Developing Immersive Experiences from Library Collections

Step inside history! This engaging session details the University of North Florida Library\u27s innovative, collaborative process to create an immersive virtual reality experience from archival materials. Attendees will learn a step-by-step guide to developing similar projects that bring history to life. We will share how we partnered with a local African-American museum to identify compelling archival content and acquired specialized equipment to digitize materials and environments. By leveraging the power of an interdisciplinary campus team, we built an accessible virtual reality experience that allows students and community members to make personal connections with local history. Session takeaways include strategies for initiating campus and community collaborations, securing funding, managing project scopes and timelines, and implementing virtual reality technologies. Join us to explore this cutting-edge project that transformed archival photos, documents, and spaces into an interactive educational experience that exceeded our expectations. You\u27ll be inspired to create your own immersive history projects tailored to your institutional resources and community needs. Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will learn innovative techniques for digitizing archival materials and environments to create immersive educational experiences. This session provides fresh ideas for leveraging technology like VR to increase access and engagement with local history. 2. Participants will gain strategies for initiating collaborative digitization projects that unite campus departments and community cultural institutions. This demonstrates new models of cooperation across libraries and organizations. 3. Participants will get step-by-step guidance on project planning, from securing funding to managing timelines and scopes. This provides transferable methods for developing similar initiatives at their institutions. 4. As members of Florida’s African American community, presenters will share insights about the power of providing a different perspective of African American history to their educational communities. Their identities and connections to the project content provide unique context on community partnerships and project motivations. 5. Participants will understand how inclusive practices like multidisciplinary collaboration and increasing diverse representation in tech can help build a more equitable profession. The session ties directly to core values like diversity and inclusion