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…
Digital Readiness
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…
Preserving At-Risk Acetate Reel to Reel Audio Recordings: A Case Study of the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Special Collections and Archives
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…
Preserving At-Risk 16mm Acetate Films: A Case Study of the Milwaukee Public Museum
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: 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…
Digital Readiness Fairs: That’s a Wrap!
The Digital Readiness Community of Practice has been an NHPRC-funded project at Recollection Wisconsin since 2019, and we’ve spent the past two years planning for, growing, learning about and implementing the statewide network of resources and practitioners. The Community of Practice and digital readiness efforts will continue to be a focus of Recollection Wisconsin, though… Read More…
Wisconsin Library Association: The Past Through Tomorrow – Empowering Digital History at the Library
In November 2021, Kristen Whitson (Recollection Wisconsin), Steven Rice (Door County Historical Museum) and Beth Renstrom (Sturgeon Bay Historical Society) presented at the Wisconsin Library Association conference. Session Description:“Recollection Wisconsin resources can prepare your library to respond to the digital heritage needs of your community. Join us to hear about Recollection Wisconsin’s NHPRC-funded Digital Readiness… Read More…
National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) Digital Preservation Conference: Building a Digital Readiness Community of Practice
On November 4, 2021, Kristen Whitson (WiLS Digital Projects Specialist) and Kristen Leffelman (Wisconsin Historical Society Southeast Outreach Coordinator), along with Jennifer Gurske (Madison Trust for Historic Preservation) and Dustin Mack (The History Museum at the Castle) presented virtually at the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA). The group shared the project origins and goals, project… Read More…
Wisconsin Historical Society Local History and Historic Preservation Conference: Digital Readiness Workshop
In October 2021, Emily Pfotenhauer and Kristen Whitson, both of Recollection Wisconsin, presented a Digital Readiness workshop at the Wisconsin Historical Society Local History and Historic Preservation conference. The 90-minute workshop guided participants through the first steps in Recollection Wisconsin’s Digital Project Planning worksheet (see the handout we used here). Building a Community of Practice… 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 Fair Hosts: In Their Own Words
Throughout Summer 2021, we facilitated four Digital Readiness Fairs where local history practitioners and invited guest experts shared their experiences working with digital projects including their challenges and successes, “best practices” and a few lessons learned along the way. Did you miss the Digital Readiness Fairs? We’ve got you covered! Content from all four Digital… 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…
Our Digital Readiness Fairs are officially underway!
On June 29, 2021, Appleton Public Library and their local history librarian, Katie Stilp, hosted our first of four summer events. Over 40 fair-goers enjoyed presentations from UW-Madison iSchool faculty Dorothea Salo who shared strategies for A/V preservation, Kitty Werner of the Oconto County Genealogical Society who talked about their newspaper digitization project, and Lawrence… Read More…
Sharing Local History Resources: A Digital Readiness Case Study
You digitized some of your favorite and most engaging materials from your local history collection – now what? Some local history organizations digitize collections to facilitate reference requests or reduce wear and tear on their oldest or most frequently handled materials. Others share images on their organization’s website or social media sites to generate community… 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…
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…
Digital readiness and mid-point musings
The Building a Statewide Digital Readiness Community of Practice project has passed its halfway point! We’ve submitted our mid-year report to the NHPRC, and it feels like a good time to reflect on our accomplishments, challenges, and observations. When we proposed the project in early 2020, the original plan called for the Launch Committee and… 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…
Midwest Archives Conference: Building a Statewide Digital Readiness Community of Practice
Earlier this spring, WiLS staff Vicki Tobias and Kristen Whitson presented at the Midwest Archives Conference annual conference on the Digital Readiness Community of Practice. Joined by Launch Committee members Robin Untz (Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society) and Janean Mollett Van Beckum (History Center of Washington County), the group shared the project origins and goals,… Read More…
“It’s all digital readiness, isn’t it?”
In past conversations and presentations, we’ve talked about the origins of this project and how it relates to other Recollection Wisconsin endeavors. Digital readiness and community building work is in our program DNA and, really, provides the foundation for so much of our work to digitize, share and preserve Wisconsin local history. Through our Digital… 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…
Save the Date for Virtual Digital Readiness Fairs
As the spring winds gust across the Wisconsin landscape, so too are we moving forward with the wind at our backs. This month in the Digital Readiness Community of Practice, we have several exciting developments to share. Digital fairs: Planning continues for our summer Digital Readiness Fairs. These free, half-day events will be held virtually… Read More…
Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center: A Digital Readiness Case Study
Located in Superior, Wisconsin, the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center preserves and honors the memory of Major Richard I. (Dick) Bong and all veterans of World War II and subsequent conflicts, and provides educational resources for the Twin Ports area community and beyond. A native of Poplar, Wisconsin, Major Bong was known as America’s… Read More…
Building a Digital Readiness Community of Practice Update: Why Digitize?
As we continue to compile tools and resources for local history organizations to tackle digital readiness, we keep returning to one of the foundational questions of this initiative: why digitize? What motivates historical societies and public libraries to digitize their collections? During the 2019 planning grant that inspired our work, 85 Wisconsin history organizations answered… Read More…
Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society: A Digital Readiness Case Study
Located in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, the Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society (the Museum) is dedicated to preserving and sharing local pioneer and ancient Native American history. The Museum site opened in 1942, a year after the Society was founded. The Museum comprises seven pioneer buildings including the 1852 Baptist Church which houses the Society’s artifact… Read More…
Rolling Out the Digital Readiness Levels
Over the past few months, we have been busy gathering feedback from experts and colleagues and honing the Digital Readiness Levels. The Levels are a structured roadmap for organizations to plan and sustainably grow their digital initiatives in order to improve access to collections, and a foundational resource for the Digital Readiness Community of Practice…. Read More…
Madison Trust for Historic Preservation: A Digital Readiness Case Study
Since 1974, the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation (Madison Trust) has focused on advocacy for and education about Madison, Wisconsin’s historic places. The organization is managed by a Board and Administrative Office Manager Jennifer Gurske and has relied on a volunteer board of trustees and community volunteers invested in local history preservation. Digitization project beginnings… Read More…
Workshopping the Digital Readiness Levels
One of the foundational resources we are creating as part of the Digital Readiness Community of Practice project is a road map for embarking on digital collections development work. Based on the NDSA’s Levels of Digital Preservation, our Digital Readiness Levels offer a structure for organizations to plan and sustainably grow their digital initiatives in… Read More…
Project Launch: Building A Digital Readiness Community of Practice
Building a Digital Readiness Community of Practice is officially underway! Our intrepid Launch Committee, Recollection Wisconsin and Wisconsin Historical Society staff met on October 30 for two hours of (re)introductions, robust discussion, brainstorming and community-building. What’s this project all about? In short, we’re building a collaborative, community-driven program to foster skills and infrastructure necessary to… 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…
We’re Hiring a Digital Readiness Program Assistant!
Join our team! We’re looking for a program assistant to work with Recollection Wisconsin program staff at WiLS to support 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 necessary for digital readiness in small and… Read More…
NHPRC Funds “Building a Statewide Digital Readiness Community of Practice”
We are thrilled to announce our implementation grant proposal – Building a Statewide Digital Readiness Community of Practice – was fully funded. This one-year project slated to begin later in 2020, builds on work completed through a 2019 National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) planning grant and will support “digital readiness” in small and… 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…
Update: Planning (and Building!) a Statewide Digital Readiness Community of Practice
That’s a wrap on our planning project! Over the past six months, we collaborated closely with local history practitioners across Wisconsin to better understand their needs related to digital collections creation, management and preservation. 127 individuals representing over 90 different Wisconsin local history and historic preservation organizations responded to our survey in August 2019. Survey… Read More…
Planning for a Digital Readiness Community of Practice – Community Conversations
The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), Recollection Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) are collaborating on a grant-funded project, Planning a Digital Readiness Community of Practice, to assess local historical societies’ “digital readiness.” They are working together to learn more about Wisconsin local history affiliates’ capacity to digitize and share their historic collections online. Throughout September, we… Read More…
Help Us Assess and Plan for Digital Readiness in Wisconsin!
Do you work with a local historical society, historic preservation group, or other organization affiliated with the Wisconsin Historical Society? Help us assess and plan for digital readiness in Wisconsin, and develop a plan for a Digital Readiness Community of Practice that will increase your capacity to create, manage and share digitized historical resources. Please… Read More…
National Archives Grant Will Support Strategic Planning
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero has awarded $3,492,445 for 35 projects in 21 states to improve public access to historical records. WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services), the program manager for the Recollection Wisconsin consortium, was awarded $22,547 from the National Archives grants program to undertake a community-driven strategic planning process intended to build… 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…
