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G2S Project Code: 2022-CO-91678
State: Colorado
Fiscal Year: 2022

Grantee
Colorado State Library

Project Director
Director Name: Leigh Jeremias, Digital Collections Senior Consultant
Director Phone: 303-335-0709
Director Email: ljeremias@coloradovirtuallibrary.org

General Information
Title: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
State Project Code: 162K
Start Date: 10/01/2022
End Date: 09/30/2023
Abstract: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) provides free online access to 730+ newspaper titles published in Colorado from 1859 to 2023. Newspapers within the collection come from throughout the state, and include papers published in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Slavic, Serbian, and Swedish. CHNC provides access to over 3.7 million digitized pages from these newspapers. Newspapers are digitized from microfilm or from the original paper publication. CHNC uses Veridian Software, which was designed specifically for providing access to digitized newspapers. State Library staff manage partner and vendor relationships and communications; evaluate condition and quality of newspaper content; manage project timeline and processes; perform quality assurance of digital content; maintain the technical infrastructure; and participate in project outreach and education. Deliberate focus was made to add content from non-mainstream sources, including more titles from underrepresented geographic areas including small and rural areas, unrepresented communities including African American and Japanese American, foreign language materials, and alternative viewpoints and perspectives.
State Goal: Resource sharing

Budget Information

LSTA

MATCH-State

MATCH-Other

Total

$82,949.68

$92,157.46

$0.00

$175,107.14

Intent(s)
Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.
General (select only for electronic databases or other data sources)
History

Activities
Activity Details
Title: Consultations
Narrative: Staff consulted with cultural heritage institutions regarding the addition of content into the database. Consultations included discussion of the process, estimates of costs involved, logistics, grant applications, timelines, and content analysis.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

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

Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 71
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 6

Partner Information

Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
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

Public Libraries: 15
Academic Libraries: 2
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 27
School Libraries: 3
Other: 10

Activity Details
Title: Newspaper Digitization
Narrative: Staff managed the process of creating digital surrogates of original newspapers and newspapers on microfilm to be included in CHNC. This process included evaluation of original newspapers or newspapers on microfilm, delivery of that content to digitization vendor, review of digital files from vendor, delivery of files to processing vendor and delivery of files with metadata that are ingested into CHNC.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital

Quantity
Number of items digitized: 76,356
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 76,356
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

Public Libraries: 17
Academic Libraries: 3
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 4
School Libraries: 3
Other: 7

Question 1: I am satisfied that the resource is meeting library needs.
Strongly Agree: 15
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: Applying the resource will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 15
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0

Activity Details
Title: MARC Record Repository
Narrative: The CHNC MARC record database provides a z39.50 compliant database of MARC records to facilitate the retrieval of full, title-level MARC records for all titles currently represented in the CHNC collection. Each MARC record contains a link to the specific title on the CHNC platform from which users can search within the title, browse available issues, and explore related titles. Marmot Sideload: Through a periodic sideload of MARC records, libraries that are part of the Marmot Library Network, a consortium of 40 Colorado libraries and Marmot’s Colorado discovery partners enjoy access to MARC records for all 722+ (and counting) CHNC titles in the shared Pika discovery layer, where they will be available for search and discovery.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital

Quantity
Number of items digitized: 46
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 46
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

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: Colorado Library Consortium
Address: 7400 E. Arapahoe Road, Ste. 75
City: Centennial
State: CO
Zip: 80112
Name: Colorado State Library
Address: 201 East Colfax Avenue, #309
City: Denver
State: CO
Zip: 80203-1799
Name: Marmot Library Network
Address: 123 North 7th Street, Suite 302
City: Grand Junction
State: CO
Zip: 81501
Question 1: I am satisfied that the resource is meeting library needs.
Strongly Agree: 5
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: Applying the resource will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 5
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0

Activity Details
Title: CHNC Presentation
Narrative: CHNC program coordinator presented an overview of the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) for the Garfield County Public Library System. Participants learned about key website features, tips and tricks for searching, the digitization process used to grow the CHNC, and how titles are added to the collection.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Presentation/performance
Format: In-person

Quantity
Presentation/performance length (minutes): 60
Number of presentations/performances administered: 1
Average number in attendance per session: 15

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: GARFIELD COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
Address: 207 EAST AVENUE
City: RIFLE
State: CO
Zip: 81650

Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important outcomes or findings not previously reported:
During FY22 it was demonstrated that partners and users continued to be pleased with CHNC. The number of participating partner institutions grew as did the number of CHNC users. Awareness of the service was achieved through outreach activities such as social media posts, online articles, and partner consultations. While CHNC has consistently added material since its inception, FY22 saw an increase of over 1 million pages (over 76,000 issues) and 130 new titles. Longtime partners, new partners and CHNC end users were pleased with the broader content types that were included such as agricultural bulletins and newsletters, underrepresented geographic areas, foreign language newspapers, as well as larger runs of newspapers of record such as the Rocky Mountain News and the Aspen Daily News. This increase in content was due in part to continued outreach efforts which included Facebook and blog posts to the Colorado State Library Facebook account and the Colorado Virtual Library blog, and mail list posts highlighting the platform's text correcting feature, tips on how to efficiently use CHNC, and new additions to the CHNC collection. These continued outreach efforts created greater awareness of the service in the library and museum communities and resulted in new partners who are adding significant amounts of additional content to CHNC. State Library staff assisted new partners by reviewing and advising on their grant applications and/or requests for funds and also by encouraging partnerships with other like institutions that may have the same goal of digitizing historic newspapers for their communities. With the diversity of these partnerships came an increase in content. Working together, the content from geographic areas that previously lacked representation significantly increased.
Please briefly describe the importance of these outcomes and findings for future program planning:
The CHNC user referral statistics reinforce the need to continue service outreach efforts. During this reporting period the content in CHNC grew significantly through increasing the number of issues in major geographic areas as well as adding more contemporary issues. CHNC partner institutions have a desire to not only add more ethnically diverse papers, as seen by the addition of Japanese titles, but also content types that are outside the scope of traditional newspapers such as bulletins, newsletters, and magazine-like publications. Partnerships with publishers also increased during this reporting period due in large part to outreach efforts. In the future, State Library staff will continue to seek out new content types as well as support the addition of larger runs of major newspapers and engage partnerships that will support the addition of this content.
Explain one or two of the most significant lessons learned for others wanting to adopt any facets of this project:
During FY22 it was determined that there was a desire from partners and end users to add more contemporary newspaper issues. This more contemporary content will serve as important historical resources to the target audience of genealogists, general researchers, teachers, and students. It was also reinforced that the CHNC access platform, Veridian, is a desired and welcomed search experience for all users.
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:
CHNC: We will create a collection development plan to in part identify the communities not represented in CHNC. From that we will, take a targeted approach in educating those communities on how they can participate in CHNC. DPLA Service Hub: As we move forward with our proposed hub phases it is anticipate that we will increase our activity by writing the hub application and if accepted we move into the prototype phase. We create and test our technology, draft our standards and best practices and increases our outreach activities.
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 Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection grows through community funding and participation. Through inclusion of local and regional content in the database, specific communities, geographic regions, municipalities, and organizations can ensure that their unique history is not lost but is given a voice to share with the rest of the state and the world. During the past year several local government agencies put forward substantial funding to digitize decades of historic newspaper content from their town’s history. These individual projects, both large and small, come together in one place to help fill in the pieces of the landscape that is Colorado - documenting where the state has come and how it got there. Providing an opportunity for the community members to take part in the collection development of the database (they choose what they fund to add) ensures that there is growing buy-in with the service, and growing enthusiasm for the historic content.

Project Tags: newspaper digitization, local history content, primary sources