Using digital tools, students can create interactive methods to help Special Collections and Archives explore and learn from primary sources and other material from the archives. We have included below a selection of projects created by students using archival materials. 

Are you interested in creating a project? See a example list of ideas using the University Archives, or contact us at archives@calpoly.edu to chat about your project idea or interests!

Mapping Student Activism at Cal Poly 

• Tool: ArcGIS Online
• Creators: SCA student assistants 
• Archives data: Student newspaper articles and other research from the University Archives
• Timeframe: 1 quarter and ongoing
• Link to map

Building Cal Poly

• Tool: Google My Maps
• Creators: SCA student assistant Alex Thomas 
• Archives data: Digitized maps and other research from the University Archives
• Timeframe: 2 quarters
• Read more about the experience
• Link to map

Mapping the Trees of Cal Poly

• Tool: Google My Maps
• Creators: SCA staff 
• Archives data: Student newspaper articles, yearbooks, and other research from the University Archives
• Timeframe: 1 quarter
• Used in the Cal Poly Magazine in 2016
• Link to map

Crowdsourcing University Archives Photo pins

• Tool: Google My Maps
• Creators: Undergraduate volunteer students
• Archives data: Digitized University Archives photos
• Timeframe: 3 Hour service-learning project with Botany 121 students
• Link to map

Views of San Luis Obispo, 1904

• Tool: Google My Maps
• Creators: SCA student assistants 
• Archives data: Views of San Luis Obispo, from J. H. Tigner's "Souvenir San Luis Obispo Fire Department," 1904. 
• Timeframe: 1 quarter 
• Link to map

1883 San Luis Obispo County

• Tool: Google My Maps
• Creators: SCA student assistant Alistair Forston
• Archives data: Lithographs from Myron Angel's 1883 San Luis Obispo
• Timeframe: 1 quarter 
• Link to map

ArcGIS Story Map: The Forgotten Work of Arthur G. Barton

• Tool: ArcGIS Story Maps
• Creators: Ella Ban, Special Collections and Archives Student Assistant
• Archives data: Project Index for the Arthur G. Barton Papers
• Timeframe: Winter Quarter 2020
• Link to StoryMap

ArcGIS Tour Map: William F. Cody, a Desert Pioneer

• Tool: ArcGIS Story Maps Map Tour
• Creators: Katie Sheetz, Special Collections and Archives Student Assistant
• Archives data: Project Index for the William F. Cody Papers
• Timeframe: Summer 2016
• Link to map