Project Overview - Studley Campus & Carleton Campus

Peter Waite's two-volume history of Dalhousie, The Lives of Dalhousie University (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994, 1998), provided a wealth of background and anecdotal information on the development of Dalhousie's Studley and Carleton campuses. After a thorough scan of Waite's work, the Dalhousie University Archives' reference resources, both print and electronic, were consulted. These include: the Reference files (MS-1-Ref); President's Office records (UA-3); President's Reports; The Dalhousie Gazette, Dalhousie's student newspaper, from 1869 to the present; Pharos yearbooks; and the University News, Dalhousie's faculty and staff newspaper, from 1971 to the present. Rough notes on each building were added to, and bibliographies for the buildings based on the information which was found were created in the Architect’s Office database. The card index of Board of Governors' Minutes 1800-1967 was also mined. The narrative histories written for each building were based on the pertinent information found using the aforementioned sources. The histories were entered into the Architect's Office database and reproduced on The Buildings of Dalhousie University digital collection’s Building History pages.

The Archives' photographic database was searched for relevant photographic images. Once the images were found and examined, with appropriate metadata regarding them added to the buildings' bibliographies in the Architect's Office database, some of them were scanned and added to the digital collection's pages. A box of photographs, illustrations, graphics and documents from Dalhousie University's erstwhile Public Relations department (now named Communications and Marketing) concerning several buildings on Dalhousie's Studley Campus and Carleton Campus was also examined, and its contents were added to the buildings' bibliographies. In many cases, the images in question referred to articles originally printed in the Dalhousie Gazette, the University News and other publications. Whenever possible, the original articles were tracked down and added to the buildings' bibliographies.

The buildings' bibliographies are reproduced on the digital collection’s References pages.

Sexton Campus

Peter Waite's The Lives of Dalhousie was examined and discounted as an information source regarding the Sexton Campus, because the campus was the domain of the former Nova Scotia Technical College (NSTC, from 1909 to 1980)/Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS, from 1980 to 1997) prior to its 1997 amalgamation with Dalhousie University.

The databases which serve as finding aids for the contents of the Dalhousie University Archives' Reference Files (MS-1-Ref), Nova Scotia Technical College/Technical University of Nova Scotia/DalTech/Sexton Files (UA-10) and President's Office (UA-3) collections were searched for using such keywords as 'building', 'Technical', 'NSTC', 'TUNS', 'histor' and 'Sexton'. A list of the archived files which could potentially contain information regarding construction and renovation activities on the Sexton Campus was assembled from the search results; those files were then checked for useful data.

The reference services of the Spring Garden branch of the Halifax Public Libraries system were also utilized. Its vertical file on the former NSTC/TUNS holds informative newspaper clippings and news releases, and searches of the branch's in-house local history database also uncovered some pertinent periodical articles.

Further resources held by the Dalhousie University Archives and Library were then perused, including all of the available yearbooks from NSTC, TUNS, DalTech and the Dalhousie Engineering Department (whose titles vary over time) and annual reports from NSTC and TUNS. These resources provided most of the information which appears in the building histories as of August 2005.

At Dalhousie University's Architect’s Office in the Department of Facilities Management, contact was established with campus architect Mr. Greg Vidito, who facilitated access to scanned architectural drawings of buildings on each campus. Mr. Vidito also worked for the former TUNS in a similar capacity, and thus served as an informal resource regarding past design work for the Sexton Campus.

The print resources in the stored records room of the Sexton Design & Technology Library on Dalhousie University's Sexton Campus were thoroughly mined for information on the Sexton Campus' buildings. These resources include yearbooks from NSTC, TUNS, DalTech and the Dalhousie Engineering Department, annual reports from NSTC and TUNS (specifically, those which are not among the Dalhousie University Archives' holdings), academic calendars, alumni and student publications (e.g. the alumni Tech Bulletin and the Sextant student newspaper), newsletters and historical documents.

The Dalhousie Archives' Audio-Visual database was then searched for photographs of the Sexton Campus buildings, using such keywords as 'building', 'Technical', 'NSTC', 'TUNS', 'histor' and 'Sexton'. A list of the archived photographic images which could potentially feature the buildings on the Sexton Campus was assembled from the search results; those files were then checked for any appropriate images. The best images, in terms of quality and specific content, were scanned and added to The Buildings of Dalhousie University digital collection's pages.

The information sources were used as the bases for the narrative histories written for each building, which appear on the digital collection’s Building History pages. Rough notes on the information sources and pertinent images for each building were made. Metadata on all of the sources and images which were found was entered into the Architect's Office database and reproduced on the digital collection's References pages.

Technical Data

The images were scanned using Hewlett-Packard scanning hardware and software with a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi), medium sharpness and a True Color (16.7 million colors) output type in order to create high-quality images. The image files were scanned and saved as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) documents and stored on the Dalhousie Archives server. The TIFF files are extremely large (approximately 6-8 MB each in this case), and they provide the most accurate representation of the original image because they are not digitally compressed. Consequently, for this project:

• the original TIFF images were cropped using Microsoft Paint and Microsoft Office Picture Manager;
• the TIFF image files were then converted to JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) files using Jasc Paint Shop Pro, resulting in image files which are far more compressed - and both easier and faster for webpages to load - than their TIFF equivalents;
• the resolution of the resulting JPEG images was changed to 72 dpi using Adobe Photoshop, which produced images of appropriate quality for the digital Bacon Collection's purposes as well as image files which could be added to the pages of the collection's website;
• thumbnail images of the 72 dpi JPEG images were then made for display on the digital collection site's Building History and References pages, using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office Picture Manager. The larger JPEGs were reduced in size to be no wider than 200 pixels, while retaining their correct dimensional proportions. The thumbnail images which appear on the digital collection’s pages are all hyperlinked to their larger JPEG versions.

Hardware

One Dell PC desktop computer, one Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 4470c scanner and one Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 7400C scanner (all based in the Dalhousie University Archives).

Software Used

Windows 2000/
XP Professional Edition
HP Precision Scan Pro 3.1
Microsoft Paint (v. 5.1)
Microsoft Office Picture Manager
Jasc Paint Shop Pro (v. 7.05)
Adobe Photoshop CS (v. 8.0)
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004
Internet Explorer (v. 6.0)

Credits

Site design and development: Kathryn Harvey & Jody Osicki
Content: Carolyn Harris & Jody Osicki

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