University Libraries and Parks College: A Digital Partnership

The University Libraries and Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology are pleased to announce a new digital partnership. The purpose of this partnership is to digitize select materials from the Parks College archives collection for the College’s 80th Anniversary to be celebrated at Saint Louis University throughout the 2007-08 academic year. Parks has partnered with the University Libraries to acquire the appropriate equipment to digitize items, store them for future use as well as make them viewable to current students, faculty, and alumni.

Parks is planning to build a Tribute Timeline in the honor of the legendary contributions of Parks and Institute of Technology (IT) alumni, faculty, and staff. Photographs, text, and 3-D models will create an information-rich environment that immerses the audience in the history of Parks and IT, and it will provide a sense of the breadth and the depth of their collective contributions to the advancement of a range of industries and to the society. “The digitized videos, available through multiple kiosks, will bring the Tribute Timeline to life” says Dr. Manoj S. Patankar, interim dean of Parks. “Our alumni are really excited about this project, and we are deeply grateful to John Waide, Dr. Randy McGuire, and Dr. Staines for their support.”

“One of our goals is to increase access to unique and rare materials,” says Dr. Gail M. Staines, university librarian. “With the support of Parks College, the University Libraries will be able to digitize films and other media related to the history of the College and use this equipment to digitize other collections of significance.”

The goal of this phase of the project is to digitize approximately 220 pieces of Parks College-related media. This collection includes rare footage of aircraft operations at the old campus and airport in Cahokia, IL.

The University Libraries at Saint Louis University create dynamic learning environments for the intellectual community of the University to discover and develop new ideas by providing both virtual and physical spaces where information and the resources for scholarship are readily available. SLU libraries include the Pius XII Memorial Library, the Vatican Film Library, the Medical Center Library, and the Omer Poos Law Library.

Park College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology was founded in 1927 by Oliver “Lafe” Parks as America’s first federally certified school of aviation. Today, Parks has an international reputation for their aviation and aerospace engineering programs, and is emerging as a leader in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, engineering technology, and mechanical engineering.

For more information, contact Susan Bloomfield at 314-977-8431 or blooms@slu.edu
Or Gail Staines at 314-977-3100 or gstaines@slu.edu