Since 2016, Recollection Wisconsin has proudly served as a hub for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), connecting users with a wealth of digital cultural heritage items. This collaboration allowed materials from Recollection Wisconsin to be seamlessly integrated into the national DPLA platform, expanding the accessibility of Wisconsin-based content to researchers far and wide. The DPLA team played a crucial role in designing the national infrastructure, conducting quarterly ingests, and fostering a professional community of practice for hub representatives.
However, change is on the horizon. Following an extensive strategic evaluation, the DPLA has announced that it is embarking on the search for a new institutional home. You can find more details in their announcement here. They will be taking proposals and expressions of interest from institutions willing to host these operations over the next few months, and will spend the second half of 2024 transitioning operations to that selected new home.
Now, let’s address what this means for Recollection Wisconsin:
Fear not! Recollection Wisconsin, as you know and love it, isn’t going anywhere. Whatever happens with the search for a new institutional home for DPLA, the Wisconsin-based collections will continue to be hosted and harvested within the state, ensuring that researchers will still receive the reliable results they’ve come to expect.
Harvests into DPLA are expected to continue on schedule until the end of 2024. We hope to have more information about any changes to the harvest schedule in the coming months.
The primary shift may be at the national level. We don’t know yet what the new search functions will do or how content will be curated to fit with other states’ materials. The national search will probably look a bit different than the DPLA portal does now, but we just don’t know yet. Regardless of nation-wide changes, Recollection Wisconsin is here to stay in our state, and we continue to explore collaborations with regional and national partners to ensure the widest possible audience for Wisconsin’s unique historical treasures.
Stay tuned for updates as we navigate this transition. For now, we want to assure our content partners, users, and stakeholders that Recollection Wisconsin’s commitment to our state is as robust and secure as ever. Get ready for the next chapter in the story!
