California Local History Digital Resources Program (LHDRP)

A project supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

About The Project

• Description
• Presentations and articles
• How to Participate
• View Collections (by Participating Institution)

Participants

• Participating Institutions
  • 2008-2009
  • Previous years
• CSL, Califa, and CDL Project Staff

Resources for Participants

Project-Specific Resources

• Handbook
• Meetings and Workshops
• Listserv
• LSTA Reporting Documents

General Resources

• Califa Digital Collections Service
• Selected Online Resources

Participant Quarterly Reports

• 2007-2008
• Previous years

Participant Evaluation/Assessment Summary

• 2007-2008
• Previous years

 

Project Description

Supported by the infrastructure of the California Digital Library (CDL - http://www.cdlib.org) and Califa (http://www.califa.org/) through Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant funding administered by the California State Library (CSL - http://www.library.ca.gov/grants/lsta/), this multi-year (2000-present) statewide program explores a model to aggregate, preserve, and provide permanent public access to local history digital resources via centralized online access points. Annually, through the LSTA program, multiple institutions receive funding to make metadata and associated digital facsimiles of their collections accessible over the Internet. The process of creating these resources requires a significant amount of effort, education, experience, and funds. Many LSTA projects have served local needs, but it is important that the resources created through these efforts are publicly available for the long-term to the citizens of California.

The California Local History Digital Resources Program (LHDRP) is a collaborative endeavor involving multiple supporting agencies that provide a long-term framework for the program:

• Public and academic libraries, historical societies, and archives:
  • Create, manage, and cultivate local history digital content based on a longer term service plan that seeks to tie user needs to the collections. Serve as primary contact points for users of the collections.
  • May additionally support local access and preservation services to the content.
• CSL:
  • Guides the objectives of the program as part of the statewide plan for LSTA funds.
• Califa:
  • Provides digitization outsourcing assistance to participants with the project's scanning vendor, Northern Micrographics, and general project oversight.
  • Hosts CONTENTdm, a centralized and shared digital collection creation tool used for the project.
  • Offers the Califa Digital Collections (http://www.califa.org) service, designed to help institutions transition from grant supported digitization to a self-sustaining model. The fee-based service includes shared use of Califa's CONTENTdm implementation, and reduced pricing for digitization outsourcing with Northern Micrographics.
• CDL:
  • Provides digital library repository access and preservation services, data consultancy services, and general project oversight.
    • Access services include online delivery of LHDRP content via the publicly-accessible Calisphere (http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu) and Online Archive of California (OAC - http://www.oac.cdlib.org) websites . Both websites integrate disparate collections -- such as manuscripts, photographs, and works of art held by institutions across California -- through a single interface and search engine. Calisphere is targeted to the K-12 teaching community digitized image and text collections; the OAC is targeted to historians and primary resource users, and features guides (or "finding aids") to archival collections.
    • Preservation service comprises storage of LHDRP content in the UC Libraries Digital Preservation Repository (http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/preservation/dpr), designed for the long-term storage, deposit, dissemination of digital content.
  • Administers a training program for the project via Infopeople (http://www.infopeople.org) and OCLC Western Service Center (http://www.oclc.org/western/).

Over 55 institutions have participated in the LHDRP, and approximately 18,000 digital objects have been made publicly available for the long-term.