GRANT/LOAN FUND –

SITES OUTSIDE OF DEADWOOD

 

APPLICATION # _______

 

 

DEADWOOD HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION

 

GRANT/LOAN FUND

SITES OUTSIDE OF DEADWOOD

 

Application

 

 

The Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission reviews all applications. Please read the attached Policy Guidelines and provide the requested information below.

 

 

1.         Property Address:

This application covers the processing and digital publication of historic records. The Rapid City Public Library is the lead agency for the Community Archives Consortium (CAC). It is located at 610 Quincy Street in Rapid City, South Dakota, 57701.

 

 

2.         Applicant Details:                                          TODAY’S DATE: 1/2/2010

 

TOTAL GRANT REQUEST:                                $12,852

 

Project Director

Greta Chapman, MLS                (605) 394-4171        gchapman@rcplib.org

610 Quincy Street, Rapid City, SD 57701

 

Consulting Historian

Eric John Abrahamson, Ph.D.    (605) 484-3820        eric@vantagepointhistory.com

1422 Clark Street, Rapid City, SD  57701

 

3. Owner of Property**:

 

**NOTE: Applicant must own/retain property; OR Applicant must be leasing or renting the property and have written permission from the owner to conduct the work; OR Applicant must have a firm written commitment with the owner to purchase the property.

(Complete ‘Owner of Property’ only if different from that of applicant)

 

Not applicable to this project.

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1.         Property Address

Not applicable to this project.

 

 

2.         Description of work to be performed as part of this project:

This application to the Deadwood Historic Preservation Grant program seeks support for the identification, description, digitization and publication of records pertaining to the history and development of Deadwood that are held by various Rapid City institutions and organizations. Work under this project will be administered by the Rapid City Public Library (RCPL) acting as the lead agency in a collaboration known as the Community Archive Consortium (CAC).

 

Participating Organizations

The Community Archive Consortium (CAC) is a joint venture project of the Rapid City Public Library (RCPL), the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the Journey Museum/Minnilusa Pioneer Museum, the Dahl Fine Arts Center and the Rapid City Historical Commission in association with the Homestake Adams Research Center (HARC) in Deadwood. The consortium was formed in 2009 to establish a virtual and physical archive of community records and historical materials documenting the history of Rapid City and the community’s relationship to the surrounding Black Hills region.

 

Each of the members of the consortium provides resources, facilities, archival materials and expertise to support the effort to create a virtual community archive. In addition, RCPL and the CAC intend to cooperate closely with several regional and statewide archival initiatives including institutions in Deadwood building a common database in Past Perfect, the Digital Library of South Dakota and the South Dakota State Archives. The project will also provide an added institutional resource to the IMLS-funded Connecting to Collections initiative in South Dakota which seeks to enhance preservation and accessibility to existing archival collections.

 

Goals of the Project

This project will support the goals of the Deadwood Historic Preservation program by providing access to historical resources that are currently unavailable to the building owners, interpreters and interested researchers served by the Deadwood Historic Preservation program. It will expand the distribution of traditional historical documents by digitizing and publishing materials online in a searchable catalogue. It will promote regional collaboration to preserve local historical materials and make them available. It will also provide critical archival training to interested repositories and institutions throughout the Black Hills.

 

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3.         Describe the Project’s Relationship to the History of Deadwood

The histories of Rapid City and Deadwood are deeply intertwined. During the Gold Rush and after, Rapid City served as the trading center for commercial and passenger traffic moving to and from Deadwood to the East. As the Black Hills developed after the turn of the century, Rapid City became an important industrial center for the region, and Deadwood capital played an important part in promoting this growth.

 

The economic and cultural interchange between Deadwood and Rapid City is reflected in the archives of many of Rapid City’s long-lived businesses, organizations and institutions. The informal archives of Black Hills Corporation in Rapid City, for example, contain documents, photographs and ephemera that chronicle the development of various independent power companies in Deadwood, Lead, Sturgis and other Black Hills communities and their gradual consolidation into a single corporate entity. Unprocessed formal archives at the School of Mines and Technology illuminate the scientific and educational exchange that developed to provide the intellectual capital to develop the mining industry in the Northern Hills. Cultural and religious interchange between the two communities is also reflected in institutional history; the Synagogue of the Hills, for example, traces its history to Deadwood’s pioneering Jewish community. In the 1950s, the sacred scriptures from this community were moved to Rapid City.

 

These are just some of the formal and informal archives containing thousands of documents, photographs, publications and ephemera that will be surveyed and described as a part of this project. The survey will also collect information on the relationships between those archives and the history of Deadwood. Funds provided by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Grant will be used to describe, digitize, catalogue and electronically publish those collections with strong Deadwood ties.

 

Detailed Project Description

The CAC has been organized to identify and describe formal and informal archival collections in Rapid City. This application seeks support for the identification, description and digital publication of materials related specifically to the history of Deadwood.

 

Phase One – Community Survey

To identify, assess and prioritize processing for historical materials in Rapid City, the CAC will begin its efforts with a two-pronged survey of formal and informal collections in the community. Formal collections include unprocessed materials held by the Minnilusa Historical Association, the Dahl Fine Arts Center, the RCPL and other historical and cultural institutions. Each of these institutions will produce a preliminary finding aid for its collection which will be posted on the CAC website.

 

At the same time, the CAC will launch a community survey to identify and describe other important informal collections in the community that are otherwise unknown to

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historians, researchers and the community. Informal collections include unprocessed materials held by entities whose primary mission is not related to the preservation and

Interpretation of historical or bibliographic materials. The community survey will encompass a broad-based outreach to approximately 100 businesses, service clubs, churches, public charities and government agencies established 50 or more years ago.  

 

The survey itself will gather information about the scope of historical materials held in the community’s informal archives including subject matter, chronological scope, formats, current storage conditions, permissions for access and contact information. A finding aid will be created that will incorporate a unique record for each collection that includes the above information as well as a brief narrative description of the materials and an assessment of their historical significance.

 

Phase Two: Prioritization, Digitization, Cataloging

With the completion of the survey, the Community Archives Consortium Steering Committee will prioritize materials from both the formal and informal collections in the community for digitization. Holding institutions and individuals will be re-contacted and invited to make their materials available to the public via the Virtual Community Archive. The Project Archivist will also work with these institutions and individuals to digitize their collections and, if appropriate, coordinate the preservation of these historic materials on a contract basis with the Homestake Adams Research Center.

 

Phase Three:   Publication, Support and Outreach

The CAC project will focus on the creation of a virtual research facility that will be professionally managed and available 365 days a year. Digital access will be provided through the home page of the Rapid City Public Library, the portals of each of the consortium member organizations, as well as through the South Dakota Library Network’s statewide OPAC. Support received from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Grant program will be acknowledged on the home page for the Virtual Community Archive and in published promotional materials and finding aids.

 

Users will assisted in their use of the Virtual Community Archive by on-staff librarians either in-person or on-line. For researchers who need access to the physical materials, the Project Archivist will serve as the primary contact person and will facilitate access to both the formal and informal archives within the community. Physical materials in storage at the Homestake Adams Research Center will be made available to researchers with the permission of the owners during the regular hours of the HARC.  

 

Outreach and promotion of the Virtual Community Archive will be led by the Rapid City Public Library, with primary responsibility given to the Library’s marketing and outreach director. In addition, each of the members of the consortium will publicize this resource to their members, patrons and stakeholders. The CAC will work with historical and

 

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cultural institutions in Deadwood to ensure that Deadwood-related materials are accessible through the websites of Deadwood institutions.

 

The CAC will also work with statewide and regional archival consortiums, including the IMLS-funded Connecting to Collections project, the South Dakota State Library, the South Dakota State Archives, and the Digital Library of South Dakota to promote the use and development of the Virtual Community Archive. Rapid City Public Library staff will link the Virtual Community Archive to material available digitally from regional and national collections including the Library of Congress, National Archives and other repositories.

 

PRODUCTS

Over the course of the 12-month planning and implementation project, the RCPL and the CAC will develop the following work products:

 

Work Products

a.         Completed survey and online finding aid of community organizations and institutions with archival collections.

b.         Completed community archives digitization collections policy.

c.         Completion of integrated interface and file storage system.

d.         Completed cataloging in MARC and SQL format for 4,800 records including 960 records with strong ties to Deadwood’s history.

 

Accessibility & Marketing

Promotion of the Virtual Community Archive will be done by:

a.         The RCPL’s website and affiliated portals available on the websites of the Minnilusa Historical Association, the Dahl Fine Arts Center, the Devereaux Library of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Black Hills State University.

b.         Referral links negotiated with other institutions associated with South Dakota and Great Plains history including the South Dakota State Archives and the South Dakota State Library;

c.         Conventional print and media promotion by the Rapid City Public Library’s community outreach coordinator.

 

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

A.        Completed survey and online finding aid of community institutions including:

1.         Create profiles for each organization/institution.

2.         Develop an overview description of each institution’s archives including type and quantity of material, period, provenance and significance.

3.         General condition and storage arrangements.

4.         Contact information and instructions for access.

5.         Information on rights and use of materials.

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B.        Completed community archives digitization collections policy including

1.         Processing priority matrix that incorporates: the historical significance on a local/regional/national basis, level of community interest and expected

use, condition assessment, and importance to traditionally underserved populations (including Native Americans and rural communities).

2.         File creation protocols that meet national standards.

 

C.        Completion of integrated interface and file storage system.

1.         Acquisition of new server for community archives system.

2.         Installation of CONTENTdm for file and records management and integration with existing OPAC and Digital Library of South Dakota.

3.         Aggregation of existing relevant digital records and/or hyperlink to local, regional and national institutions with relevant materials.

 

D.        Digitization and posting of at least 500 test records and associated scanned items as a phase one stage to the launch of the Community Archive facility.

1.         MARC records completed and submitted to OCLC for all items.

2.         At-risk materials will be transferred for preservation to the Homestake Adams Research Center for long term physical storage.

 

 

PLAN FOR SUSTAINABILITY

With the completion of the planning phase – including the survey, finding aid, and digitization plan – the CAC partners will move forward with the creation of the Virtual Community Archive. Leveraging the collecting and digitization guidelines developed with the help of the consulting archivist, the permanent staffs of the CAC partners will begin digitizing high priority items. RCPL has budgeted to assume salary and benefits for a full-time Project Archivist after the planning and launch year. The Project Archivist will oversee the coordination of the project, the digitization of records, collaboration with cataloguers, and outreach to the public. RCPL’s technical staff will maintain the servers and software to manage the virtual archive and its integration with the South Dakota Library Network’s OPAC and WorldCat. Devereaux Library at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will provide project staff and trained volunteers with access to high-quality digitization equipment.


GRANT/LOAN FUND –

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PROJECT BUDGET

– itemized and showing match

 

Description

Total Cost[1]

Deadwood Portion

(based on 20%)

Match

Grant Request

Salaries

 

 

 

 

- Project Director

10,326

0

0

0

- Project Archivist

48,000

9,600

3,600

3,600

- Service Coordinator

4,385

877

439

438

 

 

 

 

 

Prof Services

 

 

 

 

- Consulting Archivist

14,040

2,808

1,404

1,404

- Consulting Historian

9,000

1,800

900

900

- Survey Tech

12,000

2,400

1,200

1,200

- Digitization Tech

12,000

2,400

1,200

1,200

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

 

 

 

 

- Consulting Archivist

1,950

0

0

0

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies & Materials

600

120

60

60

Equip Rental (digitization)

15,000

3000

1500

1500

Server (Virtual Arch)

8,500

1700

850

850

Content DM software

5,000

1000

500

500

 

 

 

 

 

TOTALS

$140,801

$25,705

$12,853

$12,852

 

 

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The following information must be presented with this application as attachments before being reviewed by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission (incomplete applications will not be reviewed)

 

a.         Floor plan(s) (when necessary) – NOT APPLICABLE

b.         Site plan(s) (when necessary) – NOT APPLICABLE

c.         Photographs – NOT APPLICABLE

d.         Copy of deed or notarized letter of authorization – NOT APPLICABLE

e.         Verification of flood plain status or flood insurance – NOT APPLICABLE

f.          Submission of specifications and contracts – NOT APPLICABLE

 

 

ADDENDA

 

Personnel

 

Consortium Contacts

Greta Chapman, Director, Rapid City Public Library (gchapman@rcplib.org).

Patricia M. Andersen, Director, Devereaux Library, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (patricia.andersen@sdsmt.edu).

Reid L. Riner, Director, Minnilusa Historical Association (minnilusa@earthlink.net)

Linda Anderson, Executive Director, Dahl Fine Arts Center (Linda@thedahl.org)

Mary Kopco, Director, Homestake Adams Research Center, (Mary@theadamsdeadwood.org)

 

 

Staff & Responsibilities

 

Project Director – Greta Chapman (Library Director)

*          Coordinate with local government to provide for the integration of the city’s open records to the digital archive platform.

*          Facilitate public access to public records to promote digital citizenship.

*          Facilitate a community-wide survey and forums to identify and describe historical collections, both those that are institutionally-owned and those that are privately owned by individuals or families.

*          Meet with stakeholders and community groups to promote participation in and use of the virtual community archive.

*          Draft the case study and best practices document for a digitization model

 

Project Archivist – To be hired

To help develop and then manage the Virtual Community Archives on an ongoing basis, the Rapid City Public Library will hire a junior archivist who will be given the opportunity to grow in experience and knowledge with the project. The project archivist will work with the Consulting Archivist. This person will be expected to start July 1, 2010. Responsibilities include:

 

*          Provide project coordination between the members of the CAC and serve as project liaison to institutions and individuals with informal collections.

*          Act as the staff coordinator for the CAC Steering Group.

*          Catalog digital files.

 

Digitization Coordinator – Stephanie Bents

*          Facilitate contributions of privately-owned historical materials.

*          Select materials from institutional partners and privately owned collections based on criteria, clearing all rights.

*          Identify priorities for collections proposed for digitization.

*          Train community members to use digitizing equipment.

*          Coordinate with RCPL staff for promotion of digital collections.

 

Services Coordinator – Gayle Ressler

*          Train community members to use digitizing equipment.

*          Catalog digital file protocol according to national standards.

 

Consultants & Responsibilities

 

Consulting Archivist – To Be Hired

*          Consult with the project team on the design of the survey and community finding aid to be produced with data from the survey.

*          Guide the development of collections policies, cataloging, digitization, and preservation standards.

*          Provide training to RCPL and partner staff in archives management.

*          Serve as a consulting mentor to the Project Archivist on archival issues.

 

Historical Consultant – Dr. Eric John Abrahamson

*          Work with the Project Archivist to lead and implement the community survey of formal and informal collections.

*          Provide the raw data and narrative collection descriptions for the community finding aid.

*          Collaborate with the Project Archivist to produce community finding aid.

*          Review and assess the case study for a digitization model.

*          Facilitate conversations with the IMLS-funded Connection to Collections.

*          Assist with development of the community finding aid and access plan.

 

Survey Technician – To Be Hired

*          Under the supervision of and in collaboration with the Historical Consultant, Survey Technician will participate in field surveys of archives recording data on quantity, types, dates and significance of collections.


[1] The sources of funding for total costs include federal grants (NHPRC – application pending for $63,760) and cost sharing contributions by members of the CAC ($77,038). A decision on our NHPRC application is expected in May, 2010. If federal funding does not come through, the CAC will move forward with the project as described above, reducing the scope of non-Deadwood materials to be digitized and catalogued in the first year by 50 percent.