Idaho Harvester is a static blog and digital collection web project built on CollectionBuilder that lets libraries and archives publish curated unique materials with a Jekyll-generated site and client-side search.
What is Idaho Harvester?
Idaho Harvester is a working collection and blog by staff of the University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives, generated as a static web project with CollectionBuilder. It takes collection metadata and editorial blog posts as input and produces a static website with item pages, a blog feed, and full-text search. The site runs on Jekyll and uses Lunr for client-side search indexing, so no backend server or database is required for the public site.
Key Features
- Static site generation — Built on Jekyll, the project compiles markdown and metadata into plain HTML files that can be hosted on any static web server.
- Lunr client-side search — A Lunr search index is generated from collection metadata, giving visitors full-text search over item descriptions without any server-side processing.
- Blog and digital collection combined — The project supports both a blog of posts written by archive staff and a browsable collection of unique materials, all in one site.
- CollectionBuilder framework — It follows CollectionBuilder conventions, making it easy to adapt for other institutions' collections.
- Curated by subject experts — The content is written and organized by library staff, ensuring accurate descriptions and context for each archived item.
Who is it for?
Idaho Harvester is designed for librarians, archivists, and cultural heritage staff who need a simple way to publish a blog alongside a digital collection. It suits institutions that want a lightweight, static alternative to a full content management system, and it is particularly useful for teams already familiar with Jekyll or CollectionBuilder.
What can you do with Idaho Harvester?
- Special collections librarians: Publish blog posts about newly digitized items and link them to corresponding collection item pages.
- Archival educators: Use the site as an exhibit platform to highlight thematic groupings of materials from the archive.
- Digital humanities researchers: Reuse the CollectionBuilder structure to prototype a collection site quickly with minimal setup.
How does Idaho Harvester work?
The workflow is metadata-driven: items are described in structured data files, blog posts are written in markdown, and Jekyll builds the static site. Lunr processes the metadata to create a searchable index. The resulting site can be deployed to GitHub Pages or any static host.
FAQ
Is Idaho Harvester a static site generator?
No, Idaho Harvester is a project that uses the static site generator Jekyll, configured through CollectionBuilder to produce a blog and digital collection. It generates plain HTML files that do not require a backend.
What is CollectionBuilder?
CollectionBuilder is an open-source framework for creating digital collection and exhibit websites. It provides templates and tooling built on Jekyll, including utilities for generating search indexes using Lunr, and is widely used by libraries and archives.
Does Idaho Harvester require a database?
No, Idaho Harvester is a static project. Content is stored in metadata files and markdown, and the site is generated ahead of time. Visitors interact only with static files and the client-side search index.
Can I reuse Idaho Harvester for my own collection?
Yes, because it is based on CollectionBuilder, the project structure is designed to be reusable. Any institution can adapt the metadata schema and blog layout for its own materials.
