About the Project

Since October 2000 the Ohio Memory Project has made great progress. Staff visited numerous cultural institutions, responded to requests for information from interested staff at various institutions and conducted two submission cycles. With the assistance of the Ohio Library Council (OLC), the staff planned five workshops to present the project to potential participants from cultural heritage repositories throughout Ohio. The project team updated the project web site to make more information about Ohio Memory available and encourage participation. In addition, staff worked closely with OhioLINK to develop the online scrapbook.

Two submission deadlines have passed thus far. In response to the first deadline of November 15, 2000, thirteen institutions submitted collections.

The project team evaluated a total of sixty-five collections submitted by these repositories based on established criteria and selected 59 for inclusion in the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook. At least one item from each institution will be included in the scrapbook. Staff then made arrangements for transfer of materials, digitization, and cataloging. More than 1,500 pages have been scanned at the Ohio Historical Center as of February 2001. Several institutions chose to digitize materials at their own facility, following Ohio Memory Project scanning guidelines.

Participation increased during the second round of submissions. For the February 15, 2001 deadline, 29 institutions submitted a total of 102 collections. The project staff is currently reviewing those submissions.

Currently the Ohio Memory web site (http://www.ohiomemory.org) features project information, such as the history of the project, frequently asked questions, staff and contact information, links to digitization resources, and listserv subscription information. Also available for downloading in multiple formats are presentations, handouts, and forms. As of October 2000, the site allows institutions to submit forms online. Project staff revised the "How to Participate" section of the project web site so that it is more readily understood by those not able to attend project workshops. New features added to the project site include conservation information, digital watermarking FAQ and digital camera guidelines.

The following statistics summarize web site usage over the past four months:

Project staff worked closely with OhioLINK staff to develop the online scrapbook search interface functionality, and on image preview and transcript functions. Most recently, staff have worked to develop a "My Scrapbook" feature which will allow users to save their own selection of images, together with notes.

The Ohio Library Council (OLC) provided assistance in organizing a second series of five workshops to be held throughout the state in spring 2001. The workshops will explain the Ohio Memory Project and encourage participation. They will cover the same information as the Fall 2000 workshops, but will be shorter and more focused. Workshops will be held at the following locations:

OLC distributed more than a thousand brochures advertising the workshops to a wide array of cultural heritage organizations. All public libraries, OLC directors, regional library system directors, members of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums (OAHSM), selected art museums, and OLC Subject and Special Collections Division members received the workshop brochure. Project staff sent workshop notices to six listservs: Ohio Memory Project, Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO), Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA), OPLINList, OhioLINK, and H-Ohio. Workshop information was also posted on the Ohio Memory project and the Ohio Library Council web sites. In addition, brochures will be distributed to academic librarians at the ALAO March conference and to OAHSM members at regional meetings. Finally, the Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium (GCLC), Southeastern Ohio Library Organization (SOLO), Cleveland Area Metropolitan Library System (CAMLS), and the Mideastern Ohio Library Organization (MOLO) have included workshop information on their local listservs and in regional publications.

Workshop sessions will include:

• Project Overview
• How to Decide What to Submit
• How to Submit Materials
• Demonstration of the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook

Staff members participating in the workshops include Laurie Gemmill, Mary Alice Mairose, Shawn Martin, Angela O’Neal, and Phil Sager.

Ohio Memory Project staff presented a two-hour version of the workshop at the annual Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums (OAHSM) meeting November 3, 2000. Staff updated the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB) on the project at its December 15, 2000 and February 16, 2001 meetings. Other groups with whom the staff met to discuss the project included the Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium (GCLC), the Ohio Bicentennial Commission staff, the Tuscarawas County Historical Attractions, and the Cleveland Area Metropolitan Library System (CAMLS). Upcoming outreach activities include attendance at the Northwest Chapter meeting of OAHSM in March, the Annual OLC conference, and the spring Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA) meeting in April 2001.

Project staff responded to more than 200 requests for information via phone, fax, and email. Staff also created a packet of information about scanning and distributed it to institutions interested in digitizing materials at their own facilities.

The OPLIN-hosted listserv serves as an effective way to communicate with participants and potential participants. The list’s 160 subscribers received project updates, reminders about approaching submission deadlines, and news of web site additions.

Project staff met with staff from the following institutions to explain the project and encourage participation:

Staff also made follow-up visits to Ashland University Archives, Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University Special Collections, Cleveland Public Library, Kelton House Museum and Gardens, and Ohio University to examine collections and discuss scanning options.

In the coming months, the project staff plan to meet with staff from the Cincinnati Nature Center and the Western Reserve Historical Society to discuss their participation in the Ohio Memory Project.

Team members have attended several meetings of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies (OCSS) Bicentennial Subcommittee to pursue ways to cooperate on a project incorporating historical markers and primary source materials into an educational tool to be distributed to teachers.

Staff wrote articles for various publications:

• An article discussing the project and focusing on the ways that local historical societies and museums can participate appeared in the November 2000 issue of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums (OAHSM) publication The Local Historian.
• An article featuring the Ohio Memory Project appeared in the print and electronic versions of the February 2000 issue of the Bicentennial Newsletter Milestones.
• Project and workshop information will appear in the March 2000 issue of the Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO) newsletter.
• The Ohio Museums Association newsletter will also include information on the Ohio Memory Project and the upcoming workshops.

The Ohio Memory Advisory Group, which is composed of twelve members, provides oversight for the project. The Advisory Group held its first meeting November 1, 2000. The group members were given an overview of the project and a demonstration of the project site, other digital history sites, and the online scrapbook. Group members provided guidance on various issues, most significantly eligibility of non-Ohio cultural institutions.

During its second quarter, the Ohio Memory Project made substantial progress. The first round of workshops generated significant interest in the project and inspired participants to submit their institution’s historical materials for inclusion in the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook. Project staff have enjoyed working with the staff at the submitting institutions and look forward to the next submission deadline of May 15, 2001.

In the coming months, the project team will continue to select and digitize collections for the scrapbook. They will continue to meet with individuals and organizations interested in being part of Ohio Memory. Together with other society staff, the Ohio Memory team will create educational materials that help students, teachers, and lifelong learners use the primary source materials in the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook. They will begin usability testing of the web interface, which will help to refine and finalize the design of the site, making sure that it meets the needs of its users. Finally, the society will continue to seek additional resources to continue the project, identifying and digitizing materials that relate to 20^th-century Ohio history.