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More than 100,000 pieces of St. Olaf history now online
April 22, 2008
Want to learn about Ytterboe the Dog, the Cereal Bowl, bowling at St. Olaf, or another aspect of the college's history? Chances are you will find the right materials in the Fram search engine.
Records on Ytterboe the dog, which roamed the St. Olaf campus from 1942-57, can be found in the Fram database. |
"Fram is one of the strongest finding tools in the country and a quick way to see what's available in the archives," says Jeff Sauve, associate college archivist in the Shaw-Olson Center for College History. "Having more than 100,000 records online is atypical for a college."
Sauve says Fram attracts a diverse user group. "Students use Fram for class research projects, department administrators find office records and family historians gain a better understanding of a family member," Sauve says. "We've had local historians and historical societies use the rich photograph collection and related manuscripts to develop exhibits and publications."
Records of the former St. Olaf Center Bowling Alley are also available in the Fram database. |
Fram was created in the early 1990s by former archivist Joan Olson, who worked with the Information and Instructional Technologies (IIT) office to generate a searchable online database of Manitou Messenger abstracts. When Olson retired in 1998, Sauve continued the project. Sauve completed the remaining 12 years of Manitou Messenger abstracts and added collections records, as well as St. Olaf Magazine records from 1936-66.
Sauve, with the assistance of Dan Beach from IIT and several student workers, updates and manages the Fram database. He estimates that at least 3,000 records and 2,500 full text articles from St. Olaf Magazine are added each year.