Research Guides: Suggesting a Digital Collection at Hunter Library: Welcome

Resources for Suggesting a Digital Collection at Hunter Library

Before Submitting a Proposal

Read the Digital Collections Collection Development Policy to learn more about what types of materials are appropriate for inclusion at Hunter Library.

Please consider the following when considering a proposal:

How will the materials to support the mission of Western Carolina University?
Who may be interested in using the collection for teaching, research, or learning?
Do you own copyright for the materials? Are they in the public domain? Have you secured rights from the creators/participants?
What sort of descriptive information exists for the materials, such as catalog records, finding aids, captions, or labels?
Are the materials unique or rare? Are there preservation concerns?

Submitting a Proposal

To start the proposal process, please schedule a consultation with Elizabeth Harper, Special and Digital Collections Librarian at harpere@wcu.edu.

After Submitting a Proposal

All proposals will be reviewed quarterly by the Digital Initiatives Steering Committee. The steering committee will use the collection development policy, in addition to the availability of resources in the Digital Initiatives unit, to guide their decision. You will be notified of the steering committee’s decision within one week of the meeting.

Hunter Library's Digital Collections

Canton Champion Fibre Company
When it opened in 1908, the Champion Fibre Company was the largest pulp mill in the world. Champion played a crucial role in the environmental future of Haywood County and was central to economic and social life. This collection features photographs, the publication “The Log”, and oral histories with mill workers.
Cherokee Phoenix
From 1828 to 1834, the Cherokee Nation published a bilingual newspaper. Approximately 260 issues were published under the titles Cherokee Phoenix and Cherokee Phoenix and Indians' Advocate.
Cherokee Traditions
Cherokee Traditions: From the Hands of Our Elders is a database of Cherokee art forms, historic photographs, and native language recordings. Images are primarily from the collections of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
Civil War Collection
Civil War soldiers from western North Carolina kept in touch with family members by exchanging frequent letters to and from the war front. Organized by family name, the collection ranges from 1862 to 1863 and reflects personal situations and circumstances.
Craft Revival
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mountain craftsmen formed the cornerstone of a revived interest in things handmade to create a movement known as the Craft Revival. Although craftsmen left few written records, their stories survive in samples of their work, accounts of their sales, and newspaper clippings celebrating their talents
Great Smoky Mountains
Established in 1934, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America’s most visited national park. The collection focuses on early efforts to establish a park in eastern US, including the records of the Appalachian National Park Association, Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, Civilian Conservation Corps, and journals created by Horace Kephart
Highlights from WCU
Highlights from WCU showcases some of the most unique and interesting items held by Hunter Library’s Special Collections department, the Mountain Heritage Center, and others on campus.
Horace Kephart
In 1904, librarian Horace Kephart left city life to settle in western North Carolina’s “big primitive forest” where he began a second career as a writer, publishing Camping & Woodcraft and Our Southern Highlanders. Kephart is credited with drawing attention to the Great Smoky Mountains and was instrumental in establishing the national park.
Journeys Through Jackson
Journeys Through Jackson is the official journal of the Jackson County Genealogical Society. The journal began as a monthly publication in July 1991, was published bimonthly from 1994 to 2003, and continues today as a quarterly publication. The journal issues in this digital collection are presented as annual compilations and are full-text searchable.
Oral Histories of Western North Carolina
These interviews document the communities and culture of Western North Carolina covering topics such as the building of the Fontana Dam, Josephina Niggli’s legacy at WCU, and the lives of local storytellers.
Picturing Appalachia
This digital collection brings together several notable photographic collections that depict the landscape and people of western North Carolina in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Images are from the Hunter Library Special Collections and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Stories of Mountain Folk
This all-sound collection of interviews was produced by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, a North Carolina not-for-profit. Created from a series of interviews, over 200 radio programs capture “local memory” detailing traditions, events, and life stories of mountain people.
Travel Western North Carolina
Three travelogues allow viewers to visit towns and communities throughout western North Carolina. Different journeys include a route along footpaths and wagon trails as it was in the 1890s, a train ride in the 1910s, and a drive along mountain roads in the 1930s.
WCU Fine Arts Museum
This collection features highlights from the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum. The mission of the Fine Art Museum is to serve as a cultural catalyst to celebrate and preserve the artistic legacy of the western North Carolina region with a developing focus to collect interpret and showcase innovation in contemporary art of high artistic merit.
WCU Herbarium
The Western Carolina University Herbarium is the largest botanical resource in western North Carolina, with over 27,000 pressed and dried vascular plant specimens. This specimen imaging project currently represents trees and shrubs in the chestnut genus, Castanea.
WCU Restricted Electronic Theses and Dissertations
These digitized theses and dissertations were written between 1950 and 2008 and are accessible only to users on-campus. Theses and dissertations published after 2009 are in our institutional repository, NC DOCKS.
Western Carolina University: Making Memories
Hunter Library’s Making Memories collection offers a look back at the people, buildings, and events that inform Catamount history. In addition to our own collections, Hunter Library partnered with DigitalNC to make a selection of Catamount yearbooks available online.
Western Carolina University Publications
This collection features the entire run of the WCU student newspapers, The Cullowhee Yodel and Th Western Carolinian, as well as university news releases in The Reporter.
Western North Carolina Regional Maps
Showcasing maps from the western region of North Carolina. Maps in this collection span from the 1800s to the 1970s.
World War II in Southern Appalachia
World War II affected the residents of WNC both home and abroad. This collection highlights some of these experiences.

Creative Commons License

This guide is created by Hunter Library and licensed by Western Carolina University Library under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License

Suggesting a Digital Collection at Hunter Library: Welcome

Resources for Suggesting a Digital Collection at Hunter Library

Hunter Library's Digital Collections

Creative Commons License

HUNTER LIBRARY

QUICK LINKS

HOURS