You need a WPL Card to Access Mergent, RefUSA, HeritageQuest and ...

If you or your patrons would like to access WPL's remote access databases, a WPL library card is required to access those databases.

The WPL's remote databases are listed below:

Auto Repair Center (EBSCO)
Gale - Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC), Something about the Author (SATA), Short Story Criticism (SSC), Children's Literature Review (CLR)
Gale - Literature Resource Center
HeritageQuest.com
LearningExpress Library
Mergent Online
NetLibrary
NovelistPlus
p4a-Antiques References
Photofact Online
ReferenceUSA
TellMeMore
Worldbook Online

In order to help librarians in the region to remember which database requires a Worcester PL library, we have also listed the WPL databases in the right column of the Regional Reference Blog. See the image below.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Keynote Speaker Tom Clareson - Digital Commonwealth 2010

Fundraising for your Digital Collection by Tom Clareson

Select your project for funding according to the specific area covered by the fund-granting institution. Research the grants that are available, and tailor your proposal to the grant you are seeking.

Monitor grant activity.

Even in our current economy, there is a lot of funding for digital projects.
Document what you work on, even if you do not complete your project; it might be something someone else could use.

Government Grants: Federal and State

• Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
• National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
• Save America's Treasures (SAT) - Grants for historic buildings - lately interested in what is inside those buildings
• National Science Foundation "the digital promise"

For digitization, large, or hidden projects, look at what has been funded.

Kinds of Grants:

• Grants to Preserve and Create Access to Humanities Collections "brittle books" cataloging prior to digitization
• Challenge Grants - matching money
• Incubator grants like the Joint Urban Studies Center (JUSC)
• Grants for new grant users

US Newspaper program - Statewide or Collaborative Projects for local newspaper preservation
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections $40,000 for planning $400,000 for implementation

This one is do-able:

NEH up to $6,000 springboard
mid-May deadline

4 pages / 1 page budget
50% - 75% awarding
assessment
training
supplies, equipment , storage furniture

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Digital Resources
National Leadership Grant (NLG) Advancing Libraries and Museums, Leadership in the field
21st Century Librarian Program
Connecting to Collections Call to Action

• what are key issues in preservation conservation
• under-served collections /populations
• Conservation bookshelf best practices print ansd web materials
  

Statewide Implementation Grants
Massachusetts Connecting to Collections surveys

• where we should go what direction should we shoot for
• voice you concerns
  

IMLS "WebWise" Conference, Washington D.C. 2010

• Sustainability
• real-life stories of how projects have failed lessons learned
  
• free admission
• some time around Thanksgiving
  

Foundations: 5 kinds

1. general purpose large endowments
2. special purpose - usually science, but coming our way
3. Company-sponsored foundations Target, American Express, Coca-Cola, H W Wilson (Polar?)
4. Community foundations - regional Massachusetts Cultural Council, local - collaboration
5. Family foundations - staffed by an attorney / family/ individuals

Fundraising strategies for digital projects (programming)

• Alumni
• Friends groups
• community drives
• corporate gifts
• "hitching on" to other collaborative projects
• subjects/ themes/ other projects nationally that work with your collection
  

Grant Writing "How To"

STATEMENT OF NEED

• how grant will change people's lives
• what are you famous for?
• what is unique to you?

SURVEYING

• market research/focus groups

WRITING

• persuasion
• in response to a need: why is this project seminal?
• how are funds allocated
• exactly how project is going to come to fruition? be realistic
• guidelines: how project is going to be implement
• what programming you have done - use to get grants
• must be easy to read - no jargon
• asking for other staff to take over your other work
• budgets: look at other projects online
• appendices: documentation

COMMON CONCERNS

• lack of communication with program officers
• failure to follow guidelines
• quantification of collection formats and size
• ownership and IP rights
• lack of detail in plan of work
• no letters of support or commitment
• missing information on project staff
• budget errors

Tom Clareson offers a free service to review grants

Speaker Robin Dale - Digital Commonwealth 2010

Getting Started with the Digital Commonwealth, by Robin Dale

There are two types of use for the Digital Commonwealth:

• portal: only metadata. It does not have to include digital pictures.
• depository: stores a digital collection of images which is searchable.

The Digital Commonwealth Portal

• Dynamically created to display recent activity
• Includes links

How do you get info into the portal?

• Open Archives Initiative (OAI) protocol for metadata processing
• Indexed
• The portal is dynamically updated
• OAI works with a static repository document
  

The depository lives on server (not on your real estate)

• You can link from the Digital Commonwealth to your online digital collection until dynamic option is available
  

The Digital Commonwealth Repository

How the Repository is different from the Portal:

• There is a separate fee.
  
• It is a hosted service.
  
• The licensing is temporary until database is used locally
• The local institute still owns images
• The Digital Commonwealth will use the same branding that is on your library's site - institutions, collections, objects, logo
  

Objects in the Repository:

• The objects are dynamically updated.
• High resolution images come in a variety of sizes.
• You can include metadata in same screen as your image.
• You can link into your catalog
• The Digital Commonwealth will not change your image.

Getting Started:

1. The Initial Consultation

• One-to-One.
• You will be consulting with professionals such as speaker Robin L. Dale
• You will be discussing what is important about your collection what are you are known for.
  

2. You sign the Digital Commonwealth legal agreement


Considering your collections:

• should it be digitized?
• can it be digitized?
• may it be digitized?
• who can host it?
• what system will be used?
  

Metadata is necessary to find digital images
With metadata, the cost for the repository is mainly the human cost: labor.
Costs will include administrative costs: those with access to files.
The metadata has to cover all groups.

Metadata Standards:
The user can use XML. Components include: element sets, standards, protocols.
The Digital Commonwealth uses Dublin Core (DC).
DC 15 has common elements. The Digital Commonwealth also uses "OAI-PMH:" Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting
It is standard - so computers can talk to each other.

Using the repository: this is the easy part.

• Obtain the member toolkit.
• Send sample metadata.
  
• Upload the repository!