As we had announced, yesterday we held the launch party for EagleSpace and the Waddie Welcome Archive. A roomful of people, many of them students, were here to learn more about Mr. Welcome and the collection of murals and other hand-painted signs representing Savannah community artwork. The exhibit on the first floor of Henderson Library includes some actual signs, as well as photographs of others and accompanying explanations.
So what is EagleSpace, you ask? Some of you are already familiar with the idea of institutional repositories, which are free online archives (see some frequently asked questions about IR’s here). EagleSpace, which uses the DSpace software, is Georgia Southern’s new repository. Now, in our soft launch, you can access EagleSpace at http://eaglespace.georgiasouthern.edu (the main URL will stay the same, although the links to the individual collections & items might change soon with a new server). Try searching for “waddie welcome” and then browsing the collection by title to see the images. (There are more images being added, so keep an eye on it!) EagleSpace is Georgia Southern’s component of a statewide project, the GALILEO Knowledge Repository, or GKR, which is in its early stages. (Sneak a peek here!) The repository can be used to archive, and make freely accessible, our electronic theses and dissertations, faculty publications, multimedia files, etc., in order to provide seamless access to the digital intellectual product of the University System of Georgia.
Stay tuned for future developments, including discussion forums here on the Georgia Southern campus.
