Our Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative spring cohort commenced last week with a 3-hour virtual training event. Participants learned more about Recollection Wisconsin, the Digital Public Library of America and WiLS. Recollection Wisconsin staff presented key digitization best practices and shared knowledge, tools and resources to support students’ scanning, metadata creation, folder- and file-naming and organization schemes, digital preservation, and creating project documentation.
The four project teams had time to review their specific project plan, discuss goals and outcomes, and learn more about their host site and its mission and collections. The entire cohort discussed program logistics and expectations, reviewed a few schedules and wrapped up the morning with Q and A. We’ll share more about each team and updates on their unique project work in the coming weeks. Thanks to WiLS staff Kristen Whitson, Nick Smith, Erin Hughes and Melissa McLimans for their time and contribution to this fun and informative event!
Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative virtual training session.
Meet our spring 2025 cohort!
- Elizabeth Feucht (UW-Milwaukee SOIS) will work with Menomonee Falls Public Library local history room coordinator and business manager Ellen Rohr and adult services librarian John Kruse to digitize scrapbooks, meeting minutes and membership directories documenting the Menomonee Falls Women’s Club and community school history.
- Jaime Jorns (San Jose State University iSchool) will work with Washington Island Town Museums director Nina Herbst to digitize and photograph materials from the Jacobsens Museum established in 1931 by Jens Jacobsen (1867-1952), an Island resident born in Denmark. The collection includes models of both contemporary and historical boats and scrollwork design pieces. Thanks to the Egg Harbor Library for providing workspace for this project.
- Russell Knapp (UW-Madison iSchool) will work with the Middleton Area Historical Society Board members, staff and volunteers Ruth Bachmeier, Kristi Warriner and Carolyn Mattern to digitize materials and photos that document the history of tourism and hospitality in the Middleton area including images of Middleton hotels, businesses, street scenes, restaurants, dance halls, and modes of transportation. Thanks to Community CoWorks in Middleton for providing workspace during the winter months.
- Rebecca Silber (UW-Milwaukee SOIS) will work with Milwaukee Art Museum staff Frank Foss and Heather Winter to digitize materials from the Brooks Stevens Archive. Brooks Stevens was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles, passenger railroad cars, and motorcycles, and a graphic designer and stylist. During his career, Stevens worked on designs for Harley Davidson, Miller Brewing Company, and Oscar Meyer, and many other companies. Fun fact! Stevens is credited with developing the wide-mouth peanut butter jar.
This program brings together Wisconsin content partners and information school graduate students to create new digital collections. Content partners will choose collections to digitize, and student staff will handle the digitization, metadata work, and project documentation creation as part of a paid practicum or independent study experience. Most digitized collections will be added to Recollection Wisconsin throughout the year.
Student activities include scanning or digital photography, metadata creation, project management, documentation creation, and digital file organization. Students may also attend meetings and events held by their host site, train volunteers on digitization best practices, write a blog post and/or give a presentation about their project to their host site’s Board or other community organizations. All participants will receive training and ongoing support from Recollection Wisconsin staff including a semester-long curriculum based on our Digital Readiness Toolkit.
Welcome to the spring cohort participants. We’re excited to work with you to digitize, share, and preserve Wisconsin local history resources! Much gratitude to our partners at the UW-Milwaukee SOIS and UW-Madison iSchool and the state of Wisconsin for enabling this opportunity in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025.
For further details, visit Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative or contact Vicki Tobias at vicki@wils.org.
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