Community Scanning Days
June 18, 1-5 pm, Downtown Branch Dothan Public Library (455 N. Oates St., Dothan)
June 25, 1-5pm, Administrative Building, Landmark Park in Dothan (430 Landmark Dr., Dothan)
There are many "Hidden Collections" of historically significant letters, diaries, photographs, and other personal and family materials in most communities. People often don't believe that their papers and photos are interesting to more than their own family. But archivists and historians are vitally interested in such treasures for the information they provide about life in the community.
Community Scanning Days are a way families and individuals can share their historical papers and photographs with researchers in the area and around the world. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University Dothan Campus and its partners, The Dothan Houston County Library System and Landmark Park, will set up 5 scanning teams at two locations on two days so the public can have some of their family archives digitized and indexed.
The scanning teams will provide digital copies of the scans to you, as well as preservation supplies for the items you have us digitize. We ask that you donate the scans to the Wiregrass Archives and allow them to be uploaded to Alabama Mosaic, a statewide database of digitized images and documents maintained by the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
FAQs
Who sponsors Community Scanning Days and these two workshops?
The National Endowment for the Humanities made "Common Heritage Project" funds availalbe to the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University Dothan Campus. The Archives partnered with Landmark Park and the Dothan Houston County Library System for all these events.
Do the Community Scanning Days cost me anything?
There is NO CHARGE to participate in the Scanning Days or the Workshops on May 21 or June 4. We ask that you pre-register for the workshops if you plan to attend them; but you can just drop in at the Scanning Days.
How many historical items can I bring to scan?
We ask you to limit your materials to ca. 12 items. If you have more, we can make an appointment to digitize the rest of them. This limit means you should bring what you consider to be the most valuable or important items in your collection.
What formats are you looking for?
Photographic prints, negatives, slides, and documents such as letters, wills, diaries. Our scanners accommodate documents up to 9 x 12 inches. We cannot scan any artifacts or other three-dimensional object.
What will happen when you scan my materials?
We will digitize at 300 dpi, store copies as part of your collection, provide you a jumpdrive with your scans on it, and provide preservation supplies (envelopes, folders) for those items we scan, We will also ask you for information about the photographs and documents that allows us to index them individually.
What happens to the copies you keep?
We hope you will donate those scans to the Wiregrass Archives. We have a form we will ask you to sign to that effect. The Wiregrass Archives will share those collections through the internet database Alabama Mosaic maintained by the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The Wiregrass Archives will also post collections to its list of online collections, and make your collection available to researchers as widely as possible. All internet postings will be low-resolution images unsuitable for publication.
Do I have to donate my scans to the Wiregrass Archives to participate?
No, not at all. We will still provide you copies of your scans on a jumpdrive and the appropriate preservation materials. We, of course, hope you will consider a donation.
The Wiregrass Common Heritage Project has been made
possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor
