The University of Michigan portion of the Making of America project has been implemented by the UM Digital Library Production Service (DLPS). Principal persons and components of the online version include :
- Sarr Blumson, former principal programmer for DLPS, created the image navigation mechanisms that make it possible to move from image to image and choose different resolutions for selected pages.
- Maria Bonn, former Interface Specialist for DLPS had been responsible for ongoing evaluation and further development of MOA, as well as the redesign released to the public on April 11, 1999.
- Nigel Kerr, former DLPS SGML Systems Librarian, wrote the original "middleware" for the SGML search and retrieval.
- Bill Kowalski, former DLPS Data Loader, did the work of getting the data online. This includes extracting data from the CD-ROMs, running processing scripts that generate OCR from the TIFF images, significant error-processing during the OCR phase (e.g., for pages that consist of graphics), and creating the low level of SGML needed to manage the information.
- Alan Pagliere, SGML Technologist, contributed significantly to the rewrite of the MOA code that was part of the redesign released to the public on April 11, 1999.
- Elizabeth Shaw, former Digital Library Project Librarian and current Digital Projects Manager at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote the processing routines that automatically generate the OCR and create the SGML. Liz has also published a report on the process, which includes an evaluation of methodology.
- Cameron Trowbridge, former interim Interface Specialist for DLPS, and now Digital Programs Developer at the Japanese-American National Museum, designed the MOA interface, a process that included not only design elements, but elaborating major pieces of functionality for other staff.