KY-NDNP4

That's right, kids, The University of Kentucky Libraries has been awarded a rare NEH fourth grant for the National Digital Newspaper Program.

Meanwhile, the program welcomes three new awardee states: Indiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Welcome one and all - meet you at the finish line!

Chronicling America gets a facelift!

Chronicling America, home base for most of our KY-NDNP content, has recently undergone a beautiful transformation.

Let our awardee partners at the Ohio Historical Society walk you through it with their fantastic post about the new interface. Go, now!

Google drops its Newspaper Digitization

In an article from Search Engine Land on May 20, 2011, Google announced that it is suspending its newspaper digitization efforts. What do you think?

With traditional newspapers struggling to stay afloat, this video posted courtesy PALEO FUTURE is fascinating from a historical standpoint, to say the least. Equally fascinating is what will ultimately become of paper print in the future. What do you think tomorrow's news will it come from and how will we access it?

newspaper preservation

[Participant and presenter, Vicky McCargar, used the above corrupted photo as an example of corrupted data during the Newspaper Archive Summit at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Columbia ¦ LOS ANGELES TIMES FILE PHOTO]

Events of last week drove home just how tenuous newspaper preservation in the digital age really is.

There was the Newspaper Archive Summit in Columbia, Missouri. The talks centered on digital content and orphaned titles, how to preserve them, the costs, the risks, and most importantly, what's at stake if we don't. As documented in this piece from the Missourian by conference attendant, Tom Warhover, preserving digital content is a constant battle with sometimes tragic results.

Then, came the UK Libraries' Digital Library Services' presentation to the Kentucky Press Association Board of Directors. UK unveiled their latest tool for contemporary newspapers preservation called Paper Vault (Beta). Paper Vault allows for seamless upload of whole issues of print-ready PDFs. The files are then prepped for UK Libraries Trusted Digital Repository and for online access. Publishers from the larger conglomerate newspapers quickly dismissed the repository, citing contractual agreements with vendors who offer the goods behind a pay-wall. However, the smaller newspapers were equally enthusiastic about the opportunity.

Enlightening bookends to a digital week.

Making the Transition

So many newspapers are folding under the weight of digital media that it's hard to stay positive some days, that is if you're in the business of newspapers or preserving the first record of history, such is the case with KY-NDNP. But here comes a glimmer of hope from our friends at The Rural Blog who reports on the success of Connecticut's Register Citizen and California's Appeal-Democrat.

For more inspiration, try 10 Newspapers that Do It Right from Editor & Publisher.

Kudos to everyone working hard to keep our history alive.

This day in History

From our favorite historian, Mary Koegel, comes this exquisite niblet:

Today in KY newspaper history, in 1837, it's the birthday of everybody's favorite (alleged) atheist, Charles Chilton Moore, editor & founder of Bluegrass Blade. Ironically, he was the grandson of Barton W. Stone (co-founder of Disciples of Christ, Christian Church, & Church of Christ).

Read more about Charles Chilton Moore at the Kentuckiana Digital Library, or if you'd like something longer, John Sparks recently released Kentucky's Most Hated Man chronicling Moore's exploits.