ARCH: University Archives Digital Collections

ARCH utilizes the open-source software platform Islandora and is hosted and supported by PALS. 

Previous University Archives digitization projects were hosted in CONTENTdm before the transition to ARCH.  These digitization projects focused on making resources in the University Student Publications Collection available online. 

The University Student Publications collection consists of materials produced by students at Minnesota State University, Mankato and its predecessor institutions, beginning in 1888. The collection is divided into four series: Creative Arts Magazines, News Publications, Correspondence, and Yearbooks. The MSU Student Publications Collection is available for research at the Minnesota State University, Mankato Archives. The guide to the collection is available online.

Two digitized University Student Publication collections are The Reporter and the Student/Mankatonian. 

The Reporter Project

The Reporter, and its predecessors, is a newspaper published by students at Minnesota State University, Mankato from 1926 to the present. It was published during the school year and a few summer sessions. The content of The Reporter provides a unique look at the history of the university and the Mankato area and is of interest to alumni, researchers, current students and staff, genealogists and all Minnesotans. Digitizing this content has made the material more widely accessible to all Minnesotans.  This project involved the digitization of 3009 issues of the Minnesota State University, Mankato newspaper from 1926 to 1975*. All of the full-text content is searchable and available online in ARCH. 

Project Funding

Partial funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants program. When Minnesota voters passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, the state legislature created the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a portion of which was appropriated to the Minnesota Historical Society for history-related projects around the state. One of those new initiatives is the Statewide Historical and Cultural Grants program, seeded by a pool of $6.75 million to be awarded in the 2010-11 biennium for "projects of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservation."

Project Contributors (2012-2013)

Project Managers

Daardi Sizemore, C.A., Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Anne Stenzel, Archives Technician

Technical Support

Peg Lawrence, Systems Librarian

Dawn Clyne, Information Technology Specialist

Malaka Khlok, Systems Graduate Assistant

Chris Akus, Systems Graduate Assistant

Other Contributors

Northern Micrographics

Derek Barlage, Student Assistant

Elizabeth Lohrenz, Student Assistant

Jamie Olson, Student Assistant

Eric Perrine, Student Assistant

*In 2018, digitization of the Reporter from 1975 to current was completed by University Archives staff.

The Student/Mankatonian was a monthly magazine published by the students at the Mankato State Normal School from 1888-1913. It was published during the school year and a few summer sessions and included: summaries of school activities (sports, clubs, classes, etc.), poetry and articles on a variety of subjects, social events (dances, happenings around town, life in the dorms, etc.) and other topics of interest to the students. It also includes advertisements from many area businesses. The content of the Student/Mankatonian provides a unique look at the history of the university and the Mankato area and is of interest to alumni, researchers, current students and staff, genealogists and all Minnesotans. Digitizing this content has made the material more widely accessible to all Minnesotans. This project involved the digitization of 199 issues of the Mankato State Normal School Magazine. All of the full-text content is searchable and available online in the ARCH. 

Project Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants program. When Minnesota voters passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, the state legislature created the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (H.F. 1231), a portion of which was appropriated to the Minnesota Historical Society for history-related projects around the state. One of those new initiatives is the Statewide Historical and Cultural Grants program, seeded by a pool of $6.75 million to be awarded in the 2010-11 biennium for "projects of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservation."

Project Contributors (2010-2011)

Project Managers
Daardi Sizemore, C.A., Archives and Special Collections Librarian
Anne Stenzel, Archives Technician

Technical Support
Peg Lawrence, Systems Librarian
Dawn Clyne, Information Technology Specialist
Malaka Khlok, Systems Graduate Assistant 

Other Contributors
Northern Micrographics
Minnesota Digital Library
Derek Barlage, Student Assistant
Zeara Alvarez, Student Assistant