Sonoma State University's North Bay Historic Preservation Digital Collection: Starting a Digital Project

Abstract

A number of years ago, a staff member in the Sonoma State University (SSU) Library’s regional and special collections department discovered a box of mounted photographs and accompanying display material of Sonoma County sites. A bit of detective work led to further identification of these photos as part of a larger compilation of materials associated with History 362, a course offered at SSU in the mid-1970s. More recently, additional materials were connected to this original discovery, including photo negatives, proof sheets, and some slides; a dozen audiotaped interviews of Sonoma County residents; student papers on the architectural styles of buildings in the county; resource inventories of historic county sites; and files from the offices of two history professors who were involved in the work to create these documents. And History 362 wasn’t the only course with which various documents were associated. The organization of materials continues to this day, but the regional and special collections department staff has managed to piece together most of the history of this unique collection.