Indiana State University Newsroom

Wabash Valley Visions and Voices (WV3), a local digital memory project, is moving into the 21st century by bringing along the past.

WV3 recently launched a blog and Facebook page to easily provide more interaction and information to the public.

"We feel that we need to reach out to people in a variety of manners, and [the project's material] should be available," said Cinda May, Wabash Valley Visions and Voices project coordinator and chair of University Digital and Archival Services at ISU's Cunningham Memorial Library.

Through the Facebook page and the blog, May is hoping to increase traffic to the WV3 site, which includes databases for several topics, including coal mining in Clinton, the Newport Chemical Depot and Indiana State University's Folklore Archives.

Connie McCammon of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, is the author of the blog, which highlights various events and artifacts from the past in a new way. Recent blog post topics include Thanksgiving Day traditions, African American heritage in Terre Haute and mining in Clinton.

"The more we can document the past, the greater our legacy for the future," May said.

Genealogists, teachers, students and others in the Wabash Valley and beyond have used material from the WV3 project since its formation in 2004. The interactive features available through the Facebook page and blog will only enhance their usage of the site.

The blog is targeted at people who might be interested in participating in the digital memory project by submitting photographs, letters or any historical object for documentation.

May has noticed one problem so far with that blog, and that is that few people have commented on the blog posts.

"We want people to participate in the blog and to share their stories and their knowledge," May said.

WV3 is dedicated to the documentation and preservation of the history and cultural heritage of West Central Indiana. The digital collections contain artifacts, administrative and personal papers, manuscripts, photographs, yearbooks, maps, texts, oral histories and other audio and video files.

Subscribe to the WV3 blog at http://wabashv3.blogspot.com/ or become fans of Wabash Valley Visions and Voices on Facebook.

Contact: Cinda May, Wabash Valley Visions and Voices project coordinator, 812-237-2534 or cinda.may@indstate.edu

Writer: Lana Schrock, media relations assistant, Indiana State University, 812-237-3773 or lschrock1@indstate.edu