We leave selection of materials for digitization up to the contributing institutions, which best know what their users would like to see made available online. Any original item relating to people, places, or events in North Carolina is eligible for inclusion. The easiest way to get a sense of the types of materials that can be included is to visit DigitalNC.org and browse the collections.
Below are a few of the most common approaches for evaluating your collection and deciding what to digitize.
Digitize Materials that Document Underrepresented Voices
Some of the rarest materials held by North Carolina institutions are those documenting the history of racial, social, religious, or other minorities. Many institutions start by selecting these types of materials for online access to broaden their audience’s perspective of their communities, to tell a fuller story of North Carolina’s rich history, and to help build relationships with local groups of underrepresented populations.
- Example: Various Records of the Public Schools in Morton Township, Alamance County from Alamance County Public Library
Staff members from the Alamance County Public Library brought in a number of 19th and 20th century items documenting segregated schools in the county.
Digitize the Most Popular Materials
Many decide to digitize the most heavily used materials in their collection. Photos, yearbooks, and local history materials are common choices. If a lot of people are already using and enjoying the materials, chances are pretty good that even more will appreciate having easy online access to the collection.
- Example: Historic photos from Haywood County Public Library.
Staff members from the Haywood County Public Library selected a group of the most interesting and popular historic photographs from their collection and chose to share these online at DigitalNC.
Digitize the Unique Materials
What do you have in your collection that nobody else has? Most institutions have published materials such as county histories or newspapers on microfilm that, while popular, may also be available at other libraries and archives. Many of our partners choose to focus on one-of-a-kind materials in their collections, such as historic photo albums, handwritten diaries, and ledgers. Not only does this guarantee that the digitization work won’t be duplicated by somebody else, it also helps to emphasize the unique elements of your collection.
- Example: Kimbrough Ferry Book, Davie County Public Library.
This handwritten account book from the 1820s describes the operations of a private ferry across the Yadkin River and is unique to the Davie County Public Library.
Digitize the Difficult Materials
There are a lot of historic materials that have terrific content, but are difficult to use because of their physical condition. Old scrapbooks and large historic maps are good examples. Some of our partners have decided to focus on digitizing these kinds of materials so that they can share them with a wider audience without further damaging the already fragile items.
- Example: Boonville Home Demonstration Club Scrapbook, Yadkin County Public Library.
Large scrapbooks are difficult to use: their size alone makes them a challenge to handle and the photos and clippings are often glued onto brittle paper. By digitizing some of their scrapbooks, the Yadkin County Public Library is able to easily share this content with its users.
Digitize the Materials You’ve Already Described
Some of our partners have decided to get started with digitization by working on materials for which they already have descriptive information. If you have your materials already described in a card index, library catalog, or local database, that information will give you a nice head start when it comes time to prepare for digitization. It also ensures that items are more likely to be found through search engines, reaching more users.
- Example: Orange County Historical Museum Collection Highlights.
The Orange County Historical Museum worked with the Digital Heritage Center to share highlights from its collection online. The materials selected were already described in the museum’s collection database. This made it easy to publish the materials online as soon as the photography was completed.