Presented for the Wisconsin Association of Public Librarians (WAPL) annual conference in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, May 3, 2013.

1. recollectionwisconsin.org
WAPL 2013
Emily Pfotenhauer, WiLS
Handout and slides:
recollectionwisconsin.org/wapl2013

2. recollectionwisconsin.org
provides free access to a
growing set of state and
local history resources
from the collections of
libraries, archives,
museums and historical
societies across Wisconsin.
South Wood County Historical Museum,
Wisconsin Rapids
http://content.mpl.org/u?/swch,64

3. Recollection Wisconsin
also provides guidelines,
training and support to
contributing partners and
offers opportunities for
visitors to share their
own stories, images and
comments.
UW-Madison Archives
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?repl1
=UW&repl2=UW.uwar00831.bib

4. Program sponsors and partners
• WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services)
• Milwaukee Public Library
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Wisconsin Historical Society
• Nicholas Family Foundation
• Academic libraries, public libraries, archives,
museums, and historical societies around the
state
Wisconsin Historical Society
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/248

5. Founded as Wisconsin Heritage Online in 2004
– Original mission: “to inspire education and discovery by
making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage available to the public
via the World Wide Web”
New name, Recollection Wisconsin, and new
website launched in 2013
– Addition to mission: “and provide opportunities for
audiences to discover personal connections to the past.”
Three Lakes Historical Society
http://content.mpl.org/u?/tlhs,88

6. UW-Madison Archives
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?r
epl1=UW&repl2=UW.uwar01662.bib
“Our assignment is to develop an intriguing aggregator of
curious collections, an exciting digital screen door
through which people pass on the way to discovering
their Wisconsin heritage.” --creative brief as defined by
Dan Saal (StudioSaal Corp.) and Jeff Ganger (Muchohedron)

7. Recollect:
to recall or
remember
Re-collect:
to bring
together
• Recollection means: the act or power of
recollecting, or recalling to mind;
remembrance
• Re-collection means: the act of
collecting, gathering, or assembling again
• It’s a “collection” of Wisconsin databases
• It’s a way to “re” connect to our
collective history
• It’s about “re” interpreting collections

8. April 2013: recollectionwisconsin.org includes…
124,758 historical resources
from 195 digital collections
…and more content is added every month.
McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids
http://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

9. • Photographs
• Postcards
• Letters
• Diaries
• Maps
• Yearbooks
• Scrapbooks
• Music
• Recipes
• City directories
• Local histories
• County histories
• Oral histories
• Artifacts
• Artworks
• Magazine articles
• Newspaper clippings
New Berlin Historical Society
http://content.mpl.org/u?/nbhs,33

10. – Mostly primary sources
– Vetted and well-documented
resources
– Some locations and subjects are
well represented, others less so
Menasha Public Library
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?r
epl1=WI&repl2=WI.mdhc0094.bib

11. Browsing & exploring
– Read small slices of state & local history in “Stories from
Wisconsin Collections”
– Explore a map and link directly to individual collections
– Browse to sort collections by topic, source, and type of
material
Kenosha History Center
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?r
epl1=WI&repl2=WI.ken1524.bib

12. Searching
– Behind our website is a search engine that brings
together information about digital items contributed
by our partners. This search engine is like a bridge,
linking you to content from around the state.
Oshkosh Public Library
http://oshkoshpub.cdmhost.com/cdm/ref/
collection/p15089coll3/id/24

13. Searching
– Use Basic Search to search across all collections by
keyword, name or place
– Use Guided Search to search by phrase or other,
more complex, searches
UW-Milwaukee Libraries
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/uwmphoto/id/402

14. Searching – full text
– Our search engine searches
only the descriptive
information provided by
contributing partners. To
search the full text of books
or other documents, open a
specific item or collection and
then run a second search
within that item or collection.
St. Norbert College
http://content.mpl.org/u?/snc,6067

15. Sharing
– Current theme:
Wisconsin at Work,
Wisconsin at Play
– Anyone can submit
stories and photos
using a web form
– In partnership with
Wisconsin Life on
WPR
Milwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/u?/HstoricPho,1302

16. wiscohisto.tumblr.com

17. pinterest.com/recollectionwi

18. flickr.com/groups/recollectionwi

19. Participate
– Contribute to the State of
Wisconsin Collection (LSTA-
funded projects through
UWDCC)
– Build a collection hosted in
CONTENTdm by Milwaukee
Public Library
– Build a collection using an
OAI-compliant platform of
your choice
– More info:
recollectionwisconsin.org/
organizations
Wisconsin Historical Society
http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/
ref/collection/march/id/663

20. • Apply Recollection Wisconsin
standards and guidelines for digital
imaging, metadata, and digital
preservation
• Ensure that digitized resources are
freely available to the public for
personal, educational, informational,
recreational and research use
• Ensure that digitized resources are in
the public domain or cleared for public
access
• Accept responsibility for preservation
of digital master files
Contributing Partners are
expected to . . .
Mount Horeb Public Library
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSear
ch?repl1=WI&repl2=WI.hitch0187.bib

21. – File naming
– Digital preservation
– Protecting your physical
collections
– Metadata
– Project promotion
– Video tutorials on photo
scanning and assigning titles to
historic photos
recollectionwisconsin.org/guidelines
– Project planning
– Selecting materials
– Copyright
– Creating digital images
Woodville Community Library
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/S
SRecIDSearch?repl1=WI&repl2=WI.ind
h0078.bib

22. Twitter:
@recollectionwi
Facebook:
facebook.com/recolle
ctionwisconsin
Monthly email
newsletter:
Sign up at
recollectionwisconsin.org
Milwaukee Public Library
http://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

23. Thank You!
Emily Pfotenhauer
epfotenhauer@wils.wisc.edu
608-265-2138
Handout and slides:
recollectionwisconsin.org/
wapl2013
Mineral Point Historical Society
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/singleit
em/collection/mphs/id/3/rec/29