The Idaho Forester Collection
The University of Idaho Forestry Department's Annual, 1917 - 1997
Contents: About the Collection | About the Department | External Support | Tech
About the Collection
The Idaho Forester Collection consists of the digitized University of Idaho Forestry Department Annuals, Idaho Forester published annually from 1917-1997. Written and published entirely by the students of the forestry program, each issue includes reports on activities within the department for that year, as well as articles on various research and other current events, and analysis of the forest products industry, formerly the dominant industry in Northern Idaho. No issues were published in 1918 or 1919 due to the number of students called away to serve in World War 1. Again in 1968 there was no publication issued, this time due to creative differences and problems with meeting the deadline. The initial issues through 1953 were published by the Associated Foresters, an organization within the University of Idaho whose membership included all faculty and students in the School of Forestry. The Associated Foresters promoted greater activity and interest within the school toward the professionalism of forestry and sponsored educational and social functions held by the program. Later issues were published by students in the College of Forestry, then in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences. Multiple times throughout its history, Idaho Forester won first place as best student publication by the Society of American Foresters.
About the Department
University of Idaho created a Department of Forestry in 1909, the second such program established in the Western United States. Initially the department was in the College of Agriculture, then in 1914 moved to the College of Letters and Sciences. The department became its own separate School of Forestry in 1917. Later it became the College of Forestry, then College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences, and now is the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences within the College of Natural Resources. There has always been an emphasis on hands on learning, which is evident as early as 1924 when a State Land Board Grant provided the School of Forestry a 640-acre experimental forest just north of Moscow. Today there are numerous state-of-the-art laboratories and outdoor classrooms allowing students and researchers opportunities for experiential learning.
External Support
The collection was developed with the support of Project Ceres, a collaboration between the Center for Research Libraries, the United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN), and the Agriculture Network Information Collaborative (AgNIC).
Print copies of the Idaho Forester are also held in Special Collections & Archives at the University of Idaho Library.
Technical Credits - CollectionBuilder
This digital collection is built with CollectionBuilder, an open source framework for creating digital collection and exhibit websites that is developed by faculty librarians at the University of Idaho Library following the Lib-Static methodology.
Using the CollectionBuilder-CSV template and the static website generator Jekyll, this project creates an engaging interface to explore driven by metadata.