The Digital Scholarship Lab at Milner Library will be offering workshops this summer on engaging students with online primary sources and on creating digital exhibits and digital publications with Scalar and Omeka. These are separate workshops offered through the Center for Integrated Professional Development, but they would pair beautifully for thinking about building projects and assignments for the upcoming academic year.

Illinois State University faculty and graduate students can get a stipend and professional development credit by registering for one or both of the workshop sessions through the Center for Integrated Professional Development Summer Institute:

A collage of primary source documents arranged around the text "Engaging Students w/ Online Primary Sources"

Engaging Students with Online Primary Sources
Date: Wednesday, June 26, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (register by Tuesday, June 25)
Location: Milner Library 165 (DS Lab, Floor 1)
Facilitator: Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Special Collections Librarian

Libraries, museums, and archives provide online access to unique and rare materials on just about any research topic imaginable, but knowing where to find them can be a challenge. Learn about the various strategies for locating relevant primary source materials across institutions. You will then explore ideas for incorporating these resources, such as diaries, letters, oral history interviews, newspapers, business records, and more into lectures, classroom activities, and assignments. We will cover in depth a few easy to use tools, methods, and project ideas that use primary source materials as the starting point, with time during the workshop for hands-on exploration of each resource. Bring your own laptop or use a computer in the Digital Scholarship Lab. Participants will receive a voucher for lunch at the Bone Student Center. Registration is required. 

A $100 stipend is available to eligible participants who complete the program. 


A collage of photos featured in examples of digital exhibits arranged around the text "Digital Exhibits & Digital Publishing"

Creating Digital Exhibits and Digital Publications Using Omeka and Scalar

Date: Tuesday, July 16, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.(register by Monday, July 15)

Location: Milner Library 165 (DS Lab, Floor 1)
Facilitator: Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Special Collections Librarian

Omeka and Scalar are both popular, open source, flexible, and easy-to-use platforms that have many potential applications for teaching and scholarship. In this workshop we will explore the platforms and talk about similarities and differences, best uses for each, and the types of projects that they support. 

Omeka contains a variety of tools for populating curated collections of text, images, audio, and video; creating digital exhibits; annotating text and images; and much more. Similarly, Scalar supports adding detailed metadata and annotations to images, audio, and video; working with timelines, maps, and visualizations; and the creation of digital publications that can include both creative and linear navigation pathways. 

With the ability to assign and manage different user roles, both tools work well in the classroom for standalone digital humanities assignments, semester-long collaborations, or ongoing projects. Both platforms are equally flexible for researchers across disciplines to support their own digital scholarship and digital humanities projects. Registration is required. 

Participants will receive a voucher for lunch through Campus Dining. A $100 stipend is available to eligible participants who complete the program.


For questions, email rlfitzs@IllinoisState.edu. To receive professional development credit, faculty and staff should register through the Center for Integrated Professional Development summer workshops page.