Digitizing the Oldest Black Newspaper in America—One Photograph at a Time

The Afro American

When John H. Murphy founded The Afro-American newspaper in 1892, his goal was to combine three separate church publications into a single-page newsletter. Murphy was both a former slave and a Civil War veteran, and in the Reconstruction era, The Afro-American served to inform and unite his Maryland community. Little did he know, it would […]

Preservation Hesitation? Just Get Started!

Don't Be Left Behind

Do you have a historical collection that deserves digital preservation but keep coming back to the same problems? Maybe your project is so extensive you don’t know where to start, or you simply can’t afford an archival project right now. Even if you’ve owned a collection for decades, you’ve probably noticed more recent emphasis on […]

Quotables: Digital Archives (Grit Daily)

Grit Daily

Principal Farica Chang shared the importance of digitizing your “docs and pics” with Grit Daily. While you might not have an original draft of the Declaration of Independence lying around, your collection—whether it contains historical newspapers or your grandparents’ letters from the war—has value to you and to the future. Click here to read the […]

5 Factors That Can Affect the Timeframe of Your Archival Project

desk calendar with flying pages

Is it finally time to kick off that digitization project you’ve been delaying for so long? Many collectors don’t realize how much time and planning go into digitizing a box of old photo albums, let alone a collection that fills an entire room or basement. If you’re applying for funding to help your or your […]

Transcription from the Crowd: Three Success Stories

crowd sourcing

The cost of paying for expert text recognition, proofreading, and quality assurance do not need to be prohibitory barriers to the completion of a digital library, recent stories show. Projects ranging from preserving digital records of the stars to documenting the civil rights and suffrage movements have employed volunteers to transcribe historical documents. Whether dedicated […]