Digital Preservation

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…

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…

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…

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…

Digital Readiness Fairs: Registration Now Open!

Join Recollection Wisconsin and local history practitioners this summer at one of four virtual Digital Readiness Fairs! These free, half-day events offer a mix of activities and learning opportunities, and showcase digitization work from around the state. Hear from local history practitioners and how they have tackled digitization projects, including challenges, successes, and lessons learned… Read More…

Meet Kristen Whitson!

Hi all! I’m Kristen Whitson, joining WiLS and Recollection Wisconsin as the Digital Readiness Program Assistant. I’m so excited to get started on October 1. This position is a one-year, National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)-funded initiative, Building a Wisconsin Digital Readiness Community of Practice. This collaborative, community-driven program will foster the skills and infrastructure… Read More…

The Toolkit: Digitizing Yearbooks

The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: I’d like to digitize my community’s high school yearbooks, but I’m concerned about copyright, harmful content and privacy issues, especially if we add these to our online public collection. Who doesn’t love old… Read More…

The Toolkit: Rights Statements

The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: My digital collection is a mix of public domain and in-copyright materials. How will my users know what they can and can’t use? Generally speaking, until recently there haven’t been widely used standards… Read More…

The Toolkit: Digitizing Indigenous Materials

The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: Our institution has a collection of materials that are related to Indigenous communities of Wisconsin. We are interested in digitizing these materials. How should we go about this? As mentioned in the February… Read More…

CCDC…That’s All Folks!

Thank you for your support of Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC). This two-year, IMLS-funded program completed in December 2019. In the coming months, we will make available our program curriculum and our process for creating CCDC. Congratulations and thank you to all the students, mentors and host sites who participated in CCDC in 2018 and… Read More…

The Toolkit: Can We Digitize and Put These Images Online? Should We?

The Toolkit brings together resources for creating, managing, and sharing digital collections to address common concerns we often hear, like this one: Our library has a collection of photographs that shows the people, places, and events of our town. The earliest photographs are probably from the early 1900s and the most recent date to the 1970s…. Read More…

The Toolkit: Three Resolutions for Better File Management in 2020

Recollection Wisconsin’s Digital Projects Toolkit brings together guidelines, tools and resources for creating, managing and sharing digital collections. In this monthly series, we’ll address some common questions and concerns we often hear from libraries, archives and museums tackling digital work. Have a question you’d like answered? Contact us! To kick things off, we’ll take a… Read More…

Digital Preservation Advocacy

Earlier this month, Emily Pfotenhauer and Vicki Tobias delivered a WiLSWorldShorts webinar focused on Digital Preservation Advocacy. Webinar slides, recording and a list of supporting resources are all available on the WiLS website. This hour-long webinar introduced participants to key concepts related in digital preservation work for libraries, archives and cultural heritage institutions. Topics included… Read More…

Curating Community Digital Collections: Final Cohort Update

Where has the time gone? It’s practically September and the Recollection Wisconsin consortium is winding down Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) and helping our year two (and final) cohort wrap up their digital preservation projects. (cue fireworks) Over the past two years, it’s been inspiring to witness the power of collaboration in practice and to support CCDC… Read More…

Training the Trainers Community Archiving Workshop – Building Audiovisual Preservation Capacity in Wisconsin

What is a Community Archiving Workshop? Recollection Wisconsin is one of three national anchor sites for the Community Archiving Workshop Regional Training of Trainers (TOT) program, supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) is a project of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) designed… Read More…

New Opportunities

by Sam Steingraeber, CCDC student One of the advantages of writing this post near the end of my tenure in the Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) program is that I can reflect on the experience as a whole, from the workshop in Madison, to the weekly trips to the Rock County Historical Society in Janseville,… Read More…

Building a Strong Foundation for Digital Collection Development at Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society

by Robin Untz and Claire Flood for Curating Community Digital Collections Part I: Our Organization – The Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Societyby Robin Untz, President, Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society When the Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society was established in 1941, its purpose was to preserve the town’s original brick church (1852) by transforming it… Read More…

Preserving Digital Interactive Exhibits at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County

My name is Stephanie Surach and I’m earning my MLIS at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies. I’m very excited to be part of the CDCC 2019 cohort and to have the opportunity to work on digital preservation at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County in Green Bay. The Neville Public Museum has an extensive… Read More…

History + Technology Inspires Career Path for Winter

By Jon Winter, Business Manager for the Douglas County Historical Society in Superior and site supervisor for CCDC Team DCHS. Jon is a lifelong resident of Douglas County with family roots in the County dating back to the early 1890s.  Curating digital collections brings together under one roof two of my greatest interests: history and computers. I… Read More…

Preserving Veterans’ Stories Through Digital Preservation

My name is Briana Fiandt and I’m the Curator of Collections at the Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, WI.  I am the site supervisor for this summer’s CCDC program and I’m so excited about the project that we have undertaken.   The Bong Historical Center is a museum dedicated to telling the stories… Read More…

Digital Preservation at Douglas County Historical Society

My name is Taylor Kelley, and this fall I’ll be beginning my final semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Information Studies, where I’m working on an MLIS degree with an archives concentration. I’m really excited to be participating in the Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) program this summer and see it as an… Read More…

McMillan Memorial Library and South Wood County Museum join forces to preserve digital content

This is Colin McGinnis the Adult Services Manager at the McMillan Memorial Library. Our director, Andy Barnett, in coordination with the South Wood County Museum got us involved in this year’s Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) project. I have enjoyed the process of getting reacquainted with digital collections. I had metadata for digital collections course… Read More…

Digital Preservation Workflows and Policies at UW River Falls

Hello, everyone – I’m Kristen Whitson, an MLIS student at the UW Madison Information School.  I’m glad, proud, excited, nervous, challenged, and thrilled to be a part of this year’s CCDC cohort! This summer, I’m working with the UW River Falls University Archives and their University Archivist Morgan Paavola.  Morgan has been in her role… Read More…

Organizing Oral Histories at the Bong Veterans Historical Center

My name is Laura Vavrosky and I’m thrilled to be part of the Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) program this summer. After taking several classes in Library and Information Studies through the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I’m eager to apply my knowledge of metadata and information organization to a practical cause. The 3-day workshop all CCDC… Read More…

CCDC Student Georgia Brown Begins Work at Door County Library

My name is Georgia Brown, and I am about to start my final year of the coordinated History and Library Science Master’s program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am so excited to be working with Door County Library in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin this summer on their digital preservation practices. Studying history really highlights how… Read More…

New Partnership to Support AV Archiving

Recollection Wisconsin is excited to announce that we are an anchor site for the Community Archiving Workshop Regional Training of Trainers (TOT) program. The Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) is a project of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) designed to address the challenge of obsolescence in audiovisual collections. First launched in 2010, the CAW model is designed to help community… Read More…

Six Questions with Amy Rudersdorf

We’ve had the good fortune to collaborate with AVP Senior Consultant, Amy Rudersdorf, for the past year. Amy has been instrumental in helping us develop the workshop and training content for Curating Community Digital Collections, as well as providing advice on a range of questions related to digital preservation and serving as a “mentor to our mentors.” As such, we thought you might like to know a bit more about Amy, her background and experience, and thoughts about digital stewardship work. … Read More…

Announcing the 2019 CCDC Host Sites

Congratulations to the following Wisconsin cultural heritage institutions and information agencies selected to participate in Year Two of the IMLS-funded Curating Community Digital Collections program: Appleton Public Library, Appleton College of Menominee Nation, Keshena Door County Library, Sturgeon Bay Douglas County Historical Society, Superior Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society, Lake Mills McMillan Memorial Library /… Read More…

Curating Community Digital Collections – Points of Pride 2018

Our sincere thanks to everyone who supported and/or participated in Curating Community Digital Collections in 2018. We are grateful for your time and continued support of digital stewardship work throughout Wisconsin (and beyond!). Thank you CCDC students Jodi Kiffmeyer, Jessica Behrman, Sarah Lange, Kristina Warner, Cameron Fontaine and Steve Moray; mentors Stacey Erdman, Jesse Henderson,… Read More…

CCDC 2018 Resources: Student-created Policies, Workflows and Documentation

Last summer, our CCDC students worked with their host sites and mentors to develop digital preservation policies, workflows, and other documentation. Selected examples of these documents are now available on the CCDC website for other cultural heritage organizations to review and adapt for their own digital stewardship work. CCDC 2018 Resources/Student-created policies, workflows and other documents: https://recollectionwisconsin.org/digipres/2018resources… Read More…

Recollection Wisconsin Staff Share Projects Around the State (and Beyond!)

We’ve been on the road this fall, promoting Recollection Wisconsin and our projects that champion digital stewardship of local history resources –- Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) and Listening to War: Digitizing Wisconsin’s Wartime Oral Histories. Here’s a recap of our adventures! We rolled into La Crosse, Wisconsin on October 24th for the 2018 Wisconsin… Read More…

CCDC 2019: Apply to Participate!

Curating Community Digital Collections

We’re now accepting applications from Wisconsin libraries, archives, museums and historical societies to participate in Year Two of our IMLS-funded Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) program. In 2019, CCDC will support a cohort of ten teams. Each team will include a graduate student from the iSchool at UW-Madison or the School of Information Studies at… Read More…

Recollection Wisconsin at Fall Conferences

Are you headed to the Wisconsin Library Association conference in La Crosse or the Local History-Historic Preservation conference in Elkhart Lake later this month? Say hi to the Recollection Wisconsin team! CCDC Project Coordinator Vicki Tobias and Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager Emily Pfotenhauer will be in the WLA Exhibit Hall, Booth 13, Wednesday and Thursday… Read More…

Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference 2018

Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference

Registration is now open for the Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference (#UMDCC18) at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota November 8-9. Join your digital collections colleagues for 1.5 days of networking, sharing of best practices, and hands-on learning. View conference schedule Register The Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference features: Keynote speaker Abigail Potter (Digital… Read More…

WiLS interview: Vicki Tobias, Program Coordinator, Curating Community Digital Collections

Vicki Tobias, our coordinator for the IMLS-funded CCDC program, recently gave an interview to WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services), the 501(c)(3) member organization that manages the Recollection Wisconsin consortium. Read about her work with CCDC and with the iSchool at UW-Madison, her favorite podcasts, her forays into playing bass guitar, and her chihuahuas Peppi and Diego!… Read More…

CCDC Host Reflections: La Crosse Public Library Archives

Hello from La Crosse! I’m Scott Brouwer, Archivist at the La Crosse Public Library Archives. In my position, I enjoy the many things in which I am involved, including collection processing, website management, digital content management, research assistance, media consulting, local history reference, photo scanning, metadata creation, and extensive local history programming. I would encourage… Read More…

CCDC Host Reflections: Outagamie Waupaca Library System

Hello! I’m Amanda Lee, the OWLSnet Manager with the Outagamie Waupaca Library System. OWLSnet is a library consortium consisting of 29 libraries (with 49 service locations) in the Outagamie Waupaca Library System and the Nicolet Federated Library System. One of my main goals as the OWLSnet Manager is to provide services for this consortium, including… Read More…

WiLSWorld 2018: Innovations in Digital Projects

This session for WiLSWorld 2018, July 24 in Madison, highlighted new tools and innovative approaches Wisconsin libraries are using to create, share and preserve digital collections. Presenters: Vicki Tobias, Program Coordinator, Curating Community Digital Collections, WiLS Ann Hanlon, Head, Digital Collections and Initiatives and DH Lab, UW-Milwaukee Randi Ramsden, Program Coordinator, National Digital Newspaper Program,… Read More…

CCDC: Vicki on the Road, Part 1

Cameron Fontaine, Amy Meyer and mentor Pete Shrake (Circus World Museum) in collections storage at the Manitowoc County Historical Society.

This month, I am thrilled to be visiting each of our Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) host sites for an extended check-in with each team. It’s been almost two months since our immersion workshop in Madison where we introduced CCDC participants to basic digital preservation concepts and best practices, tools and workflows for preservation tasks,… Read More…

CCDC Student Reflections: Rock County Historical Society

Team Rock County: host site supervisor Kristin Arnold (RCHS Archives Manager), team mentor Stacey Erdman (Digital Archivist, Beloit College) and Sarah Lange. Not pictured: Kathy Boguszewski, RCHS Volunteer/Internship Recruiter.

I’m Sarah Lange, and I’ll begin my second year at UW-Madison’s iSchool in the fall. This summer I’m working at Rock County Historical Society in Janesville, Wisconsin. I’m developing a digital preservation policy as well as oral history best practices and a workflow for managing the society’s Story Squad collection, which includes story cards, short… Read More…

CCDC Student Reflections: La Crosse Public Library Archives

Team OWLS: Jessica Behrman, team mentor Jesse Henderson (Digital Services Librarian at the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center) and host site supervisor Scott Brouwer (LPL Archivist).

Hi! I’m Jessica Behrman, and I am about to enter my second year at the Information School at UW-Madison. My practicum this summer is with the La Crosse Public Library Archives, where I’m working on creating workflows for digital photograph ingestion, migrating existing content into new digital collections, and implementing quality control measures going forward…. Read More…

CCDC Student Reflections: Outagamie Waupaca Library System

Team OWLS: Mentor Amy Cooper Cary (Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University), host site supervisor Amanda Lee (OWLSnet Manager) and Kristina Warner.

Hello, I’m Kristina Warner! I am starting my second year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the Information School specializing in archival management. This summer I am working with the Outagamie Waupaca Library System in Appleton, Wisconsin. The biggest projects that we are working on are creating a digital preservation policy, workflow and data management… Read More…

CCDC Student Reflections: Barron County

Jodi Kiffmeter at the Barron County Historical Society

Hello! I’m Jodi Kiffmeyer, a student at UW-Madison’s iSchool. Last semester I rediscovered a passion for family and community history while taking a genealogy course at the iSchool. Unfortunately, I also discovered that it’s not always easy to find historical information online when your family comes from rural northern Wisconsin, as mine does. That’s one… Read More…

CCDC Workshop Wrapup

Reviewing key concepts and terms, CCDC immersion workshop 2018.

On May 22, Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) participants convened at the Lowell Center in Madison, Wisconsin for an intensive training experience – an immersion workshop focused on digital preservation. The event also functioned as the official launch of CCDC’s year one summer projects. Over three days, the workshop offered a range of presentations and… Read More…

IMLS-funded digital preservation initiative launches

Curating Community Digital Collections, our two-year IMLS-funded digital preservation initiative, officially launched on December 1. Recollection Wisconsin is thrilled to welcome Vicki Tobias as the Program Coordinator for this new project. In this role, Vicki will work with staff at small and mid-sized libraries and cultural heritage organizations, graduate students in the library schools at… Read More…

Digitizing at-risk media with RADD

Recovering Analog and Digital Data (RADD), in the Laboratory Library at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at UW-Madison, is a collection of equipment for digitizing audio cassettes, VHS tapes, floppy disks and other outmoded media formats. The oral histories, musical performances, and other unique information stored on these types of materials are… Read More…