Slides from the Winding Rivers Library system's Exploring Cultural History Online kickoff event, La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 19, 2014. The WRLS ECHO project is an LSTA-funded initiative to digitize photographs and postcards held by member libraries and local historical societies in the region. Presented by Emily Pfotenhauer, Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager, WiLS.

1. Exploring Cultural History Online
Emily Pfotenhauer, Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager, WiLS
emily@wils.org
Slides and handouts: recollectionwisconsin.org/wrls

2. Today’s
agenda
• Why digitize?
• Recollection
Wisconsin and how
the WRLS ECHO
project fits in
• Selecting materials
• Copyright issues
• Marketing your
collection
• Use of your collection Wisconsin Department of Transportation Library
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/compoundobject/collectio
n/WDTL/id/1151/rec/7

3. South Wood County Historical Museum
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collecti
on/swch/id/1229/rec/232
Why digitize?

4. South Wood County Historical Museum
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collecti
on/swch/id/1229/rec/232
Why digitize?
• Reach new audiences
• Improve access to
“invisible” materials
• Protect fragile or
heavily used materials
• Learn more about your
collections
• Connect to your
community
• Contribute to our
collective knowledge

5. Why digitize? – from WRLS grant application
• “Bring the rich local history of western
Wisconsin to the world.”
• “Help the residents of the WRLS area increase
their awareness of their civic heritage and the
unique features of their communities.”
• “Promote awareness of local public libraries as
community centers which gather, share and
preserve the elements of local history,
information and culture.”

6. recollectionwisconsin.org
provides free access to a
growing set of state and
local history resources
from the collections of
libraries, archives,
museums and historical
societies across Wisconsin.
South Wood County Historical Museum
http://content.mpl.org/u?/swch,64

7. Recollection Wisconsin
also provides guidelines,
training and support to
contributing partners and
offers opportunities for
visitors to share their
own stories, images and
comments.
UW-Madison Archives
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?repl1=UW&r
epl2=UW.uwar00831.bib

8. Program sponsors and partners
• WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services)
• Milwaukee Public Library
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Wisconsin Historical Society
• Nicholas Family Foundation
• Academic libraries, public libraries, archives,
museums, and historical societies around the
state
Wisconsin Historical Society
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/248

9. Current Contributing Partners
recollectionwisconsin.org/map

10. • Apply Recollection Wisconsin
standards and guidelines for digital
imaging, metadata, and digital
preservation
• Ensure that digitized resources are
freely available to the public for
personal, educational, informational,
recreational and research use
• Ensure that digitized resources are in
the public domain or cleared for public
access
• Accept responsibility for preservation
of digital master files
Contributing Partners are
expected to . . .
Mount Horeb Public Library
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?rep
l1=WI&repl2=WI.hitch0187.bib

11. Founded as Wisconsin Heritage Online in 2004
– Original mission: “to inspire education and discovery by
making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage available to the public
via the World Wide Web”
New name, Recollection Wisconsin, and new
website launched in 2013
– Addition to mission: “and provide opportunities for
audiences to discover personal connections to the past.”
Three Lakes Historical Society
http://content.mpl.org/u?/tlhs,88

12. Recollect:
to recall or
remember
Re-collect:
to bring
together
• Recollection means: the act or power of
recollecting, or recalling to mind;
remembrance
• Re-collection means: the act of
collecting, gathering, or assembling again
• It’s a “collection” of Wisconsin databases
• It’s a way to “re” connect to our
collective history
• It’s about “re” interpreting collections

13. June 2014: recollectionwisconsin.org includes…
134,540 historical resources
from 211 digital collections
…and more content is added every month.
McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids
http://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

14. Behind the recollectionwisconsin.org website is a
search engine that brings together information
about digital items contributed by our partners.
This search engine is like a bridge, linking users to
content from around the state.
Oshkosh Public Library
http://oshkoshpub.cdmhost.com/cdm/ref/collec
tion/p15089coll3/id/24

15. Eau Claire
Ashland
Metadata, links and thumbnail
images harvested by UW-Madison
GLS using OAI-PMH (Open Archives
Initiative Protocol for Metadata
Harvesting)
Search results link users back to
original sourceManitowoc

16. wiscohisto.tumblr.com

17. Online Exhibits: Stories from
Wisconsin Collections
--Civil Rights movement in
Milwaukee
--Bicycling in early Wisconsin
--Native American bandolier bags
--Wisconsin department stores
--Stories from city directories
--Deer hunting
What exhibits might come out of
this project?
--Life on the Mississippi
--Norwegians in Wisconsin
--??

18. Digital Public Library of America
dp.la
Bringing Wisconsin’s collections
to a national stage

19. Digital Public Library of America
dp.la
“The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together
the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and
makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain
the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to
works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to
the efforts and data of science.”
• Conversations are underway to establish a content hub
for DPLA in Wisconsin. Hubs are “the on-ramp to the
DPLA” for local organizations.
• Minnesota Digital Library reported a 50% increase in
digital collections use after joining the DPLA.

20. What do you
mean, digitize?
• Select materials
• Reformat materials (scan
or photograph)
• Add metadata
(descriptive information)
• Provide access
• Store and maintain digital
files and data (digital
preservation)
Wisconsin Historical SocietyMilwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

21. Defining a digital collection
• A good digital collection…
– Is open and publicly accessible
– Is searchable - Includes keywords and other descriptive
information (metadata) so users can find what they’re
looking for and learn more about individual items
– Uses software that is sustainable (will be around for a long
time) and interoperable (can be migrated or shared)
– Remains true to the original materials
– Respects intellectual property rights

22. Before you even start…..
• Don’t scan a mess! Take the time to assess and organize
your originals.
• A digital project is an ideal time to evaluate collection
conditions and rehouse materials as needed.
• Resources for collections care and organization:
– Wisconsin Historical Society Field Services staff
– Wisconsin Archives Mentoring Service
http://www.uwosh.edu/archives/wams/
– National Park Service Conserve-O-Grams
http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogra
m/cons_toc.html

23. Selecting materials (LSTA guidelines)
• Collections must have broad appeal
• May have research value and/or is of
particular interest to key audiences
• Organized around a specific subject, theme or
creator
• Manageable size/scale
• Related to the history, culture, environment,
government or economy of the state of
Wisconsin

24. Who’s your audience?
Milwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/
MilwWaterwa/id/462/rec/6

25. Who’s your audience?
Milwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/
MilwWaterwa/id/462/rec/6
• Local residents
• Former residents
• Students and teachers
• Genealogists
• Hobbyists (e.g. Civil War
re-enactors, railroad
buffs)
• Academic researchers
• Curious Wisconsinites

26. Selection - Setting Priorities
Ask yourself which materials are…
• most significant to your
community?
• most requested/
used?
• easiest?
• oldest?
• newest?
• at risk?
Wisconsin Historical Society WHi-36392

27. What’s already out there?
• Wisconsin Historical Society – Wisconsin Historical
Images: wisconsinhistory.org/whi
– Gerhard Gessel (Alma area)
– Charles Van Schaick (Black River Falls)
• La Crosse Public Library and UW-La Crosse – La
Crosse History Unbound: lacrossehistory.org
• UW-La Crosse
– Historic Steamboat Collection
– Campus history

28. Considering copyright:
Can I put this online?
• Disclaimer: I am not a
lawyer.
• Owning a physical item
does not necessarily (or
generally) mean you
hold the copyright to
that item.
UW-Milwaukee Libraries
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/coll
ection/gfmmke/id/483

29. Copyright:
Key Questions
• Is it published or
unpublished?
• When was it created?
• Who created it?
• Is the creator still alive?
Grant County Historical Society

30. What’s the copyright status?
• Item is in the public domain
– No longer under copyright; you’re free to use
• Item is in copyright
– Contact copyright holder to request permission to publish
online
• Item is an orphan work: presumed to be in copyright,
but copyright holder is unknown or cannot be
located
– You may decide to put online, but be prepared to remove
item from digital collection if challenged

31. What’s in the public domain in 2014?
• Any work published before 1923
• Works published between 1923-1977; copyright was
not registered or renewed
– studies show that 93% of 1923-1977 publications were not
renewed
• Unpublished works; creator died before 1944
– in copyright until 70 years after death of creator
• Unpublished, anonymous works created before 1894
– in copyright until 120 years after date of creation
• Works created by U.S. government or state of
Wisconsin employees as part of their official duties

32. Thinking about Orphan Works
• Orphan work = in copyright, but copyright holder
cannot be identified or located
• “Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices” (Society
of American Archivists, 2009): Outlines steps for
attempting to identify and locate rights holder in a
systematic, documented way, a.k.a. due diligence
• “Holdings in archival collections should be used, not
left unused because of obscure ownership status.”
• “Common sense should apply.” Older, anonymous, easy
to take down vs. Recent, professional, prominent

33. Dealing with Orphan Works
1) Who created it?
Look at context clues.
2) Who holds the rights?
Is the creator still alive? Copyright passes to heirs.
Was item produced as “work for hire”?
3) How do we locate the rights holder?
Look for archives that hold a creator’s papers.
Look at existing works about the creator.
Look for heirs/family members (genealogy).
Document the search – keep copies of all
correspondence.

34. Fair Use
Code of Best Practices in Fair
Use for Academic and
Research Libraries,
Association of Research
Libraries, 2012
“It is fair use to create digital
versions of a library’s special
collections and archives and
to make these versions
electronically accessible in
appropriate contexts.”
http://www.arl.org/storage/documents/publications
/fair-use-infographic-aug2013.pdf

35. Fair Use -- Caveats
• Materials should not be in print or easily available.
• Damaging or sensitive private information (such as
social security numbers) should be hidden.
• Full citations should properly identify and lead back
to the original. (importance of good metadata!)
• Attempts should be made to find copyright holders
and get permission. Libraries and archives should
document that they have taken these steps.

36. Copyright: use
caution and
common sense,
but don’t let it
paralyze you.
UW-Milwaukee Libraries
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/coll
ection/gfmmke/id/483

37. Copyright Exercise
1) What’s the
copyright status?
2) If you’re not sure,
how would you figure
it out?
3) What’s your next
step?
UW-Milwaukee Libraries
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/coll
ection/gfmmke/id/483

38. It’s online! Now what?
UW-Madison Archives

39. Getting the word out
• Send a press release to local media (template
provided by WRLS)
• Host an opening event or exhibition (developed
in coordination with WRLS)
• Printed promo materials (provided by WRLS)
• Send someone with a laptop to popular local
spots or events to demonstrate the collection
• Request that the Chamber of Commerce and
other relevant local organizations link to the new
digital collections from their websites.

40. Getting the word out (con’t)
• Add a link on your own website with an
introduction/historical context
• Highlight an item of the day/week/month on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
• Upload a few digitized images to Flickr with
descriptions that point back to your related digital and
physical collections.
• Contribute to relevant pages on Wikipedia and include
references pointing to specific digital materials.

41. Someone provides
more information or
suggests a correction.
Who will respond?
Who will update
the record?
South Wood County Historical Museum
http://content.mpl.org/u?/swch,139

42. Someone wants to
know more about an
image or a
photographer.
Do you have
reference staff
and/or local
experts who can
help?
UW-Madison Archives

43. Someone wants a
copy of an image.
How will you
provide it? On CD,
by email?
Will you charge a
fee?
Milwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collect
ion/HstoricPho/id/4367/rec/3

44. Someone wants
permission to publish
an image in a
book/magazine/newsl
etter.
Will permissions
need to be secured
from the rights
holder?
Wisconsin Historical Society WHi-19562

45. Someone says they don’t
want that photo of
themselves/their
grandfather/their child
online.
How do you respond?
Waterford Public Library

46. Tips from other digitizers
If I could do it all over again, I would:
– Tackle a smaller group of materials at first
– Make sure two people started the project at the same time
so we could help each other
– Start with a clearer plan
– Take the time to sort and research the physical collection
before digitizing
– Have firm deadlines to help me stay on track

47. McMillan Memorial Library
http://content.mpl.org/cdm/singleitem/collect
ion/mcml/id/178/rec/33
Twitter: @recollectionwi
Facebook:
facebook.com/recollectionwi
sconsin
Monthly email
newsletter: sign up at
recollectionwisconsin.org/newslett
ers

48. Thank You!
Mineral Point Historical Society
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/singleit
em/collection/mphs/id/3/rec/29
Emily Pfotenhauer,
Recollection Wisconsin
Program Manager, WiLS
emily@wils.org
Slides and handout:
recollectionwisconsin.org
/wrls