2008 Woodie Awards
RSSProfessor archives Bethlehem's history
By Kimberly Osborn
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
A new project, Beyond Steel, is trying to bring historic Bethlehem to a new generation.
John K. Smith, a history professor, presented "Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture," Wednesday in Linderman Library's Humanities Forum room.
Beyond Steel is the newest collection in the library and technology services Digital Library. It is an archive of books, pages, letters, reports and photos. It will soon include excerpts from documentaries and audio cuts.
The site includes more than 11,000 images, including scanned images of texts from museums and libraries.
Anyone can access the texts and photographs online.
The archive is the eleventh project in Lehigh's Digital Library system.
Smith said it is interesting to see how the community of Bethlehem develops through photographs.
"Whoever was taking these pictures was not just taking pictures of industrial structures," Smith said.
The historical materials were scattered until Smith became interested, and he said he has collected these artifacts for years.
"When I moved here I couldn't help but be impressed with the landscape," Smith said. "The difference between the north and South Side makes you want to learn more."
Smith began to share his interest, teaching a seminar on historic Bethlehem, which eventually became a full class on incorporating technology into today's world.
Smith's work is just one example of how technology is helping scholars research and collect data.
Tina Hertle, a librarian at Linderman, said technology affects students and professors greatly today compared to its effect 20 years ago.
"The access to information is so much greater than when most professors went to school," Hertle said.
They had to use the print index, but now professors expect students to get everything online, she said.
"The Internet has made it easy to get access to much more," Smith said.
Smith said he thinks the first revolution of technology in this field was the photocopying machine in the 1960's. Fast and easy copies made printed text more accessible and allowed people to spread it farther, he said.
Many texts are available for online use, like the ones seen on the "Beyond Steel" Digital Library.
The inter-library loan system makes it possible to receive a text from universities around the world within a few days.
When using Internet sources, it is important that students do not just skim the service, but dive deeper, Smith said.
"I don't think technology is going to revolutionize education, you still have to think," he said.
Smith said he uses The New York Times as an encyclopedia to find when a word or phrase was first introduced into common language. Many times it has beaten the Oxford English Dictionary for finding the date of origin, he said.
Referencing past issues of newspapers was not always so easy, he said. Archives were stored on microfilm and students had to find the specific date of publication, and then find the word or phrase, then copy it by hand.
John K. Smith, a history professor, presented "Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture," Wednesday in Linderman Library's Humanities Forum room.
Beyond Steel is the newest collection in the library and technology services Digital Library. It is an archive of books, pages, letters, reports and photos. It will soon include excerpts from documentaries and audio cuts.
The site includes more than 11,000 images, including scanned images of texts from museums and libraries.
Anyone can access the texts and photographs online.
The archive is the eleventh project in Lehigh's Digital Library system.
Smith said it is interesting to see how the community of Bethlehem develops through photographs.
"Whoever was taking these pictures was not just taking pictures of industrial structures," Smith said.
The historical materials were scattered until Smith became interested, and he said he has collected these artifacts for years.
"When I moved here I couldn't help but be impressed with the landscape," Smith said. "The difference between the north and South Side makes you want to learn more."
Smith began to share his interest, teaching a seminar on historic Bethlehem, which eventually became a full class on incorporating technology into today's world.
Smith's work is just one example of how technology is helping scholars research and collect data.
Tina Hertle, a librarian at Linderman, said technology affects students and professors greatly today compared to its effect 20 years ago.
"The access to information is so much greater than when most professors went to school," Hertle said.
They had to use the print index, but now professors expect students to get everything online, she said.
"The Internet has made it easy to get access to much more," Smith said.
Smith said he thinks the first revolution of technology in this field was the photocopying machine in the 1960's. Fast and easy copies made printed text more accessible and allowed people to spread it farther, he said.
Many texts are available for online use, like the ones seen on the "Beyond Steel" Digital Library.
The inter-library loan system makes it possible to receive a text from universities around the world within a few days.
When using Internet sources, it is important that students do not just skim the service, but dive deeper, Smith said.
"I don't think technology is going to revolutionize education, you still have to think," he said.
Smith said he uses The New York Times as an encyclopedia to find when a word or phrase was first introduced into common language. Many times it has beaten the Oxford English Dictionary for finding the date of origin, he said.
Referencing past issues of newspapers was not always so easy, he said. Archives were stored on microfilm and students had to find the specific date of publication, and then find the word or phrase, then copy it by hand.
