The Connecticut History Online (CHO) project began as a collaboration between three institutions to digitize and provide online access to items from their collections. Over time, the goals expanded to include more partner institutions and a wider range of materials. While grants provided initial funding, sustainability has been an ongoing challenge requiring the addition of new partners, permanent staff, and a nonprofit structure. Lessons learned include the importance of long-term funding commitments, allowing time for new partners to join, and having some partners take leadership roles to serve the broader group's interests.

1. From Project to Program: Connecticut History Online http://www.cthistoryonline.org

2. The Case Study Little background on CHO Our sustainability efforts Lessons learned

3. Initial goal of CHO Digitize and catalog items from collections

4. Museum-Historical Society-Library Collaboration– Initially Three Partner Institutions http://www.cthistoryonline.org The Connecticut Historical Society The University of Connecticut Thomas J. Dodd Research Center Mystic Seaport

5. CHO II Expand ed on a cooperative model of shared responsibility and equal project ownership Added partners: Connecticut State Library New Haven Colony Historical Society

6. Evolving goals of CHO Expand the scope and variety of materials represented in the digital collection: manuscript collections, maps, drawings, broadsides, oral histories, sound recordings, costumes, art and artifacts, and more...

7. Evolving Goals of CHO Enhance site usefulness and usability for our target audience Add more partners

8. Funding IMLS Leadership Grants 2000-2001 [note gap] 2003-2005 Some additional grants Some costs covered by institutions

9. Original Staffing CHO I & II dedicated staff: Project Coordinator hired by project Management Committee – works with Management Committee and directly oversees all aspects of project, including training Three catalogers (hired by partner institutions) Outside vendors do some tasks

10. Building a Collaborative Framework: Strong Committee structure Listservs Documentation on Web site http://www.cthistoryonline.org

11. Team approach: CHO Committees Management Selection Cataloging Education Technical/Web Design http://www.cthistoryonline.org

12. Team approach: Management Committee Budgets Task timelines Overall decision-making Coordination of staff http://www.cthistoryonline.org

13. Challenges: http://www.cthistoryonline.org Structural/cultural issues Diverse institutional cultures Implementing decisions Staff support of grant-funded work Sustaining the site

14. Opportunities/Benefits of Multiple Partners Complementary strengths in developing a digital collection of use to audiences Museums : expertise in interpretation, educational outreach Libraries : organization of/access to collections, technical expertise, familiarity with standards http://www.cthistoryonline.org

15. Opportunities/Benefits Improved access to institutional holdings Digitization of materials Cataloging of materials Web access to materials (alternative for some, sole venue for others) Acquisition of high-resolution surrogates Reduces or eliminates need to retrieve originals http://www.cthistoryonline.org

16. Opportunities/Benefits Greater public awareness of partner institutions Research inquiries Reproduction requests (new income) Resource for public outreach (educational programming) http://www.cthistoryonline.org

17. Opportunities/Benefits Sharing knowledge and expertise— partner institutions gain understanding of/facility with Technical infrastructure involved in digital collections – hardware & software Best practices Digitization standards and options Metadata standards and options … That inform local planning, decision-making and practice http://www.cthistoryonline.org

18. Challenges to Date CHO project partners have been trying to: Find permanent funding Stabilize the platform Add new partners Move from contributed staff to “permanent” staff http://www.cthistoryonline.org

19. Challenge of Sustainability Words from WebWise* Users expect it Integrate--Digital resources as part of core mission Collaborate Project program Identify audiences and their needs (ongoing) http://www.cthistoryonline.org *IMLS WebWise 2005 Conference Business Planning Workshop

20. Planning for Sustaining CHO Business plan Non-profit corporation New partners/members Member services Continue to develop content, functionality http://www.cthistoryonline.org

21. Sustaining the Project http://www.cthistoryonline.org Partners continuing to make individual contributions: Uconn – ContentDM and technical support Mystic Seaport – administrative State Library Grants ContentDM

22. Late 2005: CHO II Web site launch http://www.cthistoryonline.org Collaborators in this project include: Connecticut Humanities Council Connecticut State Library and Iconn.org, and Connecticut History Online, Encyclopedia of Connecticut History Online (ECHO)

23. Late 2005: CHO II Web site launch http://www.cthistoryonline.org Project of the Connecticut Humanities Council Funding both ECHO and CHO Working together on Fundraising Both are hiring staff CHO has hired a Coordinator ECHO/CHO Partnership

24. Lessons Learned Can’t count on grants Adding new partners takes time and staff One or more institutions have to take some ownership for the “greater good” Collaborations are not easy Some partners will be more equal than others http://www.cthistoryonline.org

25. Questions? http://www.cthistoryonline.org

26. Thank You Kendall Wiggin [email_address] 860.757.6510 www.cslib.org www.cthistoryonline.org http://www.cthistoryonline.org