Hudson Valley Heritage Focuses on Unique Collections

The cultural heritage organizations (libraries, historical societies, museums, etc.) in our region have the important responsibility of being caretakers of the rich history of the Hudson Valley. Digital technology provides an exciting opportunity for these organizations to make the materials they care for available to a broad audience. We live in a digital age, and educators, students, researchers, and the general public expect to find information online. Cultural heritage organizations can meet this expectation by digitizing historic content and making it accessible through the World Wide Web. Supporting education and research is only one benefit of "going digital." Digitization can help preserve fragile material, as the need to handle the original becomes less important if a digital surrogate is available. Making materials available online not only promotes collections, it also shines a spotlight on the institutions that house these unique collections. Information professionals and cultural heritage specialists are constantly striving to improve services for their users as well as reach potential users of their collections. Digitization serves both of these purposes.

Has your organization considered creating digital access to the treasures housed in your institution, but don't know where, when, or how to begin? We can help. SENYLRC has taken the lead role in our region to develop a repository of regional digital collections accessible through the Web. SENYLRC's Digital Advisory Committee (DAC) has worked diligently to make the digital dream a reality for the region. The Hudson Valley Heritage (HVH; http://www.hudsonvalleyheritage.org) website was created to provide an online presence for the initiative. DAC has developed best practices for digital imaging and metadata creation to ensure consistency across the multiple collections. The Committee also recommended the licensing of CONTENTdm through OCLC. CONTENTdm is a digital content management system developed for the cultural heritage community. SENYLRC's CONTENTdm license includes 50 work stations, meaning that 50 computers can be set up to upload digital objects to the Hudson Valley Heritage collections. Several organizations have added digital objects to HVH, including Vassar College and Wilderstein Preservation. Bard College, The Consortium of Rhinebeck History, and the Marlboro Free Library have also begun to add items to HVH using CONTENTdm.

One of the great benefits of this collaborative approach is that users need only visit one site to find historically significant materials housed in many institutions. Furthermore, the standardized approach to creating metadata records will lead to a more positive experience for users. Library, archive, and museum staff also benefit from collaborating by drawing on the expertise of others in the region. Digitization is fairly new to the profession, and requires developing a new set of skills including digital imaging, metadata creation, and the use of CONTENTdm. The expertise of project managers, traditional catalogers, marketing staff, I.T. staff, and subject specialists is also invaluable to the effort. The more people sharing their expertise, the more everyone benefits.

SENYLRC is committed to helping organizations contribute collections to Hudson Valley Heritage. Beginning this June, SENYLRC will sponsor a series of workshops to teach staff the important skills needed to contribute digital collections to Hudson Valley Heritage. For more information on this training series, read "Technology Training for Digital Projects." The SENYLRC headquarters has a CONTENTdm lab that can be used by contributing organizations if they so desire. The lab is equipped with a CONTENTdm work station and a Microtek 9800XL scanner. The scanner has a large 12" x 17" reflective scan area and includes a Transparent Media Adapter that can be used for scanning slides and negatives.

SENYLRC would be happy to talk to you about a digital project using CONTENTdm for your organization. Contact Tessa Killian at 845-883-9065 or by email <Contact Tessa>.

By Jennifer Palmentiero, Program Assistant for Digital Services

Southeastern News Online is published bi-monthly by SENYLRC staff.