(May 11, 2015)

Centenary Archives partners with Tulane University to digitize Centenary course catalogs (1845-1896)

SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections recently completed a collaborative project with Tulane University to digitize eight Centenary College course catalogs published between 1845 and 1896. These publications are housed at Tulane's Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC). Using their planetary scanner, the volumes were scanned and added to the online collections managed by the Centenary Archives.

"These course catalogs are a significant addition to our online collections," said Chris Brown '01, Centenary Archivist. "They contain useful information about the early activities of Centenary, and they pre-date the earliest course catalog in Centenary's Archives. Our oldest volume was published in 1853. Researchers can use these publications to learn about Centenary's curriculum, students, and faculty. They also document how the college marketed itself to prospective students and their families. Plus, thanks to the details identifying where students roomed on and off campus, we can study the residential nature of the college 168 years ago."

Leon C. Miller, head of the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University, notes that these kinds of collaborative projects are an excellent way to digitally unite documents that might have become dispersed over time. "Research archives exist to make their holdings available, and when Chris Brown came to us with this idea, we were delighted to help make the important history of Centenary College more available to researchers around the world."

To access this digital collection, visit centenary.edu/library/archives/college/digitalcollections.

For more information about the project and the works that have been digitized, contact Chris Brown at 318.869.5462 or email and Leon C. Miller at 504.314.7833 or email.