This interdisciplinary, international research project aims at expanding the Digital Archive at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and to improve its visibility and accessibility to a wider public audience, including lawmakers, practitioners, scholars and citizens. With a collection of over 10,000 historical documents, the goal of expanding the archives is driven by the idea of including new, compelling themes that also include cultural aspects and focus on society during the Cold War, but also in the time period beyond, to better understand the legacy and impact of this era. While diplomatic history and international relations remain topical pillars in the online archive, sociopolitical and human rights related issues during and after the fall of the iron curtain will now also be included.
Overview
The themes below illustrate how the permanently expanding collection content will be displayed online and made available for public use.
Theme 1 represents an exploratory tool, which helps uncover relationships between documents in the different collections. More importantly, it allows users to explore the document contents, examining links between people, places and concepts across time.
Theme 2 embodies a story-telling concept providing a content-rich environment with curated details on particular archival documents. It helps guide readers through a complex and intrinsic array of significants texts and historical artifacts.
Project Diagram
