Theme 1
A Collaborative Work Ethic
Work collaboratively and flexibly with North Carolina’s cultural heritage professionals to broaden online access to their collections. How we’ll do this:
- Continue to provide digitization of and digital access to the materials our partners select for sharing online.
- Continue to support cultural heritage professionals planning for and pursuing their organization’s own digital initiatives.
- Rely on our network of relationships to make connections and foster collaborations in digital initiatives throughout North Carolina.
- Work with units within Wilson Special Collections Library as well as external institutions and organizations to increase the range of services and opportunities we offer to our partners.
- Remain in touch with and responsive to the greatest needs of our partners, so that we use our funds in helpful and equitable ways.
Theme 2
Inclusive and Diverse Collections
Engage with a diverse community of institutions and users to support inclusivity in digital collections. How we’ll do this:
- Offer on-site scanning days, digitizing materials for institutions for whom travel to Chapel Hill is a burden.
- Continue to encourage our partners to select materials documenting underrepresented communities.
- Connect with potential partners in counties and regions with little representation on DigitalNC.org.
- Support organizations who solely document underrepresented communities in reaching their specific digital initiative goals.
Theme 3
Accessible and Engaging Content
Ensure DigitalNC.org quickly and accurately connects all users with cultural heritage materials that meet their research or recreational needs. How we’ll do this:
- Increase the accessibility of DigitalNC.org for all users through a website redesign and by pushing external software developers to improve their products.
- Develop creative and interactive ways for users to engage with online content, including support for crowdsourcing.
- Learn from and share information with our user audiences, including but not limited to local historians and genealogists, K-12 educators, and students of all ages.
Theme 4
Expanded Newspaper Content
Meet partner demand for open access to more digitized newspapers. How we’ll do this:
- Improve the infrastructure underlying our digital newspaper collection to ensure continued access.
- Work with partners to identify non-microfilmed and at-risk print newspaper titles, particularly from underrepresented communities, for digitization and online access.
- Incorporate digitized newspaper content from other sources (newspapers.com, Chronicling America) into DigitalNC.org to create the largest freely accessible source of North Carolina newspaper content.