Glen Cove Christian Academy & Bible College Historical Archive
  • Home
    • Academy Pages >
      • GCCA Class of 1959
      • GCCA Class of 1960
      • GCCA Class of 1961
      • GCCA Class of 1962
      • GCCA Class of 1963 >
        • GCCA Class of 1969
      • GCCA Class of 1964
      • GCCA Class of 1965
      • GCCA Class of 1966
      • GCCA Class of 1967
      • GCCA Class of 1968
      • GCCA Class of 1970
      • GCCA Class of 1971
      • GCCA Class of 1972
      • GCCA Class of 1973
      • GCCA Class of 1974
      • GCCA Class of 1975
      • GCCA Class of 1976
      • GCCA Class of 1977
      • GCCA Class of 1978
      • GCCA Class of 1979 >
        • Sports
  • College Pages
    • GCBC Class of 1960
    • GCBC Class of 1961
    • GCBC Class of 1962
    • GCBC Class of 1963
    • GCBC Class of 1964
    • GCBC Class of 1965
    • GCBC Class of 1966
    • GCBC Class of 1967
    • GCBC Class of 1968
    • GCBC Class of 1969
    • GCBC Class of 1970
    • GCBC Class of 1971
    • GCBC Class of 1972
    • GCBC Class of 1973
    • GCBC Class of 1974
    • GCBC Class of 1975
    • GCBC Class of 1976
    • GCBC Class of 1977
    • GCBC Class of 1978
    • GCBC Class of 1979
  • Christian Schools, Inc.
    • Brochures
    • Christian Forward
    • Faculty >
      • Academy Faculty
      • Bible College Faculty
    • Academic Documents
    • Ephemera
    • Newspaper Articles
  • Torch
  • Witness
  • About
    • Bibliography
    • Project Blog
  • First Baptist Church Rockland

Launch Date - October 2016

9/17/2016

3 Comments

 

My intention was to announce this website at the school reunion this summer.  Once again, I was not quite ready.  My intent is announce via the facebook and email list sometime between now, September 17, 2016, and sometime in October 2016.

The website is still a work in progress.  There is much to be added, but all of the yearbooks for both schools are now available.  All but two are being hosted by the Maine Digital Repository with links to those files on this site.  The director of the Maine Digital Repository informed me this summer that they can provide a new page flip software, but I have yet to set a time to train on that program.  Perhaps that can be completed this winter. 

I have created pages for each class year and I need artifacts to digitize for those pages.  If you have the following for your class year (graduation and baccalaureate programs, programs for NHS, plays, special events, or news clippings) , please contact me. 

On another note, I mentioned the Wikipedia article in my last post.  After some editing, it was finally accepted but needs some work.  It is essentially about the Academy with a paragraph about the Bible College.  My intent is to at some point expand that paragraph about the college into a separate Wikipedia article.
3 Comments

Ready to Launch

6/29/2016

0 Comments

 
There have been some minor developments since my last post.  All but two yearbooks have been scanned and are now available on the Maine State  Repository which is partnered with the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).  The Maine State Library has provided use of their book scanner as well as providing space on their server for our digital yearbook files.  File space is free and backed up daily. Since the files were uploaded, the library has added a new page flip software that will improve readability and download speed.  The current files need to be converted and it is my hope that that can happen this fall.  In the meantime, digital yearbooks are accessible through this web site or directly through the Maine State Repository. 

Once again, I have hesitated to publicize this website because it is "not finished".  I have, however, decided that it is going to be a work in progress for some time and I will announce it at the reunion this summer.

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on a Wikipedia article about the school's history.  Much to my surprise, publishing an article in Wikipedia is more difficult than expected.  The article is complete including photos and formatting but has not been accepted yet because it is in need of additional primary source references. 

If you are an alumnus reading this post, I am in need of newspaper clippings particularly from either the Portland Press Herald or Bangor Daily News in order to comply with this requirement.  As you view the site, you will see that there is space for news clippings about and related to the schools, graduation and other event programs, etc.  Please contact me if you have any of these materials that I can borrow long enough to scan.


0 Comments

2015 Update

12/12/2015

2 Comments

 
2015 was spent finishing yearbook scanning and work on the historical narrative of the school's history.  We have a Wikipedia entry almost ready to upload. We have also continued research on the history of Warrenton and the schools.  

Two issues that have slowed our progress are a failed API and the search for a missing yearbook. An API is an application program interface or a set of programming instructions that allow a web page to interact with a web based application or software tool.  In this case, it was a script that allowed us to automatically populate our yearbook page with icon links to the yearbook digital copies that are stored on the Maine Repository server.  The original problem was in the display of the icons that made the hyperlinks inoperable, and the API is now completely inoperable.  I am waiting for a reply regarding the status of the API. Can it be fixed or will it be discontinued.  While I am waiting, I am making preparation to redesign the yearbook page by adding the icons and hyperlinks individually.  Since we have a limited number of files and will not be continuing to add, this will be effective but is slowing us down.

The second issue has been time consuming but an intriguing mystery.  We have currently scanned all of the yearbooks for both schools except the 1966 Witness.  I have sent out several appeals for a copy of the 66 Witness on both the high school and college facebook pages, via the email list, personal emails to students who were present in 1966, phone calls to a few individuals, and personal conversations.  All to no avail.  I was particularly surprised after contacting Mrs. Duff, Mrs. Troester's family, Ben Conant, and John DeCoster (who operated the school print shop during that time) to find that none of them had a copy.  Given my OCD tendencies, I finally decided to send a letter via USPS to alumni of the classes of 1966-68 which included a self addressed stamped reply post card.  After two months, I have received only about one third of these post cards.  While I have not made contact with all members within this group, those who have responded do not have copies of this yearbook.  Based on this evidence I am moving ahead and assuming that it is likely that a 66 Witness was never produced.  (However, if you are reading this and own a copy, please contact me so that we make arrangements to scan it.)

Once I recreate the yearbook page, I will publish the website address.  I will continue to work on the Wikipedia entry, the history of Warrenton and Christian Schools, Inc. and add digital artifacts as I receive them. 
2 Comments

Yearbooks and Copyright

10/3/2014

0 Comments

 
After several inquiries among the professional library community, we decided that there is no copyright infringement in our republishing digital copies of yearbooks and other material from GCCA and GCBC.  This seems to be the prevailing opinion of most, if not all, of my colleagues.  While this is not an official legal opinion, coupled with two other factors, I feel confident that there is no copyright issue.  The other factors being that the schools are no longer in existence and that I have talked with the founder's widow and a few other former administrators who fully support the project.  In addition, I contacted Taylor publishing the publisher of the most recent yearbooks and their policy is as follows:

"Balfour (Taylor) prints millions of yearbooks every year, which prohibits us from keeping an inventory of past editions. At the end of each printing, all copies are sent to our customers for final distribution.  However, if you have not already, we suggest contacting your school’s media center or yearbook adviser about backdated yearbooks. It is possible a copy of a past edition can be found in the journalism department.  If you locate a yearbook and would like to reproduce it, first contact your school or district for permission."  (We do have that permission from former officials of the schools.)
0 Comments

New Angle to our Digital Archive

10/3/2014

0 Comments

 
I recently put out a question to a library listserv about copyright for school yearbooks.  That discussion led the manager  of the Maine State Library's Digital Commons Institutional Repository  to comment on the question and contact me offering use of a new book scanner that the library had recently acquired.  Over the course of the past several weeks I have been using their book scanner to digitize our Glen Cove yearbooks.  

I had purchased a larger format flatbed scanner earlier this year for that purpose, but the task is time consuming and tedious.  Printed photos are halftones made up of dots so scanning distorts the photos creating what is called a moire pattern.  When scanning with my scanner, I have to move each page to another software program, select each photo individually and descreen them.  Tedious and time consuming.  It probably takes at least a half day to do one yearbook.  The book scanner at the library is fast and simple once you have been trained.  The book lies in a cradle and I simply turn the pages and monitor the results on one of the computer screens.  It automatically de-screens all of the photos on the page at once.  Added bonuses are that the director, offered to have his staff process the completed scans with OCR software so the text of the books will be key word searchable and they also are cropping and de-skewing pages that need it.  They have also placed the scanned books  in the state's repository which is essentially an enormous online hard drive.  We can either store the digital yearbooks on our website or simply link to the copies in the repository.  My understanding is that the repository will also be linked to The Internet Archive and to the Digital Public Library of American (DPLA) at some point.  So I have been making weekly trips to the State Library and will soon complete the yearbook scanning process.  

I have chosen to go the route of storing the files on the state repository server and linking to them from our archive web site.  While you will access them by simply clicking on the icon for a given graduation  year on our web site, it will actually be directing you to a file in the repository.  This approach saves us storage space and probably speed as well. I have copies of the scans stored on my computer at home as well for backup purposes.  The repository is also backed up regularly as most large servers are.  The files can also be accessed directly from the state library's repository web page.  They are located under Rockport, Maine under the heading of Glen Cove Books.  Another benefit is that the links to the files on the repository are a type of RSS feed.  So that whenever new files are processed and loaded onto the repository, the RSS script will automatically populate our web site with the new files.  

I should have all of the yearbooks for both the Academy and the Bible College scanned by the end of October and am in hopes that our archive site will be available to our alumni by the first of the year.  Thanks to Adam Fisher and the Maine State Library, this is much sooner than I had anticipated.
0 Comments

Process

11/15/2013

0 Comments

 

Process

Part of developing this archive included planning and testing. At some point, however, the testing becomes overwhelming for type A personalities, because it's never good enough. Consequently, I have made an "executive decision". I will begin publishing scanned material with the option of replacing it at a later date if I am able to achieve improved resolution. The deciding factor for this decision is essentially financial. In order to begin this project, I had to replace a failing hard drive. I then made the decision to purchase a larger format flatbed scanner. Those of you who have priced larger format flatbed scanners know that they are expensive. I was able to find a brand that was in the two hundred dollar range but obviously there are compromises involved in the price break. It is not the top of the line processor. At this point, the scans at full size appear to be decent. I have begun testing and will soon publish a digital version of one of the early yearbooks. Fortunately, I already owned a version of Adobe Photoshop that while dated is still a very versatile and robust software. I have also experimented with using a digital slr camera which would make the digitizing process much faster. I have yet to produce a suitable image through this method. The problems I am encountering include unwanted shadows and coloring. I have experimented with lighting and white balance settings but am not satisfied yet. A macro lens might help but that is not in the budget. My intention is not to complain, but rather to explain. With the equipment used by Google Books or other digital library consortiums, we could come much closer to perfection, but with the equipment we have, we can still meet our goals of preserving the information and providing access to the history of GCCA and GCBC.

My apologies if you find this boring. I am recording my thoughts for my own benefit and the benefit of those who might be attempting a similar project. I will be posting a bibliography of works consulted under the About tab on the web site, along with specifications, resolutions, and formats that I have chosen. I will also include URLs for websites that have been extremely helpful such as the Library of Congress and Smithsonian pages directed specifically at amateur archivists attempting similar projects.

0 Comments

November 08th, 2013

11/11/2013

0 Comments

 
Since a blog or weblog is a journal or diary, it seems appropriate to share my inspiration for this project.  My inspiration is the experience I was privileged to enjoy as a student at Glen Cove Christian Academy(GCCA) and later at Glen Cove Bible College (GCBC).  While the schools were forced to close, too soon from my human perspective, they live on in the hearts and minds of their respective alumni.  My intent is to help to preserve the history of the school by digitizing as many objective historical documents as possible.  This will not only preserve the documents but allow us to publish them on a website created for that purpose.  I appreciate the kindness of several alumni and former teachers who have shared publications and documents for this project.  Since this is my first post, this is probably the appropriate place to express my thanks.  I am grateful to Harold and Evelyn Duff, Dr. Arthur Fish and many others for their vision and sacrifice in providing leadership to establish the schools.  Their names and the names of many other board members, teachers, staff members, parents and students who through God's grace formed these schools will appear throughout this new archival web site.  As I have worked on this project, I have frequently wondered how different my life would have been without GCCA and GCBC.  It has served as a reminder of God's goodness to me and my fellow alumni in having provided a high quality Christian education for so many students.  Many of the subsequent entries will be devoted to the process of creating this archive, in part, for my benefit as I seek to improve the process.

wfl
0 Comments

    Author

    William Leonard is a graduate of GCCA and GCBC.  Mr Leonard is also a graduate of the University of South Carolina (MLIS) and the University of Maine(BA and CAS) He is a professional librarian and archivist for the GCCA/GCBC Digital Archive.

    Archives

    September 2016
    June 2016
    December 2015
    October 2014
    November 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.