“Our plan is quite simple – we want to take over New York City publishing.”

That’s how Dr. Dene Grigar feels after witnessing her students produce a new digital book on the life of Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver.

Grigar, an associate professor in English and director of WSU Vancouver’s Creative Media and Digital Culture (CMDC) program, believes that the old model of publishing is dying, and that the 225 students in her program are gaining real-world experience in the new model: digital.

Three CMDC students worked with the National Park Service on the digital publication which is called “The McLoughlin Family Collection: A Look Inside the Fort Vancouver Museum Collection.” The e-book features photos and 3D images of McLoughlin family artifacts from the National Historic Site collection, an animated overview of Dr. McLoughlin’s life and struggles on the frontier, and music recorded directly from the family melodeon, a type of early organ.

“This project fits well in the vision for the CMDC program,” Grigar explained. “We are developing a digital publishing track in our program and experimenting with open source technologies to produce scholarly, artistic and commercial publications.”

Learn more about the creative media project