News & Announcements

An image from the Introductory Workshop in Bourne this May.

If your institution is looking for a presence in the digital world but you aren’t sure where to start, then this seminar is for you. Join representatives from the Boston Public Library and the Digital Commonwealth Board in this practical 2-hour seminar that will answer:

What is Digital Commonwealth?
How does one apply for free digitization?
What free services does the Boston Public Library offer?
What kind of commitment does an institution have to make to get involved?
What are benefits of membership in Digital Commonwealth?

This will be the second in a series of free Introductory Workshops around the state. Registration is free to libraries and cultural institutions across the state of Massachusetts. Register here!

Event Details:

Presenters: Digital Commonwealth & Boston Public Library Digitization Team

Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Time: 10:30-12:30

Place: Joshua Hyde Library, 306 Main Street, Sturbridge, MA 01566

Parking: Parking is next to the library, behind town hall

Directions from the Mass Pike: Take Exit 9 to Route 20 via Exit 3B. In .7 miles turn left at the stoplight onto Route 131. In half a mile the library will be on your left at the stoplight.

If you can’t make this event, you can register for one of the two other introductory events, which will be on August 20 in Wakefield and September 22 in Whately.

We’ve had several new collections added to the Digital Commonwealth this past month. Check out their great contents!

American Textile History Museum

Scene from the Pageant of Cape Cod, held on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. From the Bourne Archive Photographic Collection

American Textile History Museum Image Collection : 449 items

Boston Public Library

Stereograph Collection : 1668 items

Leslie Jones Collections : 400 items added to existing collection

Costume & Set Designs : 243 items

Bourne Archives

Bourne Archives Map Collection : 2 items

Bourne Archives Photograph Collection : 4 items

Flint Public Library

Local History of Middleton : 2 items

Jamaica Plain Historical Society

Jamaica Plain Historical Society Photo Gallery : 3 items

The first in a series of free Introductory Workshops around the state

May 27, 2015 from 10-12 at Jonathan Bourne Library, Bourne, MA

What is Digital Commonwealth?
How does one apply for free digitization?
What free services does the Boston Public Library offer?
What kind of commitment does an institution have to make to get involved?
What are benefits of membership in Digital Commonwealth?

Registration is free to libraries and cultural institutions across the state of Massachusetts.

Presenters: Digital Commonwealth & Boston Public Library Digitization Team

If you can’t make this one, consider these:

July 7 2015 – Joshua Hyde Library in Sturbridge (tentative)
August 20, 2015 – Lucius Beebe Library in Wakefield
Sept. 22, 2015 – MLS Whately Office 10-12

Hope to see you there!

Elizabeth Cousins

Co-Chair, Digital Commonwealth Outreach Committee

A lot of new collections have been added to the Digital Commonwealth website since our February post. Here’s the complete list of collections added in March and April.

Collections Added in April:

Griffin Museum

Arthur Griffin Photographs : 3,812 items added to existing collection

Newton Free Library

52 collections: 3,803 items

U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center

Natick Soldier Systems Center Photographic Collection : 2,838 items added to existing collection

Public Library of Brookline

Brookline Public Library Manuscript Collection : 462 items

Whitman Public Library

Ruth Graves Wakefield/Toll House Collection : 16 items

Erving Public Library

Erving Public Library Gravestone Rubbings : 44 items

Plymouth Public Library

Plymouth Tercentenary Photographs : 159 items

Beaman Memorial Library

Beaman Memorial Public Library Historical Collection : 113 items

Chelsea Public Library

City of Chelsea Historical Postcards : 128 items

Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 : 374 items

Hingham Public Library

Scenes from Hingham’s Yesteryears-Hingham Public Library’s Postcard Collection : 210 items

Boston Public Library

Magic Posters : 45 items

Anti-Slavery Collection : 38 items

Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion : 783 items

Photographs of the American West : 296 items

Collections Added in March:

Cary Memorial Library

Edwin B. Worthen Collection : 67 items

Cary Library Local History Collection : 2 items

Public Library of Brookline

Brookline Photograph Collection : 605 items added to existing collection

Hatfield Historical Museum

Howes Brothers Glass Slides, Hatfield, Massachusetts, 1882-1907 : 78 items

Old Manuscripts and Deeds : 202 items

Hatfield Local History Collection : 7 items

Lenox Historical Society

Lenox Historical Society Collection : 165 items

Dana Hall School

Nina Heald Webber 1949 Archives Collection : 81 items

Bay Path University

Bay Path University Photograph Collection : 1,062 items

Lancaster Historical Society

Lancaster, Massachusetts Historical Image Collection : 426 items

Lincoln Public Library

Lincoln Town Archives : 6 items

Thomas Crane Public Library

Parker Collection : 5,371 items

Lenox Library Association

Local History Photograph Collection : 1,708 items

Edwin Hale Lincoln Photographs : 567 items

Boston Public Library

Fine and Historic Bookbindings : 352 items

Justin H. Goodstein-Aue Collection : 20 items

Sheet Music Lithograph Covers : 219 items

Archive of Photographic Documentation of Early Massachusetts Architecture : 332 items

On March 21^st, Digital Commonwealth was co-awarded the New England Archivist’s Archival Advocacy Award along with BPL’s Digital Services. The award was presented on Saturday morning at the NEA business meeting (part of the Spring NEA meeting).

NEA’s former president Alyssa Pacy presented the award and highlighted the work BPL’s Digital Services staff members have been doing to help institutions share content in Digital Commonwealth. Alyssa acknowledged the important work BPL’s digital services staff had been able to for cultural organizations because of federal funding (the initial grant funding), and ongoing state funding. Amy Ryan thanked the New England Archivists for the award and said she was honored to accept on behalf of the BPL but wanted Tom Blake to say a few words because of all he has done with the work that was being recognized. Tom acknowledged that the BPL’s plan to assist others with digitization tasks when the BPL has over a million items to digitize is ambitious but he feels like it is important and he appreciated the fact that Amy Ryan has been so supportive of the efforts. He acknowledged the work of all in his department and the receptiveness of the organizations they have assisted. He thanked everyone from the NEA/MARAC meeting who had volunteered to help with geo-coding at the BPL on Thursday (3/19); this was the “Day of Service” activity offered in conjunction with the conference.

Nancy Heywood accepted the award on behalf of Digital Commonwealth. Nancy complimented the BPL’s developers for their excellent work on the website and also the excellent work of Tom Blake’s department. She also had the opportunity to mention that Digital Commonwealth’s partnership with the BPL (in which the BPL takes the lead on the repository and portal) is allowing Digital Commonwealth the non-profit organization to think about programming/events/training sessions that will help the people involved with digitization efforts become knowledgeable about relevant issues. Nancy also thanked everyone who worked at institutions who have contributed content to the Digital Commonwealth website.

Early bird registration ends on March 23rd, so make sure you sign up today for the annual 9th Digital Commonwealth Conference. The Conference “Cloud Bursts and Brain Storms,” will be held on April 2nd at the Hogan Center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. In addition to the two keynote speakers, Clifford Lynch, director of the Coalition for Networked Information, and Dan Cohen, executive director of the DPLA, the conference will also feature many interesting breakout sessions. Some breakout sessions include Packaging Collections for Public Consumption with Sara Slymon and Elizabeth Thomsen, Copyright Issues and Libraries with Emily Kilcer and Kyle Courtney, The Policy Cycle with Diane Brenner and Ed Lewis, and our ever popular Rapid First Inspiring Projects. We hope we’ll see you there!

To keep everyone up to date on just what collections are in the Digital Commonwealth portal, we’re starting this series of monthly blog posts. At the beginning of each month, we’ll tell you what collections were added or had materials added to them in the previous month.

In February, the following collection were added to the Digital Commonwealth:

Robbins Library

Arlington Historical Maps including Menotomy and the Old Burying Ground : 5 items

Arlington Historical Photograph Collection, c. 1885 – 1992 : 1,238 items

Arlington Historical Postcard Collection, c. 1907 – 1981 : 267 items

Arthur M. Dallin Stained Glass Studies, c. 1932 – 1939 : 2 items

Boston Public Library

Boston Wharf Company Collection : 197 items

Lane/Mead Boston Maritime Collection : 56 items

Norman B. Leventhal Map Center Collection : 5,011 items

Old Boston Photograph Collection : 114 items

Trustees’ Library collection : 404 items

First Parish in Brookline

First Parish in Brookline Artifacts Collection : 1 item

Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club/Loring-Greenough House

Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club Records : 31 items

Marstons Mills Historical Society

Marstons Mills Historical Society Photograph Collection : 206 items

Mount Wachusett Community College

Mount Wachusett Community College Collection : 19 item

New Bedford Whaling Museum

New Bedford Whaling Museum Nautical Charts : 10 items

Guest post by Jeff Klapes, Head of Reference Services, Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Massachusetts

Beebe Library in Wakefield is a busy, medium-sized library serving a population of 25,000. We have a variety of historical collections, including photographs, postcards, maps, local government documents, and more. Boston Public Library has been invaluable in helping us digitize these materials for better access and preservation, scanning our maps, annual town reports, school yearbooks, and local history monographs for the Internet Archive. However, we’ve also worked on a number of other projects that we could manage ourselves. Two of these collections in particular are worth noting.
Continue reading →

Map Visitors to the Digital Commonwealth site can now browse the ever-growing collection using a number of different map views. These maps show the locations of cities and other landmarks depicted or described within items in the collection. By clicking on a marker on the map, visitors can search for all items from a specific location. Visitors can also use the map’s search button to find all items from within a particular geographic area displayed in the map window. This new feature offers a powerful and exciting way to explore the collections, and provides vivid evidence of the global scope and relevancy of the collections contributed by Massachusetts cultural institutions.
Continue reading →

We’re very excited to present our newest promotion effort: Bookmarks!
We have two styles of bookmark designed to raise awareness about our wonderfully rich online resources. The Digital Commonwealth exists to advance the dissemination of collections from Massachusetts to a wider audience through shared resources and a single website. These bookmarks are a fun way to let libraries and other cultural institutions raise awareness about this resource with users.

If you’d like to share these with your users, we will send you stacks of bookmarks in either or both of the two designs. Please contact the Outreach Committee at outreach@digitalcommonwealth.org with your preferences.

News & Announcements – Digital Commonwealth

News & Announcements

Another Introduction to the Digital Commonwealth and Free Digitization

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in May

Getting Started with Digital Commonwealth & Free Digitization

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in March and April

NEA Recognizes Digital Commonwealth and BPL

Get Early Bird Registration for Digital Commonwealth Conference – April 2nd

New Collections Added to the Digital Commonwealth in February

Guest Post: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Map Views Added to Digital Commonwealth Site

New Bookmarks!