Abraham Lincoln’s 194th birthday isn’t until Feb. 12, but he is celebrated daily on a university Web site.

NIU’s Lincoln/Net Web site (http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/) launched two years ago, but continues to add material thanks to Drew VandeCreek, director of NIU Libraries’ digitization projects.

“The goal is to bring historical materials pertaining to Abraham Lincoln to a large general public,” VandeCreek said. “Just 10 or 12 years ago, people would have had to travel to a museum to see them. By scanning them digitally and putting them on the Internet, anyone in the world can see them.”

The building of the site involved more than 30 people who traveled across the nation to scan documents and build a large database. The site’s extensive content includes more than 1,000 images of Lincoln, hundreds of speeches and correspondences, audio clips of Lincoln-era songs performed by NIU students and much more.

Arthur Young, dean of University Libraries, is proud of the site’s content and the work done by VandeCreek.

“I think the one word that comes to mind is ‘spectacular,’” he said. “I consider the Lincoln Web site a very important part of our total service package.”

Ferald Bryan, an associate professor of communication and presidential rhetoric expert, said much can be learned about Lincoln from his speeches.

“I think Lincoln, unlike a lot of other politicians, cared about his words,” he said. “You can get a real good feeling for his mind. He really meant what he said and followed through on his actions. He stood apart from the great orators because his speeches were short and succinct and they maintain a timeless quality.”

VandeCreek hopes Lincoln’s life can help students gain a better perspective of frontier Illinois.

“I have a great deal of admiration for Lincoln,” he said. “Because Lincoln lived such a remarkable life, teaching himself to read and write, his activity in politics, we can look at what’s going in context in the world in which he lived. Specifically, what frontier Illinois was like. Lincoln is the focus of the site, but the idea is to use his experiences and things he wrote to look at things in context.”

The site has been recommended by both Historychannel.com and HistoryOnline – recognition that has VandeCreek brimming with pride.

“We are proud that people are able to get quite a bit of use out of it,” VandeCreek said. “I have gotten messages from students from Holland, France, Brazil and even Nepal.”

VandeCreek wants people to come away with more than just an appreciation for Lincoln.

“What we want people to learn is the ability to think critically,” he said. “What it doesn’t do is tell you what you should think about Abraham Lincoln or what you should think about American history. It gives you the sources and provides you with tools to come to your own conclusion and to begin to make explorations of the past.”