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G2S Project Code: 2021-WA-89477
State: Washington
Fiscal Year: 2021

Grantee
Washington State Library

Project Director
Director Name: Evan Robb
Director Phone: (360) 704-5228
Director Email: evan.robb@sos.wa.gov

General Information
Title: Washington Digital Heritage
State Project Code: 9550-2221-22
Start Date: 10/01/2021
End Date: 09/30/2022
Abstract: Washington Digital Heritage supports digitization and digital initiatives at libraries. The current project incorporates Washington Rural Heritage, a digitization project that provides online access to historical materials held by more than 150 of Washington’s smallest institutions. In addition, the Northwest DPLA Hub, a metadata node for digital cultural heritage established in 2020, continued to grow records. New partners this year included: Mid-Columbia Libraries, Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, San Juan Island Library District, Libraries of Stevens County, and Baker County (OR) Library District.
State Goal: Goal 2. Preserve and share Washington’s stories using methods and tools that balance accessibility

Budget Information

LSTA

MATCH-State

MATCH-Other

Total

$393,845.83

$0.00

$393,845.83

Intent(s)
Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
History

Activities
Activity Details
Title: Digitization creation by sub-awardees
Narrative:

Academic, public, and tribal libraries were invited to apply for digitization sub-awards to capture and preserve archival and special collections. We awarded 6 digital projects.

467 items (1,207 files) from current and past WRH partner libraries were processed, and ingested to the Washington Rural Heritage digital repository. Metadata was updated for 6,305 WRH records. LibGuide created for WDH2022-2023 grants.

Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital

Quantity
Number of items digitized: 6,773
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 6,773
Number of physical items: 0
Number of open-source applications/software/systems: 0
Number of proprietary applications/software/systems: 0
Number of learning resources (e.g. toolkits, guides): 1
Number of plans/frameworks: 0

Partner Information

Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No

Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No

Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General

Locale
Is the activity state-wide: No
Specific Locations: Yes
Name: Island County Historical Society
Address: 908 NW Alexander St/PO Box 305
City: Coupleville
State: WA
Zip: 98239
Name: Jefferson County Historical Society
Address: 540 Water St
City: Port Townsend
State: WA
Zip: 98368
Name: Pilchuck Glass School Library
Address: 1201 316th St NW
City: Stanwood
State: WA
Zip: 98282
Name: SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Address: 1000 4TH AVE
City: SEATTLE
State: WA
Zip: 98104
Name: Washington State University
Address: French Administration Building
City: Pullman
State: WA
Zip: 99164-5910
Name: WHITMAN COUNTY LIBRARY
Address: 102 S. MAIN STREET
City: COLFAX
State: WA
Zip: 99111

Activity Details
Title: Digitization Training and consultation
Narrative:

Washington State Library staff worked with 6 sub-grantees to carry out digitization projects and/or related digital initiatives. These individuals received in-person and virtual support and training in all aspects of digitization. Training was provided by state library staff in a variety of formats including face-to-face training, online workshops, project documentation (standards, manuals), and instructional videos. Additional support and consultation was provided by telephone, email, and web-conferencing software. As a result, their home institutional capacity to initiate and carry out local digitization programs has increased substantially.

The training included: 1) Project planning and management; 2) Selection of materials for digitization; 3) Copyright evaluation, documentation, and permissions; 4) Digital imaging, file formats, file management; 5) Digital image optimization and creation of derivatives; 6) Metadata creation and descriptive cataloging; 7) Advanced use of digital collections; and 8) Promoting the use of digital collections.

Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Consultation/drop-in/referral
Format: Combined in-person & virtual

Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 6
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 0

Partner Information

Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General

Locale
Is the activity state-wide: No
Specific Locations: Yes
Name: ASOTIN COUNTY LIBRARY
Address: 417 SYCAMORE ST.
City: CLARKSTON
State: WA
Zip: 99403
Name: Island County Historical Society
Address: 908 NW Alexander St/PO Box 305
City: Coupleville
State: WA
Zip: 98239
Name: Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Library
Address: 1033 Old Blyn Hwy
City: Sequim
State: WA
Zip: 98382
Name: Jefferson County Historical Society
Address: 540 Water St
City: Port Townsend
State: WA
Zip: 98368
Name: Pilchuck Glass School Library
Address: 1201 316th St NW
City: Stanwood
State: WA
Zip: 98282
Name: Squaxin Island Tribe Museum, Library, and Research Center
Address: 150 SE KWUH-DEEGS-ALTXW
City: Shelton
State: WA
Zip: 98584

Activity Details
Title: Northwest DPLA Local portal
Narrative: Staff created the first multi-state service hub to use DPLA Local, a regionally branded "slice" of the nationwide DPLA. The portal contains 512,065 records from more than 150 institutions, including major university collections, local historical societies, museums public libraries, and municipalities.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital

Quantity
Number of items digitized: 0
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 512,065
Number of physical items: 0
Number of open-source applications/software/systems: 0
Number of proprietary applications/software/systems: 0
Number of learning resources (e.g. toolkits, guides): 0
Number of plans/frameworks: 0

Partner Information

Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: Yes
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No

Public Libraries: 24
Academic Libraries: 6
SLAA: 2
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 9
School Libraries: 2
Other: 66

Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important outcomes or findings not previously reported:
Subawardees received in-person and virtual support and training in all aspects of digitization. As a result of hands-on, individualized training, their home-institutional capacity to initiate and carry out local digitization programs has increased substantially. Nine entirely new record series were digitized through grant funding, and four institutions continued to build upon or improve existing digital collections and/or records.
Please briefly describe the importance of these outcomes and findings for future program planning:
The success of this grant program is tied to its alignment with IMLS and Washington State Library goals, as well as its concerted effort to build upon existing best practices. The Washington Digital Heritage program, awarding grants since 2008, continues to receive grant applications from both new and returning library partners on an annual basis. This popularity underscores the key role libraries have in preserving, and making accessible, local history materials, collections, and knowledge. The program directly addresses our goal to: "Preserve and share Washington’s stories." The enthusiastic response from the library community also highlights the need for centralized digitization and digital preservation services, centralized digital repositories, and continuing education at the state and regional level. Finally, the consistent number of digital collection website views suggests that the general public has a continuing interest in or need for local history information, inaccessible records, and genealogical information. Digitized primary and secondary resources meet the particularly pressing demands of students to find and use primary source documents.
Explain one or two of the most significant lessons learned for others wanting to adopt any facets of this project:
State libraries can and should fulfill the need of smaller cultural heritage institutions to provide online access to their unique special collections. Creation of centralized digital repositories and portals and aggregation services are one way to meet this need.
Do you anticipate continuing this project after the current reporting period ends:
Yes
Do you anticipate any change in level of effort in managing this project:
No
Explain:

Do you anticipate changing the types of activities and objectives addressed by the project:
No
Explain:

Was an evaluation conducted for this project:
No
Was a final written evaluation report produced:
No
Can the final written evaluation report be shared publicly on the IMLS website:
No
Was the evaluation conducted by project staff (either SLAA or local library) or by a third-party evaluator:
Third-Party
What data collection tools were used for any report outcomes and outputs:
Did you collect any media for the data:
What types of methods were used to analyze collected data:
Other:
How were participants (or items) selected:
What type of research design did you use to compare the value for any reported output or outcome:

Exemplary: Yes
Exemplary NarrativeThe creation of the Northwest DPLA hub has been a major achievement. A collaboration of the Washington State Library, the State Library of Oregon, and the Oregon Historical Society, the Northwest DPLA hub has filled a vacuum for digital artifact metadata from this region. Now the hub has dozens of partners and more than half a million records have been funneled to DPLA, with many more to come.

Project Tags: oral history, oral histories, digital