USF launches new public portal that brings Tampa’s archives to life

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The University of South Florida Libraries' Tampa Through Time Portal is a no-cost, interactive resource that merges archives, digital tools, and mapping to allow users to immerse themselves in the city's rich history.

"The USF Libraries digitized 25 new collections just for this project, which complemented the more than 60 digital collections we already had," says Amanda Boczar, Associate Director for Digital Initiatives at USF Libraries. "We have a very robust Tampa digital archive so were able to load and geolocate thousands of objects, including metadata and rights information, so that people can find very specific items and locations around Tampa."

Boczar's project partner, Archives Librarian Stephanie Mackin, expertly curated hundreds of digital objects, drawing from the extensive physical archives housed within the USF Libraries' Special Collections. Mackin enlisted USF MLIS Graduate students to help survey historical Tampa archives for digitization for the portal, as well as to translate and transcribe Spanish language documents.

Boczar and Mackin collaborated with a large team to make these documents and experiences available, including Florida Studies Curator Andy Huse, Special Collections Coordinator Sydney Jordan, GIS Manager Benjamin Mittler, and others. The USF Libraries' Digital Collections and Metadata teams ensured exceptional discoverability and added careful details and tracking to make them as useful for researchers as possible.

Portal visitors can explore at their own pace or choose focus areas from USF Libraries' special collections. These include records from popular research collections like USF's African American Experience in Florida portal, local environmental sanctuaries, and mutual aid society records including Centro Asturiano, Centro Español,Círculo Cubano, L'Unione Italiana, and the Sociedad La Union Marti-Maceo.

Visitors can also find experiential content in walking tours around the Tampa Bay area. The USF Greenways tour takes a historical stroll through USF's botanical gardens and Forest Preserve or portal users can choose to swing down to Ybor City for a walking tour of its famed cigar factories.

Another popular option is taking a trip back in time through the Depression-era housing highlighted in the Anthony P. "Tony" Pizzo collection. Through the Tampa Through Time Portal, the Pizzo collection has evolved into a project with new life. Local photographer and friend of USF Libraries', Chip Weiner, collaborated to recreate the locations shown in the scrapbook by photographing the sites as they look today. Florida Studies Curator Andy Huse has researched the area to prepare a virtual tour that allows viewers to see Ybor as it once was, as it is today, and understand what led to those changes.

This Portal currently features over 1,000 digital objects including photographs, archival documents, historic map overlays, and more. With the addition of photographs from the Skip Gandy Collection, the Tampa Through Time Portal is expected to grow to over 5,000 photographs over the next few years.

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