Collaboration to Help More State History Go Digital

Indiana State University has received funding to establish an affordable digital preservation resource for cultural organizations throughout the state. The Indiana Memory Digital Preservation Collaborative is a partnership with the Indiana State Library and is funded by a Library Services Technology Act grant.

The grant is valued at more than $50,000 and is aimed at supporting small-to-mid-sized nonprofits in their digital file management efforts.

ISU’s Cunningham Memorial Library will oversee the network and "wrangle" or prepare digital files as needed. The effort will be part of the community-based MetaArchive Cooperative.

The grant was administered by the Indiana State Library and funded through the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Cunningham Library Special Collections Chair Cindy May says "for those of us who are fortunate enough to have the resources, we have an obligation to help those who are under-resourced. Access is the name of the game. Digital files are very sensitive as technology is ever-changing. We would all like to think that we will never lose our digital content, but we need to be responsible and find ways to ensure its viability in the future. This grant will help us establish an affordable solution for Indiana’s cultural heritage organizations that are creating and collecting digital files."