Teaching, Images & Digital Experiences

Teaching, Images & Digital Experiences (commonly known as TIDES) is a collaborative digitization project, primarily focused on organizing and making available unique cultural and historical resources found in and around East Texas. Founded in September 2002 and funded by a series of local and national grants, the Ralph W. Steen Library at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) developed TIDES as East Texas’ first collaborative digital initiative. Since that time, the program has grown in both scope and size, gaining institutional support and the formation of a new library department - Digital Projects - which now maintains the development of the project.

History

The project began in 2002 with a Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund grant. This grant enabled the digitization of resources from the Ralph W. Steen Library's East Texas Research Center (ETRC), which were then organized as a free online database for educators teaching Texas history. Originally called Texas Tides, the first version of the project focused on the waves of people and cultures that arrived and subsequently shaped Texas history and culture. In 2005, Texas Tides was awarded a three year National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The funds from this grant allowed an expansion in scope and services, as well as the formation of the Library's Digital Project department, which now handles the maintenance and growth of the project. In response to these leaps, the project's name was changed from Texas Tides to simply TIDES (Teaching, Images & Digital Experiences), which better reflects the purpose and mission of the project.

Collections and Access

TIDES currently hosts over 22,000 primary source resources organized into 24 collections, with more items added on a regular basis. Resources include photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, letters and correspondence, and cultural artifacts. Through the IMLS grant, TIDES was able to form partnerships with other libraries and museums in both Texas and Mexico, which allowed Digital Projects to digitize and organize portions of these institutions' collections and make them freely available in an online database. The TIDES database is organized using CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management software.

TIDES for Teachers

In addition to the database, the TIDES project also includes a website devoted specifically to resources for K-12 educators. This website is called TIDES for Teachers and can be accessed from the TIDES homepage. TIDES for Teachers includes: free lesson plans, written by actual classroom teachers and incorporating links to and predefined searches for TIDES database resources; short videos of cultural and historical events that serve as virtual expeditions; college readiness materials; and links to the TIDES Web 2.0 community. While much of the website is still being developed, the content is available and ready to use.

As of 2008, the Digital Projects department is working with the city of Nacogdoches and the Forestry Department at SFASU on a Preserve America grant. This grant will focus on cemetery preservation and heritage tourism, and will result in the development of a TIDES Community Portal.