Tabularium Axis Mundi:
The NCA’s Archives and Preservation Project
We wanted something that can stand on its own and also stand the test of time. While everyone has been calling it “the NCA archives” for a while now, there are a few problems with that. First, the acronym conflicts with the existing New College Alumni Association (NCAA). Second, we want a name that reflects the collection’s unique position as a cultural and institutional archive built outside of any institution, by the very community it represents. Third, we don’t know yet just how much this project might expand, and needed a name that could grow with the collection over time, possibly up to a physical space not just for storage but exhibitions. And finally, well, it’s cool.
TAM - The NCA Archives!
“Tabularium Axis Mundi” is Latin for “Archive at the Center of the World.” It is both a homage to the Latin used on diplomas for most of the school’s history, and a call out to the classical traditions the school was founded on. Also, it’s cool.
Sure, but what does it MEAN?
The Tabularium Axis Mundi (TAM) is an independent project of the Novo Collegian Alliance that exists to preserve the unique history and culture of New College of Florida. Through both a living digital collection and physical repository, we seek to curate and share a wide variety of materials and content from students, faculty, and alumni, including: stories, memorabilia, images, and art. Through the Tabularium Axis Mundi we hope to encapsulate New College’s cultural legacy, and ensure this legacy remains accessible and meaningful to the community and future generations.
TAM goes beyond preservation–it serves as a bridge between New College’s past, present, and future. Postponing this effort risks losing fragile historical materials to time, damage, or neglect. By taking these incremental steps, the archive will not only help safeguard the unique identity of New College but also provide structure and inspiration for the NCA’s broader mission of advocacy and education.
So What is TAM / Why does TAM exist?
Now’s the time to start looking for New College ephemera you want to share. Got a cool DIY t-shirt? Issue of Gouie or the Catalyst? Wall, PCP/Coup, concert flyers? Home movies? Digital photos?
What Can You Donate?
Right now, the TAM Team is focusing on digital acquisitions such as photos, scans (PDF or otherwise) of documents, digitized thesis copies, music, oral history (in digital format), and videos (events, parties, etc.).
What About Physical Items?
Well, we won’t say no! We’re honored to take in endangered physical items such as ephemera, copies of student zines, old Catalyst copies, and more. However, we don’t actually have archive space to spare (that’s expensive) so they will be stored safely to the best of our abilities until such time as they can be evaluated and catalogued.
We know it doesn’t look like much but this is an Original Palm Court tile collected after the Palm Court tile replacement in 2011!!!
“So what’s next?”
Our goals for the future include curated exhibits both digital and physical, collaboration with community members, and a collection that is accessible to the community at large.
Our community members (i.e. you) are central to this project’s success. We need your engagement via donations of money and/or your materials to get this project off the ground, and more importantly, make it sustainable well into the future. Your monetary donations will vastly increase our physical and digital storage capacity, and allow us more robust ways to showcase our collections. Your donations of collection items, however strange or small, will enrich this collection and help bring it closer to capturing the wide variety of experiences that make up New College as we know it.
If you don’t have anything to donate to the collection, or even if you do, please consider a monetary donation to the NCA to help fund all the backend costs of this venture. While the NCA is a volunteer-run organization, TAM will require spending money on real expenses like storage and software!
Gather your treasures and open your pocketbook!
We bet you have questions, and we’d love to answer them! Feel free to email or shout out to us on social media.
OH NO! What is this? Could it possibly be ephemera from around 1990 or so? MAYBE! Only TAM knows!