Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) is a digital portal that aggregates metadata and digital content from local history collections across Wisconsin. It provides shared standards for digitization, metadata, and digital preservation. WHO works with various partners, including historical societies, museums, libraries, and the Wisconsin Historical Society, to digitize local history collections and make them accessible online. It also provides training and support to help smaller organizations overcome challenges to digitization. A new WHO website is being developed to provide a more engaging experience for exploring Wisconsin's local history and cultural heritage collections.

1. Local History for a Global Audience
Wisconsin Heritage Online
Emily Pfotenhauer - WiLS World - July 25, 2012

2. Today’s presentation
• What is WHO?
• Our work with local history collections
• Promoting content with Tumblr
• Sorting collections with Viewshare
• Sneak peak at early stage of website redesign

3. Wisconsin Heritage Online is . . .
• AGGREGATED CONTENT
– wisconsinheritage.org portal brings together
metadata, thumbnail images and links from digital
collections across the state
• SHARED STANDARDS
– imaging, metadata, and digital preservation guidelines
developed by Wisconsin librarians, archivists and
curators
• TRAINING AND SUPPORT
– workshops, one-on-one project support, collection
hosting

4. PARTNERS

5. wisconsinheritage.org =
118,463 digital items

6. UWDC Site
How it works…
Search
Other OAI-
CONTENTdm compliant
databases
DATA
HARVEST

7. Historical Content Providers
Societies &
Wisconsin Museums
Historical Society 5%
8%
Academic University of
Libraries Wisconsin Digital
16% Collections
42%
Public Libraries
29%

8. Why digitize local history?
Local goals
• Improve organization and searchability of collections
• Generate revenue (reproductions, donations)
• Good PR within community
Broader goals
• Support needs of researchers
(genealogists, academics, citizen historians)
• Uncover rare/unique/hidden materials
• Contribute to collective knowledge base
• Understand macro through the micro

9. Digitization challenges for smaller organizations
• Lots of other demands on staff/volunteer time
• Often “passion project” of single individual
• Schedules may be ad hoc or seasonal
• Learning new skills, especially
metadata/cataloging
• Digital preservation
• Getting the word out beyond local community

10. A. J. Kingsbury Project
• Langlade County Historical
Society (Antigo) scanned
collection of glass negatives
and postcards by local
photographer A. J. Kingsbury
• Tribal Historic Preservation
Officers from Lac du
Flambeau, Menominee and
Lac Vieux Desert (UP)
identified people and
locations
• Tribal Libraries, Archives and
Museums (TLAM) class at
UW-Madison SLIS is creating
metadata

11. “Indian and His Bride” = Maggie Bearskin Skye and George St. Germain

12. Undergrad interns at local historical societies
• In partnership with
Material Culture Program
at UW-Madison
• Supported by Caxambas
Foundation
• Students get hands-on
experience in museum
settings
• Organizations get jump
start on digitization
projects

13. Undergrad interns at local historical societies
• McFarland Historical
Society: Norwegian-
American artifacts
• Portage Historical Society:
Architectural photographs
• Middleton Area Historical
Society: Photographs and
postcards
• Three Lakes Historical
Society: Archives

14. InfoSoup Memory Project
• Coordinated by Outagamie
Waupaca Library System;
OWLS staff provide centralized
training and collection hosting
for member libraries
Collections are hosted in
CONTENTdm by OWLS
• Participants so far include
Appleton, Clintonville, Door
County, Hortonville, Kaukauna
and Oconto Falls public
libraries
• Content includes
photographs, postcards, books
and pamphlets

15. Milwaukee Area Technical College
• Glass negatives
depicting early
vocational classes
• In celebration of MATC’s
100th anniversary in
2012

16. wiscohisto.tumblr.com

17. New website: creative rationale
Dan Saal and Jeff Ganger:
• “Our assignment is to develop an engaging
aggregator of curious collections, an exciting
digital screen door through which people pass
through on the way to discovering their
Wisconsin heritage.”
• “We need to provide a space for exploration and
education concerning the collections. In a
way, the site will announce, ‘Here’s what I
found, and here is how YOU can explore.’”

18. New website: key elements
• Generous interface (Mitchell Whitelaw, University
of Canberra); not “what do you want” but “here’s
what we have to offer”
• Three core functions:
– Look
– Search
– Participate
• Search guides targeted at specific user groups
and interest areas
• Spaces for community contributions

19. Website timeline
• NOW: refining
framework, adding
content
• AUGUST: Think Tank with
Advisory Committee and
visiting consultant
• SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER:
Feedback from
members, usability
testing
• LATE FALL 2012: soft
launch

20. STAY UPDATED
• Twitter
@wiheritage
• Facebook
facebook.com/
wisconsinheritage
• Tumblr
wiscohisto.tumblr.com
• Portal website THANK YOU!
wisconsinheritage.org Emily Pfotenhauer
WHO Outreach Specialist
epfotenhauer@wils.wisc.edu