WAPL08: Digitization of Local History Materials: LSTA Success Stories

Posting from the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries conference, Stevens Point, WI.

The take-home lesson from this program was that digital projects are within reach of just about any library with the desire to undertake one.

Sally began with an update on the LSTA competitive grant program for digitization projects, including the partnership with UWDCC (who provide training, digitization, metadata, hosting; basically the whole technical structure) and grant requirements - first-time applicants are encouraged to apply for $2-5000 to digitize historical materials. One caveat is that libraries should anticipate enough staff time to cover a project, particularly for image and map collections. She also ran through the steps in a digitization project.

Nanette spoke on Kiel PL's project, starting off saying, "It really helps if you have a local history collection dropped into your lap." A local history enthusiast donated 100 notebooks, collected over 20 years, organized by topic from ice storms to WWII. She formed a committee with the donor and members of the local historical society to determine what to finish first, and settled on the theme "Big streets in a little city." She used community volunteers to help choose what photos to include.

KPL prominently features a link to the collection on their web site. Patrons love the collection and the original donor continues to receive contributions of photos and diaries (and more) from the community. The library has been contacted by people all over the world who have found the collection online.

Waterford PL made a very snazzy 18-month wall calendar featuring local photos and notable dates to promote their collection. Pamela shared a touching thank-you letter to the library from a family in Indiana. She also found that some of the potential donors didn't understand the "digital" part of the library's project, but once they saw examples, they were more likely to contribute their materials.

Oshkosh celebrated a big anniversary by digitizing city directories. (They've also found that providing copies of obituaries is a good revenue stream for the library.) A subsequent project involved digitizing large maps that were previously un-digitizable due to their size. They found that the libraries in the smaller, surrounding communities were very grateful that the Oshkosh PL undertook the project.

These libraries' experiences are inspiring - and the best news is that projects on this scale will continue with the collaboration of Wisconsin library and cultural institutions, and the help of LSTA funds.