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G2S Project Code: 2022-WA-91830
State: Washington
Fiscal Year: 2022
Grantee
Washington State Library

Project Director
Director Name: Shawn Schollmeyer
Director Phone: 360-570-5568
Director Email: shawn.schollmeyer@sos.wa.gov
General Information
Title: Washington Digital Newspapers
State Project Code: 9550-2321-21
Start Date: 10/01/2022
End Date: 09/30/2023
Abstract: Washington Digital Newspapers (WDN) has been a popular program for genealogists and researchers who wish to access Washington newspapers from anywhere at any time. Washington State Library has the largest collection of Washington newspapers on microfilm, including some of the earliest pioneer papers in the state. WDN’s goal is to grow this online collection for preservation as per state statute (RCW 27.04.045 (8)) and educate communities on how best to preserve and access their newspaper heritage through digitization.
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
$154,531.59
$0.00
$0.00
$154,531.59
Intent(s)
Improve users' general knowledge and skills.
History
Collection Development & Management
Activities
Activity Details
Title: Washington Digital Newspapers Digitization Program
Narrative: This project supports community library and museum newspaper digitization projects with digital preservation consulting, scanning, metadata and hosting for free public access on the Washington Digital Newspapers website, washingtondigitalnewspapers.org. Newspapers digitized for this program have the approval of the publisher or are considered to be in the public domain and are hosted free for public access and non-commercial use. The program has a standing agreement with newspapers.com to provide for newspaper digitization from microfilm for free in exchange for a 3-year embargo on public access. Notable additions to the collection during this reporting period include the Seattle Gay News, Anacortes American, and Cashmere Valley Record.
Intent: Improve users' general knowledge and skills.

Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital


Quantity
Number of items digitized: 256,331
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 57,317
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
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: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 0
Academic Libraries: 1
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: Outreach and mentorship
Narrative: The program manager presented about the program at state and region-wide conferences including Northwest Archivists, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, and Washington Museum Association. She also consulted with libraries, local historical societies, city governments, and museums about newspaper digitization and digital preservation, and supervised a University of Washington Information School Capstone team who created an award-winning visualization of digitized newspaper pages per county.
Intent: Improve users' general knowledge and skills.

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


Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 20
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 2


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: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General


Locale
Is the activity state-wide: No
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 0
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0
Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important outcomes or findings not previously reported:
There continues to be interest from communities in digitizing their newspapers. The interest exceeds the capacity of this project, so advising on options available and best practices is a significant part of the project. The project manager regularly explores ways to increase the throughput, like the partnership with newspapers.com.
Please briefly describe the importance of these outcomes and findings for future program planning:
This project struggles with the perception that anything can be digitized quickly and easily and the unreasonable expectations that WSL will take any newspaper that someone finds in their basement. The project manager has to educate people about copyright, standards for digitization, metadata requirements, web hosting requirements, and other elements of a digitization project that can be challenging, time-consuming, and expensive.
Explain one or two of the most significant lessons learned for others wanting to adopt any facets of this project:
SLAAs or other entities looking at taking on a newspaper digitization project should have a policy in place for what materials (and in what condition) they will accept so that they can refer to it when they receive an influx of newspapers.
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: Newspapers, Digitization, Digital Collections