Denver Public Library Launches New Site to Digitize Neighborhood Histories

From The Denver Post:

The Denver Public Library is set to unveil a social networking website on March 20, which will allow users to upload their own photos and recollections of Colorado’s history.
It lets residents mix their own materials with nearly 900,000 items in the library’s digital archives, establishing online communities around a wide variety of topics related to the state’s history.
“Rather than us being the storytellers, we want communities and the public to tell their stories,” said Jamie Seemiller, program administrator in the library’s Western History and Genealogy Department.
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To create the social archive, the library received a $461,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in addition to a previous $778,000 grant for its neighborhoods project.
Charles Thomas, a senior program officer with the institute, said Creating Your Community could serve as a demonstration for other libraries nationwide. He said a goal is to create a guide for addressing challenges such as how to monitor content and ensure its reliability.

Direct to Creating Communities Web Site

Read the Complete Article

See Also: Here’s the IMLS Award Announcement For the Project (September 2010)
See Also: Creating Your Community Colorado’s Social Archive to Launch March 20th (via DenverLibrary.org)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Awards, Digital Collections, Funding, Libraries, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Resources