FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Murray, Assistant Director of Library
Systems – Multimedia Databases, 614-728-3600 ext.
338, peter@ohiolink.edu.
Cara Gilgenbach, Curator and University Archivist Special
Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries and
Media Services, 330-672-1677, cgilgenb@kent.edu.
Columbus, Ohio (May 25, 2005) – Many articles, books and even documentaries have been written about the shootings that occurred at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Now researchers from around the world can learn about the event firsthand by listening to eyewitnesses. oral histories online through the OhioLINK Digital Media Center at http://worlddmc.ohiolink.edu/History/Login.
The Kent State Shootings Oral Histories collection contains audio files of 69 oral histories including many eyewitness accounts of the event and its aftermath, contributed by people who were students, faculty members, and City of Kent residents at the time, as well as an account by an Ohio National Guardsman. The oral histories are now freely available online as part of the OhioLINK Digital Media Center’s Historic & Archival Digital Media database.
The oral histories can be streamed and listened to online or downloaded for further study. Users can browse the entire collection of oral histories by searching for “Kent State University” or by clicking on the contributor link, then clicking on the link to “Dept. of Special Collections and Archives, Libraries and Media Services, Kent State University.” Apple’s free QuickTime player is required to listen to the files. Researchers can browse the collection of oral histories, or search by creator, date, and other specifics. A written transcript is available for most of the oral histories.
The May 4 Oral History Project was started in 1990 to preserve personal histories of and individual reactions to the shootings on the Kent State University campus in 1970. The collection is maintained and was contributed to the OhioLINK Digital Media Center by the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Libraries and Media Services at Kent State University.
This is the sixth collection to be added to the Historic & Archival Digital Media database. The DMC contains several other freely accessible multimedia collections from Ohio colleges, universities, museums and other organizations including art and architecture images, digital animal sounds, foreign language videos, Ohio satellite images, science media and social science media.
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The Department of Special Collections and Archives acquires, preserves, and provides access to primary sources and rare materials that support the teaching and research programs of Kent State University. The department also houses the May 4 Collection that documents the Kent State shootings and their aftermath. Visit www.library.kent.edu/specialcollections for more information.
The Ohio Library and Information Network is a consortium of academic libraries that serves more than 600,000 students, faculty, and staff at 85 institutions. OhioLINK’s membership includes 17 public universities, 23 community/technical colleges, 44 private colleges and the State Library of Ohio. OhioLINK provides easy access to information and rapid delivery of library materials throughout the state. For more information, visit www.ohiolink.edu/about.
The OhioLINK Digital Media Center contains hundreds of thousands of multimedia assets including images, audio recordings, digital videos, maps and satellite images. Many DMC collections are freely available to anyone worldwide via the Internet. The DMC serves as a repository for media collections from participating OhioLINK colleges, universities, and other Ohio institutions such as museums and historical societies. Visit http://dmc.ohiolink.edu for details.