Hidden Gems at Wiggins Library
In this guest contributor piece, librarians Holley Long and Sarah Steele share best features of the Campbell University Library for alumni to explore.
Campbell University’s Wiggins Memorial Library is not only a destination for research and reading material, but also the place to go for a rich archive of Campbell history and memorabilia.
Many of Campbell’s archival collections have been digitized and are now available online for anyone to search – including historic campus newspapers dating back to 1925, yearbooks, commencement sermons, theater arts handbills and videos of recent Faculty Lightning Talks.
This past spring, members of our Friends of the Library group were treated to afternoon tea and a look at some of Campbell’s hidden gems in the library’s welcoming Periodicals Room. The group learned about the digitization and publication process, which begins with a state-of-the-art overhead planetary scanner, used to turn old printed materials and photographs into digital historical records. After scanning the materials, library staff catalog each item using best-practice metadata standards in order to build the information about each resource that enables it to be organized, found and understood.
Finally, the scanned items and metadata records are uploaded into library software and published online. The library currently offers 16 digitized collections consisting of more than 18,000 items, and this number is only growing. These collections are easily searchable, placing Campbell’s rich history at one’s fingertips.
Interesting items from past eras can be great fun. For example, an excerpt from the 1893 catalog reads, “Being in a quiet country place, we save patrons much extravagance in dress, avoid many temptations to sin and vice incident to towns and cities, and having no ‘lounging’ or ‘sight-seeing’ places, there are few causes to divert the mind from study.”
The digital archives also provide a chance to “re-connect” with friends and relatives from the comfort of your armchair. Interested in exploring one of the following the digital collections yourself? Visit library.campbell.edu/digitalcollections to view:
- Creek Pebbles
- The Campbell Prospect
- The Campbell Times
- Honorary Awards
- Commencement Exercises
- Commencement Sermons
- Catalogs and Yearbooks
- Newsline: Friends Newsletter
- The Lyricist
- Campbell University Worship Services
- Campbell University Doctor of Ministry Dissertations
- Faculty Lightning Talks
- Academic Symposium
- Theater Arts Posters & Playbills
- Little River Baptist Association Minutes
- Leslie Hartwell Campbell Papers
To learn more about Friends of the Library, the resources they enjoy, and how to become a member, visit lib.campbell.edu/friends-of-library.