We’re thrilled to announce a new initiative supporting Wisconsin local history organizations in their digitization work! The aptly-named Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative is a collaborative endeavor which brings together Wisconsin organizations with local history collections (public libraries, museums, archives, and local history or community organizations) and Wisconsin information school graduate students to digitize and publicly… Read More…
Content Partner Resources
Updates to the Digital Readiness Toolkit
Recollection Wisconsin has enhanced and expanded its Digital Readiness Toolkit to incorporate guidance and best practices on digitizing and sharing audiovisual content. These enhancements, a result of valuable contributions from the Community Archiving Workshop, include a comprehensive digital readiness self-assessment tool for your organization, a framework for prioritizing A/V materials for digitization, and in-depth guidance… Read More…
Film Inspection and Digitization Kits Available to Borrow
Recollection Wisconsin, in partnership with the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, can loan a Film Inspection Kit for examining 8mm or 16mm film and a Wolverine Film Scanner for reformatting 8mm and Super8 film. Funding for the kits was provided by a grant to the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) from the Institute… Read More…
Recollection Wisconsin 2022 Year in Review
In 2022, Recollection Wisconsin prioritized planning for long-term financial sustainability. We know the services and expertise provided by Recollection Wisconsin are important to our individual partners and the state’s cultural heritage community and that without them, fewer organizations would be able to share their community’s history with the world. This year, in order to provide… Read More…
Recollection Wisconsin Discourages the Use of Prison Labor for Digitization
The Recollection Wisconsin Steering Committee offers the following recommendation on the use of prison labor for digitization. Background Libraries and cultural organizations are sometimes contacted by state corrections departments such as Oklahoma Correctional Industries (OCI) offering digitization services, particularly for high school yearbooks. These services, typically free or nearly so, may appeal to organizations that… Read More…
Preserving At-Risk Audiocassettes: A Case Study of the History Museum at the Castle in Appleton, Wisconsin
This post was contributed by Bronwen Maseman, a Madison-based librarian, educator, consultant, and researcher. This case study is part of the Community Archiving Workshop Regional Training of Trainers program, funded by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant (RE-85-18-0039-18) in partnership with the Association of Moving Image… Read More…
New in Recollection Wisconsin, Spring 2022
This quarter, we added four new collections from both new and existing content partners! Milwaukee Public Library has been working hard on these two new collections: The CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) Arts Program Photographs collection includes photographs taken between February and May of 1976 in Milwaukee, documenting life during the 1976 Bicentennial. After… Read More…
The Toolkit: File Formats
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: JPEG, WAVE, MOV, PDF – what do they all mean? Which should we use for things we’re digitizing? Digital file formats quickly give way to alphabet soup: JPEG, WAVE, MOV, PDF…Here are several… Read More…
Ready to toss those old phone books? Think again!
Phone books from the mid-century are crucial data sources for a new toolkit offered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR): “Through the Cracks: Preventing Vapor Intrusion Exposure in Wisconsin and Keeping Children and Families Safe.” Libraries have a unique opportunity to support public health and… Read More…
Recollection Wisconsin 2021 Year in Review
2021 was a year in which Wisconsin’s cultural heritage organizations continued to grapple with fewer resources, fewer staff hours, and less certainty about what the next day would look like. And, pandemic variants, staffing shortages, and budget reductions will continue to disrupt service for the foreseeable future. Yet, the work of Recollection Wisconsin and our… Read More…
The Toolkit: Building Community Engagement
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: How do I build community participation in my digital project? Here are some ideas for building engagement with community members around your digital initiatives and organization’s work. Who? Think about the community group… Read More…
The Toolkit: Working With Vendors
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: How do I work with a vendor? Here are some resources to help you begin to formulate the questions you need to ask a vendor and the information that you need to be… Read More…
The Toolkit: Transcription Tips
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: How do I transcribe recordings? Here are some tips and resources for transcribing (and/or indexing) oral histories and other audio, video and film recordings, compiled from field experts. What is transcription? This section… Read More…
New in Recollection Wisconsin, Fall 2021
This month, Recollection Wisconsin added three new collections from new content partners and a new collection from a current content partner! The Verona Public Library Local History digitization project is a growing selection of digital materials culled from the physical archives of its Local History Collection which currently includes photographs, city directories, and community writing… Read More…
The Toolkit: Wrapping Up a Digitization Project
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: My digitization project will end later this year. What do I need to do to wrap up this work? All good things must come to an end, right? Whether grant-funded or supported by… Read More…
The Toolkit: You asked, let’s chat!
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear. This month, we’re featuring a few frequently-asked questions posed by local history practitioners during our summer Digital Readiness Fairs. Any advice for getting started with a digitization project? How should we create metadata to allow a… Read More…
Missed the first three Digital Readiness Fairs?
It’s not too late to jump on the bandwagon! Join us for the last Digital Readiness Fair of the summer on August 18, 2021 from 1 – 4:30 pm (CST). Hosted by the Kenosha County Historical Society, this fair will include guest presenter sessions on the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee’s video oral history program and… Read More…
The Toolkit: Inheriting a Digital Project
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: Help! I inherited my organization’s digitization project and I don’t know where to start! Some of us have the luxury of building a digitization project or program from scratch. Others, though, take on… Read More…
Door County Library: A Digital Readiness Case Study
About Door County Library Active since 1866, community libraries throughout Door County, Wisconsin combined in 1953 to become branches of the Door County Library (DCL). Currently there are seven branches and a main library in Sturgeon Bay which also houses the Miller Art Museum and the local history and genealogy collection in the Laurie History… Read More…
Chippewa Valley Museum: A Digital Readiness Case Study
The Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire, Wisconsin connects people to the community and inspires curiosity by collecting, preserving and sharing the region’s historical and cultural resources. Significant collections document the history of farming and farm life, Gillette Safety Tire Factory, business and industry in Eau Claire including logging history, folk art, education, and the… Read More…
The Toolkit: Four Simple Metadata Improvements
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: What quick or simple improvements can I make to my metadata to help users find what they need? Recollection Wisconsin is the collective effort of 240 libraries, historical societies, museums, and other historical… Read More…
Seven Questions with Joe Hermolin, Langlade County Historical Society
Meet Joe Hermolin, one of our most active and ardent Recollection Wisconsin community members! Along with shepherding many digitization projects as a content partner and president of the Langlade County Historical Society, Joe has served on the Recollection Wisconsin Steering Committee and currently participates in our Education Advisory Committee and Digital Readiness Community of Practice…. Read More…
Recollection Wisconsin 2020 Year in Review
In this last extraordinary year, we’ve witnessed resilience and creativity from our partners and colleagues as they responded to both the global pandemic and powerful social justice movements. They documented the personal experiences of community members in challenging times, supported teachers and students as schools closed and learning transitioned to virtual environments, and turned a… Read More…
Recollection Wisconsin Gap Analysis: Report from Phase 1
In September of 2019, the Recollection Wisconsin Governing Board and Steering Committee identified a priority to systematically develop the shared collection to foster diversity and inclusion, so that more Wisconsin residents can see their stories represented. To work towards this goal, it was recommended that Recollection Wisconsin undertake a gap analysis to understand current collection… Read More…
The Toolkit: Content Statements
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: Should my institution include a content warning or statement on our digital collection website? What is a content statement? A content statement is a message on your digital collection website or within your… Read More…
Digital Projects on the Move – How to use Digitization Kits for your Next Digitization Project
Wisconsin libraries and local history organizations are building digital collections through community engagement and circulating toolkits. These kits provide equipment, training documentation and support to digitize or create born-digital resources. Local practitioners gain hands-on experience curating digital resources without incurring the expense of building and maintaining a digitization lab. Introducing mobile or circulating toolkits through… Read More…
Curating Indigenous Digital Collections
Presented at the Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference, November 5, 2020. Native Nations are charged with collecting, preserving, and sharing language and culture. Tribal cultural institutions not only preserve the belongings, stories, and words of their communities, they also protect tribal identity, knowledge, and sovereignty. Whereas most digital archives initiatives champion open access to content… Read More…
The Toolkit: File Naming
The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: My digital file names are a mess. Can you help? What did I name that digital file? Where did I save that spreadsheet? I know I just scanned that photo last week! Do… Read More…
Stoughton Public Library, Kvamme Local History Collection Case Study
The Kvamme Local History Collection at the Stoughton Public Library was established in 1984 by Lois Kvamme as a memorial to her husband, Torstein O. Kvamme, a former principal, band and history teacher at the local high school. Through gifts and donations, the collection has grown over the years. The digital collection includes Stoughton city… Read More…
Sauk City Public Library, Sauk City Property Histories and Pionier Presse Translations Case Study
Myrtle Cushing was a passionate local historian who collected material and pictures documenting the history of Sauk City, Wisconsin. In 1992, her work was translated into the book, Lives Lived Here by Michael Goc. As part of Sauk City Public Library’s (now the George Culver Community Library) digitization project, her book and very detailed notes… Read More…
Railroad and Logging Photos, Langlade County Historical Society Case Study
The mission of the Langlade County Historical Society (LCHS) is to preserve, advance, and disseminate knowledge of the history of Langlade County. This is done by the maintenance of a museum, local historical artifacts and archives, and historic sites on the museum campus. In addition, the LCHS prepares programs and publications dealing with local history…. Read More…
