1. Lancaster County Digitization Project Lancaster County Digitization Project The Birth of a Digital Cooperative ACRL/DVC & ACLCP Joint Meeting, 18 March 2005 Christopher Raab, Marilyn McKinley Parrish, Heather Tennies

2. What is a Cooperative Anyway? A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Courtesy, National Cooperative Business Association, www.ncba.coop/abcoop_ab_values.cfm

3. Guiding Values for Cooperatives  Self-help  Self-responsibility  Democracy  Equality  Equity  Solidarity  Honesty  Openness  Social responsibility  Caring for others Courtesy, National Cooperative Business Association www.ncba.coop/abcoop_ab_values.cfm

4. Guiding Principles for Cooperatives  Voluntary and open membership  Democratic member control  Member economic participation  Autonomy and independence  Provide education, training, and information  Cooperation among cooperatives  Concern for community

5. Steps in Starting a Cooperative 1. Conduct exploratory meetings with potential members 2. Survey prospective members and establish communication tools 3. Discuss survey results and determine how to proceed 4. Identify a steering committee or leadership group 5. Form a cooperative identity 6. Begin to raise capital, seek grant funding

6. Steps in Sustaining a Cooperative 1. Develop a digitization plan 2. Prepare articles of incorporation, charter, and by-laws 3. Elect a Board of Directors 4. Hire a manager or project employees 5. Acquire specialized equipment, licenses, facility 6. Seek additional funding sources, expand membership

7. Why do Cooperatives Succeed?  Provide only the services that members need  Maintain an open line of communication with members  Provide more individualized and specialized services  Develop and implement systematic methods to provide services and educate members  Driven by members and a quality management team

8. Why do Cooperatives Fail?  Management is ineffective  Members are unsupportive  Needs of membership are not met  Communication is insufficient  Membership education is inconsistent or inadequate  Funding is not acquired

9. Examples of Model Cooperatives Historic Pittsburgh Digital collection of materials on the history of Pittsburgh and the surrounding Western Pennsylvania area. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh Central New York Library Resources Council (CLRC) Assists libraries, schools, and museums in four central counties of New York to provide digital access to unique local resources. http://clrc.org Colorado Digitization Program Provides access to digital collections of materials held by Colorado cultural heritage institutions. http://www.cdpheritage.org

10. LCDP Project Timeline  Began January 2004  Vision: One format/One software  Build a collaborative effort for historic newspaper preservation and digitization  Goals  Identify historic newspapers in need of preservation  Seek funds for microfilming and digitization  Increase electronic access to cultural heritage materials

11. LCDP Membership  ELANCO Public Library  Elizabethtown College  Franklin & Marshall College  Lancaster County Historical Society  Lancaster County Library  Linden Hall  Mennonite Historical Society  Millersville University

12. Communication  Website maintained by Franklin & Marshall College  http://edisk.fandm.edu/christopher.raab/lcdp.html  Listserv through Millersville University  Formal meetings of participating organizations  Informal communication and camaraderie  Shared expertise and opportunities for learning  Favorable timing for inclusion in statewide projects

13. Funding  Internal  Office of the President/Friends of the Library funding for F&M College Reporter  External  NEH Grant received through Penn State to microfilm New Holland Clarion  LSTA Grant received to digitize Columbia Spy  Lancaster County Community Foundation support sought to microfilm and digitize Linden Hall Echo  Students from Clarion University preparing LSTA Grant proposal to digitize New Holland Clarion

14. Leadership  Franklin & Marshall College  LCDP website, internal funding, external grant support, research  Lancaster County Historical Society  Initial exploratory meetings, external funding, research/applications  Millersville University  LCDP listserv, PaNP recommended titles, seeking external funding, research/applications

15. Results in Our First Year  Built communication channels and collaborative effort among 8 local institutions—and had fun doing it!  Evaluated leading software options and vendors for digitization  Preservation microfilming for New Holland Clarion through Penn State University Libraries and the NEH funded Pennsylvania Newspaper Project  Digitization of Columbia Spy (1850-1870) through Penn State University’s Civil War Newspaper Digitization Project  LSTA funding for digitization of Columbia Spy (1830-1850, 1870-1889)

16. The Future  Continued collaboration between institutions  Support from additional funding sources  Common web interface for digital collections  Purchase group license for Olive software and host website for local newspapers  Exploration and prioritization of additional digitization projects  Increased access to local history for researchers, students, community members