We are pleased to announce the official release of the Cleveland Historical mobile app, which is now available for download in the iTunes App Store.  While we are extremely excited about this project, we are not content to rest on our laurels.  In the coming weeks, we will be refining the content, adding new sites and tours, and working on new collaborations to bring the city’s history to life on your mobile device.  We will also be finalizing plans for version 2.0, due in early 2011. For academic and non-profit leaders looking for a full case study, stay tuned. In the meantime, read on for a video teaser and full description of Cleveland Historical’s current features, plans for future development and more.

Developed by the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University, Cleveland Historical is a mobile application that provides an interpretive view of the region’s history. Find interesting people, places and events in Cleveland history, and even take curated historical tours of the city. Each point on the interactive GPS-enabled map includes historical information about the site along with historic images from Cleveland’s top archival institutions. Many sites also include audio clips and short documentary videos based on the more than 500 oral history interviews from CSU’s Cleveland Regional Oral History collection. Perhaps best of all, Cleveland Historical is a collaborative project with stories created collaboratively by teachers, students, professors, and community members, and curated by the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities.

If you see a historical site or topic that is not covered in your area of the city, check back often because we will be adding new material on a monthly basis. If you would like to suggest a site or become involved in developing digital stories, reviewing content, or collecting regional history please contact us. You can find us on the web at csuDigitalHumanities.org; you may email us at csudigitalhumanities@gmail.com, or you can find us on Twitter @cphdh.

Current features in version 1.0:

• interactive map with 100+ historical locations and topics at launch and 100+ additional sites to be during 2011, with new sites added or revised every month
• historic images
• oral history audio
• documentary videos
• search and browse topics/tours or use the map to see nearby points of interest

Planned features for version 2.0 (due early 2011):

• support for Android devices
• enhanced tours
• user-created content
• social sharing via Twitter and Facebook
• browser website for desktop users
• …and much more…

Credits:

• Concept and historical content: Center for Public History + Digital Humanities
• Graphic design: Epstein Design Partners
• Software development: DXY Solutions
• Key Partners: Department of History, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and Michael Schwartz Library (Cleveland State University); Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County