Reaching your Local History Patrons through the Web

Palouse Digital Project

Marilyn Von SeggernWashington State University

Libraries

The Palouse Bioregion

The Palouse is a unique geographic region of wind-blown loess hills in southeastern

Washington and northern Idaho, bordered by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the channeled scablands created by the Great Missoula Floods, and the Snake

River.

The topography was created by silt dunes blown in from the west and south

during the last ice age.

The Palouse, known for…

Bunchgrass prairiePaluus (Paloos) tribeDeep fertile soils producing grains and

legumes: wheat, lentils, split peas, barley

Appaloosa horsesGiant Palouse earthworm

U.S. Agricultural Research Service

U.S. Agricultural Research Service

Photo by Doug Wilson.

WSU Alumni Assn

U.S. Agricultural Research Service

Barley harvest U.S. Agricultural Research Service

Milwaukee Bridge from Steptoe Battlefield, Rosalia, 2003. Paul Henning photo; MASC, WSU Libraries

WSU Libraries

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Peluse Falls U.S. Congressional Serial Set

“Palouse Falls, 1932” Image from WSU Archives

Palouse Falls Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Development of the Palouse Digital Project

• 1950(?)-1979 Card file• 1980-1989 Computer-generated

bibliography with author and subject indexes

• 2003 Went digital• 2008 Scanned Palouse Bibliography

Prototype: Southern Oregon Digital Archives (SODA)

SODA Title browse list

Project Parameters

In-print resources—how many?

930 articles, 102 research reports, 257 theses and dissertations

760 articles in the public domain

Getting started• Use of CONTENTdm software• Local funding for first 15 items to

begin building test database• Took classes and workshops on

getting grants• Began discussions with Libraries’

Development Officer• Expanded database

Project Statement

• Statement of purpose• Bioregion description• Project goals• Audience• Subjects and types of materials

included

Statement of Purpose

The Palouse Digital Project will make accessible to students, researchers, and the general public a variety of resources about the Palouse bioregion. Documents…and other resources that are in the public domain will be digitized and included…for browsing, viewing, and searching.

Project Goals

• Provide access to resources in the public domain related to the Palouse bioregion of Washington and Idaho by creating a searchable digital collection of materials from the earliest publications to the present

• Consolidate resources published over the course of a century and scattered over many collections and locations. The project will draw from the rich collections of Washington State University Libraries and seek to add relevant materials not already in the library

• Make these resources freely and easily available on the Internet to students, researchers, and the public

Audience

•Secondary and higher education students

•Researchers in many fields of specialization

•The general public

Subject inclusionAgricultural Economics EthnologyAgriculture GeographyAnthropology GeologyArcheology HistoryBiology Hydrology Ecology Natural

History Environmental History Zoology

Types of materials

documents reportsbooks studies &

surveysmaps oral

historiesphotos video

websites

Project Priorities• Phase I

pre-1950 public domain documents

• Phase II1950-1970

• Phase III1971-present

MetadataDublin Core Metadata Elements for Palouse Digital Project

(Based on Western States Dublin Core Metadata Best Practice Version 2.0, January 2005) Updated Sept. 28, 2006

M=Mandatory; NM=Not mandatory; LCSH=Library of Congress Subject Headings; LCAF=Library of Congress Authority File; AACR2R=Anglo-

American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed.For non-page-level metadata:Title (M)—Follow AACR2R (Maps to Dublin Core Title)“The name given to the resource by the creator or publisher; may also be an

identifying phrase or name of the object supplied by the contributing institution.”

Title of itemCreator (M. if available)—Use LCAF; if not in LCAF, follow AACR2R to form

the headings (Maps to Dublin Core Creator)“A person or entity primarily responsible for creating the intellectual content of

the resource.”……………………………….

Palouse Digital Project next steps

• Write grant applications• Looking for partners

– Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Inst., Palouse Prairie Foundation, Palouse Conservation District…

• Added Rose Creek Preserve photo-monitoring collection

Rose Creek Preserve Photopoint 7

Palouse remnant Wash. St. Dept. of Natural Resources