma History Center.

Understanding Connections: Examining Digital Library and Institutional Repository Use Overlap

The University of North Texas Libraries’ Digital Collections are situated as a unified whole within their preservation infrastructure, with three separate user interfaces serving the content to different audiences. These separate interfaces are: The UNT Digital Library (DL), The Portal to Texas History, and The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Situated within each interface are collections, and hosted within these collections are digital objects. One collection, the UNT Scholarly Works Repository, specifically serves UNT’s research and creative contributions and functions as the Institutional repository (IR) for the University of North Texas. Because UNT Scholarly works is seated as a collection amongst other collections, users can access faculty research, not just out of an interest in research from specific faculty members, but also as it ties into the user’s broader understanding of a given topic. With flexible infrastructure and metadata schema that connect collections beneath the umbrella of the wider preservation infrastructure, the UNT DL employs full-text searching and interlinked metadata to strengthen and make visible the connections between objects in different collections. This paper examined how users navigated between other collections within the UNT IR, as well as within the UNT DL. Through this examination, we observed patterns between how users navigated between objects, understood which collections may have related to one another, examined why some unique items were used more than others, and viewed the average number of items used within a session.

The Recognition of Women in Oklahoma History

This chapter recounts a journey in academic scholarship and the significance of the Prelinger Award in providing time and resources to research, travel to archives, and to write multicultural women’s history. Because of this award, an understanding of U.S. history, the role of women, and the significance of a multicultural approach was broadened and enhanced.

A Tale of Two Bills: Racism, Anti-Semitism, and the Sensibilities of a Public Historian

This article examines from a public history perspective the movement by many to un-name Murray Hall on the Oklahoma State University campus because its namesake was a racist and anti-Semite. The former dormitory, currently being renovated, is named for William H. ““Alfalfa Bill”” Murray, who also is one of the most politically influential figures in Oklahoma history. It argues that the proponents of renaming have yet to take fully into account the complex historical legacy of Murray and the multiple historical meanings various publics find embedded in Murray Hall. These are, of course, issues with which public historians deal routinely.