About the Ohio Battle Flags Cataloging and Digitization Project

Contacts

For questions concerning the battle flags or to place a reference request:

Visit http://www.ohiohistory.org/textonly/resource/archlib/refemail.html or contact the Research Services Department at reference@ohiohistory.org

To order a print or digital file found on this site:

Visit OhioPix at www.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix and place your order online or contact Teresa Carstensen, Photoduplication Coordinator at images@ohiohistory.org. More information about pricing and fees is available at: http://www.ohiohistory.org/textonly/resource/audiovis/photodup.html

For questions regarding this digital project, contact:

Angela O'Neal, Digital Projects Manager
Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Ave.
Columbus, OH 43211
(614) 297-2576
images@ohiohistory.org

Background

• audiovisuals
• archives
• manuscripts
• archaeology
• history
• natural history

A second objective of the ALMA project is to highlight connections between collections of different types. The Ohio Battle Flag Cataloging and Digitization Project is the ALMA team's first effort to accomplish these two goals.

Members of the ALMA Team

Team co-leader Cynthia Ghering received a bachelor's degree in English from Western Michigan University and a master's degree in information science, with a specialization in archives and records management, from the University of Michigan School of Information. Cynthia is also head of the Manuscripts and Audiovisuals Department of the Archives/Library.

Team co-leader Elizabeth Nelson received a bachelor's degree in history from Princeton University and a master's degree in information science, with a specialization in archives and records management, from the University of Michigan School of Information. Elizabeth is also the head of the Special Projects department of the Archives/Library.

Team member Melissa Wiford received her bachelor's degrees in history, women's studies, and sociology from The Ohio State University.

Team member Lisa Wood received her bachelor's degree in history and public administration with a concentration in women's studies from Ohio University.

Other society staff who have contributed significantly to the project include Cliff Eckle and Melinda Knapp of the Collections and Curatorial Group and Jeff Bartlett, Emily Hicks and James Sintz of the Automation Services Department. Many other staff members have also assisted in various apects of the project including Gary Arnold, Laurie Gemmill, John Haas, Duryea Kemp, Leslie Mack and Chris Matheney. Barbar Floyd of the University of Toledo, Jean Mulhern of Wiberforce, Sue Parker at the African American Museum, the Grandview Public Library and the Alabama Department of Archives and History also contributed to this project.

The Ohio Battle Flag Cataloging and Digitization Project

The battle flags are part of the society's history collections. A collection of photographs of the flags is held in the Archives/Library. It is one of the most heavily used of all audiovisual collections.
To increase access to the flags, the ALMA team accomplished three major activities:

• cataloging the flags
• digitizing the photographs and slides of paintings
• creating an online exhibit

Cataloging

Cataloging began in October 1999 and was completed in November 1999. The process involved physically inspecting each flag, determining its origin, describing and measuring it and attaching a tag on which a unique catalog number was written. The ALMA team recorded information on paper worksheets, then transferred it to the society's online collections catalog.

Digitization

Beginning in January 2000, the team digitized society's collection of photographs and slides of paintings of the flags using a flatbed scanner. Information about each flag was entered into a Microsoft Access database. The ALMA team also created links between catalog records and images of the flags in the online collections catalog. These links allow users to view the images that are associated with each catalog record.

Due the variety of materials involved in the project, various scanners were used. The scanner used was dependent upon the material to be scanned.

Photographs were scanned using a Hewlett Packard ScanJet 6100C flatbed scanner with Adobe Photoshop 4.0 All items were scanned at 400 dpi. Tiffs were created for all images. Equilibrium's DeBabelizer Pro 4.5 was then used to generate derivative gifs, small gifs and/or jpegs for each image. An Access database holds descriptive information about the items in the digital collection along with the path to the digital image of the item. The web interface and search parameters for the database were constructed using ColdFusion.

Web Interface

The online exhibit of the flags, called Fight for the Colors, includes three components:

• Online Relic Room, an virtual display area that allows users to view all images of the flags
• Behind the Lines: True Stories of the Ohio Battle Flags
• Background information about the flags and the project

Work began on the Fight for the Colors Web site in February 2000. The exhibit was created using Microsoft Access and ColdFusion.

Additional Work

Although there are approximately 500 flags in the battle flag collection, the ALMA team cataloged only those stored hanging or flat, which was fewer than half the total number. The remaining flags are stored furled, or wrapped around a pole. In future phases of the Ohio Battle Flag project, the ALMA team will catalog the remaining three hundred flags and add them into the society's online collections catalog. Also, work will continue to expand the web site, adding additional information about flags, units and stories of the flags.

Copyright and Permissions

The Ohio Historical Society is offering public access to the materials in "Fight for the Colors" for educational and research purposes only.

Most of the materials within this electronic collection date from before 1915 and are presumed to be in the public domain. The rights of other materials have been dedicated to the public. However some materials may be protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.)

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS:

The copyright law of the U.S. (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to make a photocopy or reproduction. One of the specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with the patron