Contact: Marsha McDevitt-Stredney
Marketing & Communications
State Library of Ohio
Tel: 614-644-6875
March 23, 2009 State Library Ohio awarded a federal Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
Thanks to a Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the State Library of Ohio, in partnership with the Ohio Historical Society, will initiate “Ohio Heritage Partnership: A Statewide Initiative”.
Ohio is rich with libraries, historical societies, museums, genealogy societies, and government entities, all of which have documents and records held in the public trust. Preservation of these documents as well as access to them varies greatly. Lack of care and preservation of Ohio’s cultural heritage has reached a crisis point and must be addressed if it is to be saved.
This two year grant will be launched as part of Ohio Archivist Day activities on May 1, 2009. The $40,000 grant will be used to plan and implement a needs assessment of Ohio cultural heritage institutions. The outcome of the “Ohio Heritage Partnership: A Statewide Initiative” project will be a directory of contact and institutional information as well as a report detailing the findings of the needs assessment. In addition, a summit entitled State of the Historical Record in Ohio will be held in summer 2010 followed by a series of regional meetings. The grant will culminate with the creation of the Ohio Cultural Heritage Strategic Plan.
“I am pleased that a collaborative effort between the State Library of Ohio, the Ohio Historical Society and other organizations in the state concerned with the preservation of Ohio’s cultural heritage has been funded,” said State Librarian Jo Budler. “It will greatly benefit our current and future residents and researchers. It is essential that the lack of care and preservation crisis be addressed if Ohio’s cultural heritage is to be saved for future generations.”
IMLS awarded 19 Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grants with a total amount awarded of $720,497. Ohio received $40,000, the maximum allowed. Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grants are used to create conservation plans for collections held in libraries, museums, and archives. The Statewide Planning Grants are an important component of the IMLS initiative, Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a multi-year, multi-faceted national plan to raise public awareness and inspire action on collections care.
According to Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services, “These 19 projects represent movement toward collaborative thinking among collection-holding institutions that have a strong commitment to collections stewardship. IMLS funding will assist these relationships in blossoming into powerful alliances that will serve collections and the people who use them for years to come.”
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.
For more information contact:
Marsha McDevitt-Stredney
State Library of Ohio
Tel: 614-644-6875
Fax: 614-466-3584
March 6, 2009
Ohio Memory – Next Generation website launches
The State Library of Ohio and Ohio Historical Society are pleased to announce the March 2nd launch of the Ohio Memory – Next Generation website (www.ohiomemory.org). The website, a redesign of the Ohio Memory project, features 75,000 historical images and information from 330 archives, historical societies, libraries and museums. The new site has been improved to make it easier to find and contribute images, information, and documents. Users can search and browse all collections or an individual collection by subject, place or contributor.
“People are used to one-stop shopping and retrieval of information. The new website allows users to find documents, portraits, and photographs on any given subject quickly and easily,” said State Librarian Jo Budler. “It is wonderful that our partnership with the Ohio Historical Society allowed us to move our collections to a new and improved platform.”
The Ohio Memory – Next Generation site is a collaborative project of the State Library of Ohio and Ohio Historical Society. In addition to all of the resources on the original website, the State Library has contributed part of its Ohio documents digital collection that includes a vast selection of publications produced on the web by state agencies. The publications include many annual reports, health and population statistics, natural resources guides and pamphlets including: Trails for Ohioans a plan for the future, 20 Questions to ask a lender or mortgage broker, and 2006 population estimates for cities, villages & townships.
“We are beginning to scan print materials from our rare Ohio state government collection. The staff is scanning annual reports from the 1800s to early 1900s. Current titles include: Annual Report of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors Orphans’ Home; Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb; and Annual Reports of Longview Hospital,” said Jim Buchman, head of Patron & Catalog Services at the State Library of Ohio. “These publications include rosters of individuals and will be of interest to the genealogy community.” For example, a recently scanned document is the Known military dead during the Spanish American War and the Philippines Insurrection, 1898-1901.
Ohio Memory began as a state bicentennial project in 2000 to build a searchable database of digital images celebrating Ohio’s history. Hundreds of historical societies, museums and libraries from all over Ohio contributed more than 25,000 images to the project. The collection continues to grow. “The [new] site increases access to Ohio’s past and the individual stories that make up the fabric of our nation’s and Ohio’s history,” said Angela O’Neil, manager of Preservation and Access Services at the Ohio Historical Society.
The Ohio Memory project was originally funded by the Ohio Public Library Information Network, Ohio Bicentennial Commission and a federal Institute for Museum and Library Services/Library Services Technology Act grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio.
March 3, 2009 - State Library of Ohio Testimony before the Subcommittee for Higher Education for the Ohio House of Representatives
State Librarian Jo Budler presented testimony today, on behalf of the State Library of Ohio, before the House Finance and Appropriations subcommittee of Higher Education. In her testimony Budler reviewed the many programs and services the State Library provides to state government, librarians, and residents throughout the state. Click here to download complete testimony as a pdf.