Winona360.org, Winona State University and the Winona County Historical Society will officially launch their collaborative project, the Winona Historical Mobile Application highlighting significant buildings in the Winona region, this Wednesday, May 18. A gathering will be held 5-7 p.m. at the Winona History Center to introduce community members to the project and allow participants to test out the application themselves. Visit the application on your smart phone: http://www.winonamntours.org/tour.

The pilot project began in Fall 2010, partnering technology innovators and student developers at Winona360 and Winona State University with historians at the Winona County Historical Society to offer the Southeast Minnesota region a new way to learn and experience history.

The Winona Historical Mobile Application uses new technologies to create an interactive multimedia experience for museum patrons as they see the buildings firsthand. This pilot phase mobile application consists of a customizable tour beginning at the WCHS. The patron, for example, will exit the museum and proceed to five historical downtown buildings, including the Winona County Courthouse, Choate Building, Merchants' Bank, Winona City Hall and Winona National Bank. The museum experience will be extended outside the Winona County Historical Society's walls creating more opportunities for outreach in the community.

“We’re very excited about collaborating with Winona360 and Winona State University to create a product that will be very beneficial to the Winona community, allowing Winonans as well as visitors an opportunity to explore the rich architecture that we have here firsthand,” said Winona County Historical Society Executive Director Mark Peterson. “We couldn’t have done this on our own. The resources that WSU and Winona360 have brought to the project—from student help to technology—have been a real asset.”

The Winona360 editorial team has provided an avenue for graphic design, mass communication and web development students at WSU to create and be a part of a community endeavor through the Winona Historical Mobile Application.

“I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge about Winona’s history as well as merging the old with the new—historical content with new technology,” said WSU senior and student content developer Melanie Blanchette. “It will be helpful for the students at WSU and in Winona to learn more about the community that they will call home during their college careers.”

Winona State University’s web development department also sees future potential in the mutual partnerships and advanced innovation of the multimedia tool.

“The collaboration between Winona360, WSU and the Winona County Historical Society is an excellent relationship because it provides the students with the chance to get real world experience in the field of their expertise,” said project manager and WSU application developer John Yearous. “This project is exciting for WSU because mobile web is the next wave of technology, and that means WSU needs to be relevant in mobile web as well.”

“We see this project as a premiere example of the exciting possibilities created through community partnerships, and we look forward to sharing the mobile application with the Winona region,” said James Bowey, founder and director of Winona360.

Winona360 is an independent nonprofit news and information site that operates through a partnership with Winona State University and collaborations with several local organizations. Winona360 provides the community with robust, multimedia journalism produced equally by citizens, students and professionals.

This project has been made possible by the Arts and Culture Heritage Fund, part of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment approved by voters in November 2008. The Minnesota Historical Society administered funding for the project.