The Project

About this Updated Exhibit

In 2003, the Wittliff Collections introduced a digitized version of the 1555 edition of The Cabeza de Vaca La relación through a project funded by a Texas State Library & Archives TexTreasures Grant. The popular site continued to receive thousands of visitors every month almost 15 years later.

The original site was created during the "toddler years" of the web and was due for refreshing. The current website uses responsive design and is more user friendly and ADA compliant.

In addition, since the original digitation, the University Library has created and staffed a state of the art digitization studio. The studio is equipped with a high resolution 80-megapixel PhaseOne digital camera which can capture cultural heritage materials with the sharpest detail. The resolution of the original images was only 150 dpi, which does not provide much detail by today's standards.

The new site also uses new technology such as IIIF, International Image Interoperability Framework. This framework provides enhanced image access for scholars and researchers. It allows faster delivery and manipulation such as zooming and panning of images

The new digitization of The Cabeza de Vaca La relación and companion website is a collaborative project from The Wittliff Collections and the Digital & Web Services Department of the Alkek Library at Texas State University, San Marcos.

Project Team:

Jason Long, Programmer Analyst
Jeremy Moore, Digital Media Specialist
Erin Mazzei, Digital Media Assistant
Todd Peters, Head, Digital & Web Services
David Coleman, Director, Wittliff Collections
Steve Davis, Southwestern Literature Curator, Wittliff Collections
Mark Willenborg, Marketing Coordinator, Wittliff Collections
Grayson Ellsworth, Digital & Web Services Student Assistant
Oscar Martinez, Digital & Web Services Student Assistant
Yosdy Valdivia, Digital & Web Services Student Assistant
A special thanks to Dr. Frank de la Teja for his time in creating a new video commentary for this exhibit

 

About the Original Project

The Cabeza de Vaca La relación Digitization and Access Project has been funded by a grant from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and by Texas State University. Produced by the Wittliff Collections, Albert B. Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos.

Project Director: Steve Davis, Wittliff Collections, Albert B. Alkek Library, Texas State University.

Consultants:

Connie Clare Todd, Texas State University.
Beverly Fondren, Texas State University.
Mandy York, Rice University.

Academic Contributors:

Dr. Rolena Adorno, Yale University
Dr. Mark Busby, Texas State University
Angela M. Carl, Texas State University
Dr. Donald E. Chipman, University of North Texas
Russell L. Doescher, Texas State University
Dr. Dan Flores, University of Montana
Dr. Thomas R. Hester, University of Texas
Dr. Jill Hoffman, Texas State University
Paul Galante, Lehigh University
Ross Johnson, Texas State University
Dr. Lance L. Lambert, Texas State University
Susan Booth Larson, Portland, Oregon
Dr. David E. Lemke, Texas State University
Dr. Donald W. Olson, Texas State University
Dr. Marilynn S. Olson, Texas State University
Dr. Stephen Petty, Santa Rosa Junior College, CA
Dr. Charles W. Polzer, Arizona State Museum
Dr. Robert A. Ricklis, Corpus Christi, Texas
Sandra D. Smith, Texas State University
Kent H. Trede, Texas State University
Dr. Eliseo Torres, University of New Mexico

Artists:

José Cisneros
Ted DeGrazia
David Everett
Tom Lea 
Frederic Remington
Barbara Whitehead

Reproduction Permissions:

Arte Público Press 
Center for the Study of the Southwest, Texas State University
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, NY
Houghton Library, Harvard University
Moody Medical Library, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Southern Methodist University Press 
Texas Christian University Press
Texas State Historical Association
University of Arizona Press
University of California Press