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Edmon Low Library
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Daily O'Collegian Archives

About the Collection

Hunting down back issues just got easier.

The O’Colly archive currently contains all issues from 1895 to 2008. Issues from 2012 to the present are currently being processed, and will be uploaded when complete.

Users can search the archive by keyword, date or year. Issues and individual articles can be printed, downloaded or shared through email or social media. Users are also encouraged to add tags, ratings and comments to issues and articles.

Ray Catalino, general manager of O’Colly, approached the OSU Library about partnering to digitize the archive in 2009.

“The intent was to create a repository for the history of OSU,” Catalino said. “Pages of the O’Colly represent more than 100 years of history written as it happened, which is a unique viewpoint.”

About the Digitization Process

The archive itself requires more than three terabytes of disk space. The staff of Digital Library Services, under the direction of Robin Leech, head of digital initiatives, is responsible for uploading and maintaining the collection. The O’Colly provided financial support for the project, which cost about $150,000.

The Archive has been made possible through generous donations from The O'Collegian and Friends of the OSU Library. Begun in the fall of 2011, the Archive currently contains the earliest O'Collegian issues, from 1895 to 2011, at present. New content is being added regularly, so check back often for more recent issues.

The Daily O'Collegian Archive, from 1895 to 2011 has been created from a silver microfilm master, originally produced by the Oklahoma Historical Society. A donation from the Friends of the OSU Library enabled the purchase of 144 microfilm reels that became the foundation of the Archive you view today. Due to the projected size of the Archive, and the hardware and software required for this project, the OSU Library decided to out-source the scanning, optical character reading (OCR), and article segmentation. After a rigorous vendor search, bidding process and trial phase, iArchives, of Lindon, Utah was selected as the vendor to digitize the OSU Campus newspapers. Generous financial support from The Daily O'Collegian has made this Archive possible.

The Daily O'Collegian Archive requires over 3 Tb of disk space to store the files running the collection. Each page of the Daily O'Collegian was scanned as a .tif file and is stored in a dark archive; each newspaper page presented to the viewer requires four files running in the background: jpg2000, txt, pdf, and xml. These files work together to show the reader an exact copy of the printed newspaper, with article highlighting and segmentation.

Access the Physical Collection

The Library holds physical copies of most issues prior to 2000. However, due to the extremely fragile nature of the medium archivist prefer researchers consult the microfilm version. To arranging viewing, contact the Archives at 405-744-6311 or libscua@okstate.edu.

The Archives at the OSU Library
204 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-6311
libscua@okstate.edu

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