Easy Access Kristi Palmer loves touching original historic objects and documents. But she also believes that free, open, easy digital access to them reveals otherwise impossible research avenues to otherwise unreachable audiences. As metadata librarian for IUPUI's digital repository, IDeA, and manager of its Electronic Theses and Dissertations collection, she provides 1000 downloads per day worth of access.
Palmer also acts as liaison to the History Department, helping faculty find digital collections of primary documents for their research.
She makes history accessible for students by making it real to them. In “Imaging Our Foremothers,” Palmer showed students that digital images and art were research resources. In “Indiana in Maps: Now and Then,” she asked students to compare current Indianapolis maps with century-old Sanborne maps. She says students intent on figuring out what once existed where the Colts now play hardly notice they're picking up research skills.
David Lewis, dean of the IUPUI Library, says they're still figuring out digital scholarship, but Palmer has made things happen: “Quietly, without fanfare, problems get solved, projects get accomplished, and people notice.”
