Digital Research Assistant Shauna Ribaric recently digitized each issue of Brock's alumni magazine dating back to 1977.For more than four decades, Brock’s alumni magazine has helped former students stay connected to their University.
Though it has gone through name changes and many redesigns, the publication — known by the title Surgite for more than 30 years — has consistently given readers a window into what’s happening on campus and in the Brock community.
To ensure the history contained within the magazine’s pages is never lost, every issue dating back to 1977 was recently preserved in digital perpetuity by the University’s Special Collections library.
“These printed materials become the institutional memory of the University,” said David Sharron, Brock’s Head of Archives and Special Collections. “Preserving and providing improved access to these alumni magazines helps us celebrate Brock’s history and the successes of our many graduates. The Archives and Library are thrilled to partner with Alumni Relations to get these online.”
There are now 110 issues of the alumni magazine — known as Brock from 1977-84, and Surgite from 1985 to present — available through Brock’s Digital Repository. The entire collection is searchable by keywords, making the hunt for specific references much easier than in the past when readers would have to dig through piles of hard copies.
“This is a tremendous milestone that brings the University closer to its alumni community, across the country and around the world,” said Kevin Cavanagh, interim Executive Director of Marketing & Communications. “Not only is our heritage being preserved, but it is accessible, giving people a sense of shared ownership of the history of Brock University.”
The time-consuming task of scanning each page was taken on by Digital Research Assistant Shauna Ribaric, who also recently finished making electronic copies of all of Brock’s viewbooks — a key recruitment tool that aims to showcase all aspects of the University experience.
The alumni magazine’s digital archive is available on Brock Library’s website.
The collection will be updated as new issues become available. Surgite is published twice a year.
