2022 Washington Digital Heritage Grants: Home

The 2022-23 Washington Digital Heritage (WDH) grant cycle supports public, tribal, special, and academic libraries in carrying out a variety of digital initiatives focused on archival and special collections of cultural or historical significance.

The Washington State Library (WSL) seeks proposals that: 1) Develop institutional capacity to carry out and sustain digital initiatives, and: 2) Support regional and/or statewide approaches to digitization and the use of digital cultural heritage collections.

This WDH grant cycle works to fulfill WSL’s Library Services and Technology Act Plan goal, 2018-2022: Connect Washingtonians to their history, employing digital initiatives and other preservation strategies to tell the stories of local communities and to celebrate our common heritage.

Proposals may include or involve:

• Digitization/reformatting of archival and special collections.
• Metadata creation, remediation/cleanup, and/or re-cataloging.
• Development of local standards, practices and/or policies related to digitization, metadata creation, digital preservation, etc.
• Creation of born-digital multimedia content (e.g., oral histories, digital exhibits).
• Integration of primary sources or archival collections into educational settings by way of lesson plans/curricula, and/or Open Educational Resources (OERs).

Project outputs should be openly accessible to the public. Collaboration and formal partnerships are encouraged, but not required. Proposals using existing standards and best practices, and supporting a regional approach to the preservation and dissemination of digital collections will receive priority consideration for grant awards. Examples of this might include contributing records to a Digital Public Library of America service hub, or developing workflows, tools, or best practices useful to other libraries in the region. Learn more about the Orbis Cascade Alliance digital collections work for the Northwest here: https://www.orbiscascade.org/programs/ulc/digital-collections/ or about the work of WSL and State Library of Oregon here: https://www.northwestdigitalheritage.org/.

WSL supports libraries throughout the state in building local capacity to develop and sustain digital cultural heritage initiatives. The collaborative digitization program, Washington Rural Heritage (WRH), http://www.washingtonruralheritage.org, provides a statewide digital platform for smaller institutions. An existing or prospective WRH partner may use this grant opportunity to develop WRH collections. However, institutions are also welcome to undertake projects existing outside the WRH program and are free to use their own local systems, repositories, or platforms to manage and share project outputs.

WSL staff are available to provide consulting, training, and support of awardees throughout this grant cycle. Please note that WSL also offers separate Professional Development Grants to support professional training and continuing education (e.g., for advanced digitization topics): https://washstatelib.libguides.com/2021_PD_Virtual_Conf/General_Info.

Funding for this grant cycle was awarded to the following organizations.

Island County Historical Society

The Island County Historical Museum and Archive will digitize collection items and archival materials of Indigenous origin, including basketry, beadwork, photographs and documents, and post them online using CatalogIt. Digitizing these objects and materials will help make them accessible to the people to whom they belong: the local tribes and their peoples. Island County Historical Museum and Archive will promote this project through their website, social media, and a press release, as well as through contacts with tribal Archives and Museums

Jefferson County Historical Society

Jefferson County Historical Society will digitize fragile items in their collection, including maps, charts, architectural drawings, and oversized archival items. Over the 12-month grant period, they expect to digitize approximately 50% of the over 850 items catalogued as maps or oversize archival items in their collection, prioritizing items that are in the public domain. Jefferson County Historical Society will partner with the county library and government for public outreach about the digitized items near the end of the project period.

Pilchuck Glass School Library

Pilchuck Glass School Library will create an online repository and digitize items as part of their The Iconic 100, a set of 100 key images, objects, and moments that speak to the highlights of Pilchuck’s first 50 years. The Iconic 100 will be released to the public in two 50-piece batches. They will spread awareness of the new online collection through partnerships with other special libraries such as the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York.

The Seattle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library will digitize materials to add to their Black Culture and History Collection, a digital collection created in 2021 to bring together ephemera, photos, periodicals and other materials documenting the Black experience in the Seattle area. The digital collection will be promoted on the Library’s website and through social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Washington State University Libraries

Washington State University (WSU) Libraries will collaborate with the Nez Perce Tribe’s Department of Cultural Resources to select materials for digitization and provide tribal knowledge through audio recordings for photographs and documents from Nez Perce Collections at WSU including Nez Perce Photographs 1877-1905 and the Lucullus V. McWhorter Collection, focusing on materials related to the 1877 Nez Perce War. Tribal Knowledge (TK) Labels will provide guidance from the Nez Perce Tribe on the ethical use of digitized objects. WSU will share the project through online digital collection websites, regional conferences, the Unique and Local Collections team of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, and campus programming in partnership with WSU’s Native American programs. The Nez Perce Tribe will share the project through a program at the Nez Perce National Historic Park.

Whitman County Library

Whitman County Library will host scanning events in Colfax and at other locations to encourage members of the public to share family collections documenting their history in Whitman County and their stories as pioneers, farmers, merchants, and more. The project will be publicized through social media, flyers, and local newspaper and radio announcements. At the end of the project, Whitman County Library will create an exhibit showcasing some of the contributions.