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G2S Project Code: 2022-MT-91798
State: Montana
Fiscal Year: 2022
Grantee
Montana State Library

Project Director
Director Name: Jennifer Birnel
Director Phone: 406-444-4027
Director Email: jbirnel@mt.gov
General Information
Title: Montana History Portal
State Project Code: LSTA 22 MMP
Start Date: 07/01/2022
End Date: 06/30/2023
Abstract: The Montana History Portal improved users’ ability to discover information about Montana's cultural heritage by organizing resources from multiple organizations within a single, online platform. The collection included 85,570 items such as photographs, diaries, oral histories, art, and yearbooks digitized and contributed by 96 organizations across 42 counties. Over the past year, staff worked to expand user engagement through targeted outreach and the development of social media posts, contests, and walking tours. These efforts resulted in a 71% increase in pageviews.
State Goal: Collaboration
Budget Information
LSTA
MATCH-State
MATCH-Other
Total
$117,157.63
$17,000.00
$0.00
$134,157.63
Intent(s)
Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.
Arts, Culture & Humanities
History
Activities
Activity Details
Title: Montana History Portal Website
Narrative: The Montana History Portal website delivered 949,406 pageviews this year, with some of the most popular content featuring livestock brand registrations and photographs from the Montana Historical Society. With assistance from the portal's contributors, Montana State Library added an additional 12,850 items, bringing the total collection size to 85,570. Staff worked to organize this content into collections and exhibits to aid user browsing and searching. Of the sites 44 exhibits, the Native American Boarding Schools in Montana exhibit drew the largest audience with 13,789 users.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Other
Format: Digital
Other: Website for discovery of resources related to Montana history and culture


Quantity


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


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: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 38
Academic Libraries: 7
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 8
Other: 43
Activity Details
Title: Montana History Portal User Engagement
Narrative: To engage new audiences, Montana History Portal published walking tours and user contests. Guided by an app called Adventure Labs, users discovered historic photographs while walking sites in Butte, Great Falls, Kalispell, Lewistown, Helena, Missoula, and Virginia City. The Portal also drew new patrons by featuring two contests. In the first contest, 150 writers submitted creative stories inspired by content from the Montana History Portal. Over 200 contenders in the 2023 Montana Meme-ory Contest submitted memes made from the Portal's photograph collection. All of the above efforts were shared with the Portal's 27,072 Facebook followers and through a weekly, digital newsletter sent to 927 GovDelivery subscribers. User feedback regarding Adventure Labs: "Having grown up in Great Falls, I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Thank you so much for putting this adventure lab together for us to enjoy."; "This has got to be one of the most unique Adventure Labs that we've done! We walked right into the Capitol and wandered around. We wonder how many State capitol buildings are this accessible! Thanks for the great, informative tour..."
Intent: Improve users’ ability to discover information resources.

Activity: Content
Mode: Other
Format: Digital
Other: Digital contests and walking tours


Quantity


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


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: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 38
Academic Libraries: 7
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 8
Other: 43
Activity Details
Title: Montana History Portal Outreach
Narrative: Montana History Portal staff provided consultations to museums, libraries, and archives through 18 site visits and conference attendance at the Montana Library Association and the Museums Association of Montana. Stops ranged from small museums like Wolf Point Area Historical Museum in the far northeast corner to larger sites like the University of Montana on the western edge of the state. These in-person visits included instructions for adding collection metadata and demonstrations on using the portal's web interface. Staff also addressed contributor questions online, including 65 support cases regarding oral histories, new collections, meta data, and portal use.
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: 123
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 25


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


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: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 38
Academic Libraries: 7
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 8
Other: 43
Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important outcomes or findings not previously reported:
Popular culture drew attention to the Montana History Portal's exhibit on Native American Board Schools in Montana. Spikes in page use followed the airing of the television series, 1923, a prequel to the Paramount Network series Yellowstone. The Western drama includes a fictional character named Teonna Rainwater, a young woman from the Crow people who was taken from her family and placed in a residential school in Montana.
Please briefly describe the importance of these outcomes and findings for future program planning:
Closely following web analytics has helped site administrators better understand trends related to site use. Using this information, the Montana History Portal's digital historian worked to create exhibits and social media posts that surface and showcase high interest content. In addition to the Native American Boarding Schools in Montana exhibit, staff and contributors curated exhibits on the decline of bison in Montana, cowboy artist Charlie Russell, and ranching in Montana, among others.
Explain one or two of the most significant lessons learned for others wanting to adopt any facets of this project:
Social media algorithms can limit exposure of content that might otherwise be popular. Finding multiple avenues of exposure such as exhibits, contests, and apps can help engage users even when social media posts don't deliver the anticipated clicks.
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: No
Exemplary Narrative
Project Tags: history, digital resources