Preserving the Recent for the Future: Generating the Latah County Common Heritage Collection through Community Digitization

FAIN: PY-234270-16

University of Idaho (Moscow, ID 83844-9803)
Devin Becker (Project Director: June 2015 to September 2017)

Collaboration between the Latah County Historical Society and the University of Idaho Library to conduct the digitization of materials related to the history of Moscow, Idaho (home to the University of Idaho), and public programming on digital history sources and community archives. The project would center on a digitization day and a public launch event including lectures on local history, as well as two exhibits that would be displayed at both partner institutions. A digital collection of scanned cultural materials would be preserved by the university and made publicly accessible.

The University of Idaho Library (UI Library) and Latah County Historical Society (LCHS) will host a day-long Common Heritage Event and additional public lectures on digital scholarship and community archives in Moscow, Idaho. The event will enable community members to work with the UI Library's experienced staff to digitize and create metadata for their cultural heritage materials. These materials will eventually become the Latah County Common Heritage Digital Collection, which will be made available online through the UI Library's website. Afterwards, we will host a digital collection launch party that will feature local experts on themes that emerged from the materials and the importance of community-generated archives. Two physical exhibits will also be created to feature materials from the collection. Together, these events will benefit future study of Idaho history by collecting historical materials that document underrepresented eras in both the UI Library and LCHS collections.

Associated Products

Latah County Community Heritage Collection (Web Resource)
Title: Latah County Community Heritage Collection
Author: Devin Becker
Author: Dulce Kersting-Lark
Author: Erin Stoddart
Abstract: The Latah County Common Heritage Collection was driven by funding from a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Common Heritage Grant awarded to the University of Idaho Library in 2016. The materials in this collection were collected via community digitization days held in Moscow and Potlatch in 2016 and 2017. The project was a collaboration between the University of Idaho Library and the Latah County Historical Society; it was directed by Devin Becker, Dulce Kersting, and Erin Stoddart. If you have any questions about the collection or are interested in donating materials, please email us at libspec@uidaho.edu.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/lcheritage/
Primary URL Description: A link to the homepage for the Latah County Community Heritage Collection

---