The My #HuntLibrary photo contest has been a huge success! The NC State community has contributed over 1200 Instagram images to the project, simply by adding the hashtag #HuntLibrary to their Instagram photos. This crowdsourced photo project has really captured the spirit of the Hunt Library and has been a great way to introduce it to the world. While the My #HuntLibrary website will live on, the contest will end at 11:59PM February 22, 2013.

The winner will be selected by a jury of librarians from among the most popular photographs in My #HuntLibrary. The popularity score is determined by a combination of battle wins and “likes” on the photograph. Please note – likes on Instagram do not count towards the popularity score! “Likes” have to be submitted on the My #HuntLibrary app. Also, only public images taken with Instagram are eligible to win the iPad Mini. We currently don’t have the ability to include pictures from other social media sites or private photos on Instagram.

The winner will be awarded and recognized at an upcoming NCSU Libraries Student Advisory Board meeting.

The iPad Mini isn’t the only reason to participate! NCSU Libraries will preserve the best #HuntLibrary photos forever in the University’s official digital archives so they become a permanent part of NC State history. If your photo is selected, watch for a comment from us on your #HuntLibrary photo!

To browse #HuntLibrary photos, vote on your favorites, and see complete contest rules and terms of use, head to My #HuntLibrary at http://go.ncsu.edu/myhunt!

Any questions? Email myhuntlibrary@lists.ncsu.edu.

You’ve been waiting patiently for the James B. Hunt Jr. Library to open, and today is the big day! Now we want everyone to see the library of the future . . . through your Instagram photos!

NCSU Libraries is happy to announce the My #HuntLibrary photo contest. Through My #HuntLibrary you can participate in the story of the Hunt Library’s opening . . . and one lucky photographer will win an iPad Mini!

Participating in My #HuntLibrary is easy:

1. Take an awesome Hunt Library photo
2. Upload it to Instagram
3. Tag it #HuntLibrary

At go.ncsu.edu/myhunt you can also vote on your favorite #HuntLibrary photos, see popular images, browse staff picks, and more. One of the most popular #HuntLibrary shutterbugs will win an iPad Mini, and NCSU Libraries will preserve the best #HuntLibrary photos forever in the University’s official digital archives so they become a permanent part of NC State history.

A Different Point of View

Have fun, be creative! Show us a feature that you love or a view that takes your breath away. Here are some ideas to get you going:

• Use Virtual Browse & the bookBot for the first time
• Lounge on the Skyline Terrace
• Get Roman on the Monumental Stairs
• Draw a giant picture in the Idea Alcove
• Strike a pose in a cool chair
• Get collaborative in a group study room
• Immerse yourself in the Immersion Theater
• Hang out in the Learning Commons

To browse #HuntLibrary photos, vote on your favorites, and see complete contest rules and terms of use, head to My #HuntLibrary at http://go.ncsu.edu/myhunt!

Any questions? Email myhuntlibrary@lists.ncsu.edu.

Media Contact:
David Hiscoe, NCSU Libraries,  (919) 513-3425

When the Pack is out roaring around their territory in Raleigh, they will now be able to carry their group history along for the hunt.

In honor of this year’s Founders Day at North Carolina State University, the NCSU Libraries today released WolfWalk, an innovative tool that makes it easy to explore the NC State campus and its history. WolfWalk capitalizes on the location awareness of today’s mobile devices to allow users to give themselves a self-guided historical walk through NC State’s main campus. As users stroll around campus, their mobile devices detect their current locations and then deliver a tour of nearby buildings and other historically interesting locations. Users with devices that don’t support GPS or other location detection, including older iPods, can manually navigate through the site to enjoy a tour of campus.

The initial rollout of the tool provides a brief historical description of over 50 sites on campus and then serves up a range of engaging digitized photographs that shows the site throughout NC State’s history. WolfWalk is available on many current generation smartphone platforms, such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, and does not require users to download an application.  An enhanced version of WolfWalk optimized for iPhones is also in development for availability in the summer of 2010.

The new tool draws on the resources of the University Archives in the NCSU Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center, a vast array of documents, photos, audio files and other historical materials from the founding of the school up through the present. According to Greg Raschke, associate director for collections and scholarly communication at the Libraries, “as the official repository for the university, our archives have mountains of incredibly interesting material about the history of NC State; this new tool gives us a great way to extend the reach of these materials and to give our donors and the people of North Carolina even more value for the history we collect for them.”

Long a pioneer in the development of digital libraries, the NCSU Libraries released NCSU Libraries Mobile late last year to provide students, faculty, and researchers with “a library in your pocket.”  “Mobile technologies,” explains Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of the NCSU Libraries, “will become increasingly central to successful twenty-first century learning and research spaces, allowing students and researchers to maintain flexible, constant, on-the-go contact with the collections and the staff of tomorrow’s libraries. With WolfWalk, we are delighted to continue in our role as technology incubator for both NC State and for the research libraries across the globe.”

In honor of Founders Day, the NCSU Libraries has also released an enhanced version of its Historical State web site to make it even easier for scholars, alumni, and the general public to explore and enjoy the history, personalities, and culture of NC State University.

Built to provide easy web access to the University Archives held by the Libraries, Historical State opens a digital window into everything from the Model T’s lined up outside Riddick Field during its construction in 1933, to a 1950 recording of the Alma Mater, to photos of the 1955 cheerleading squad, to the 1968 undergraduate catalog.