July 7, 2020

Madison, WI. – The Wisconsin Historical Society is excited to announce that the South Central Library System (SCLS) is the recipient of the Governor’s Archives Award: Archival Advocacy Award for 2020.

“The South Central Library System has taken the lead in collaborating with and serving its member organizations in digitizing their local history materials,” said Christian Overland, Ruth and Hartley Barker Director & CEO of the Wisconsin Historical Society. “Digitization assistance and training is a frequent request of local historical societies and public libraries, and the South Central Library System is meeting this need. It’s important that organizations choosing to digitize material do so with proper tools to ensure scan quality and proper training to ensure material is not under copyright protection or damaged during scanning.”

The SCLS provides library service to public libraries in Adams, Columbia, Dane, Green, Portage, Sauk, and Wood counties. SCLS has developed services to assist member libraries with local history digitization projects. What started as a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant in 2016-2017 the program has expanded from a limited-term staff member and four sets of scanning equipment to a program staffed by a full-time digitization specialist and 20 scanning kits.

SCLS staff help library staff and volunteers through project planning, providing project manuals, and offering guidance. SCLS helps with material selection based on what is at risk, what is most requested/used, and what is significate to the community. SLCS also provides training on metadata for search and discovery. Digitized material is available in ContentDM and harvested into Recollection Wisconsin.

Each year, the Wisconsin Historical Society’s governing Board of Curators recognizes individuals and organizations for meritorious work in areas relating to the Society’s mission.  The Board of Curators is made up of thirty-seven elected and appointed members from across the state.

For information on award criteria, nominations and deadlines please visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.