Frequently Asked Questions
National Digital Newspaper Program
You encourage collaboration between previously funded projects and new ones. What forms of collaboration are possible?
In some collaborations one partner selects the newspapers and another partner creates and delivers the digital files. Other forms of collaboration are also welcome, including multistate projects or consortia.
What resources are already available in digital form to assist in selecting newspapers for digitization?
The United States Newspaper Program (USNP) has produced over 140,000 newspaper catalog records and more than 450,000 local holdings records. These records are accessible through OCLC’s WorldCat or through the Chronicling America Newspaper Directory. The Library of Congress (LC) provides digital access to N.W. Ayer’s American Newspaper Annual, as available, for the 1869-1920 selection period. In addition, NDNP selection guidelines are available through the LC NDNP website.
May we select newspapers in a language other than English?
You may select historically significant titles published between 1836 and 1922 that contain text written in French, Italian, or Spanish and meet the selection criteria indicated in the guidelines. (Additional languages will be added in the future.)
Please note that you will need staff with relevant language expertise to provide quality assurance for the content of these newspapers and their related metadata. The Library of Congress will not sample or review non-English information. LC’s technical guidelines include more detailed information about the required language encoding. May we scan from paper instead of microfilm?
NDNP is primarily concerned with conversion of newspapers from second-generation duplicate negative microfilm. Minor gaps in issues or pages on microfilm may be filled by scanning original issues. NDNP criteria favor the selection of complete titles from the 1836-1922 period. A request may be made for support to scan from paper a highly significant title for which microfilm is not available.
How do we determine if the quality of our microfilm is good enough for successful digitization?
The technical guidelines explain how to evaluate the overall quality of individual microfilm reels. Selection preference should be given to microfilm that possesses all of the characteristics described in these guidelines. If a reel contains more titles than the one selected for scanning, should the issues for the extra titles also be scanned? Alternatively, if a reel for a selected title contains issues outside the chronological span of the program (1836-1922), may the issues outside that span be scanned under the cooperative agreement?
NEH funds may be used to digitize only materials that meet NDNP selection criteria and that are proposed and approved for funding as part of the cooperative agreement. Awardees should deliver only these materials to the Library of Congress (LC).
How do we differentiate between multiple titles or editions appearing on the same reel for scanning?
LC’s technical guidelines specify that every digitized newspaper issue be associated with its corresponding Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) in the issue’s metadata file, per the associated CONSER bibliographic record (available in OCLC WorldCat and the Chronicling America Newspaper Directory). This bibliographic record provides a direct link from the pages of the issue to descriptive information about the correct title in the Chronicling America Newspaper Directory. In situations where issues of multiple titles appear on a reel to be scanned, the correct corresponding LCCNs must be supplied for each issue. Use this approach when, for example, the morning and evening editions are associated with different LCCNs. If more than one issue with the same LCCN and date appears on a reel, and it is important to retain both issues, they must be differentiated with different edition order numbers—the first will be edition “1” and the second edition “2” in the issue metadata, with relevant edition labels as available.
When is an application considered “new,” and when is it considered a “supplement”?
Applicants who have not received a previous NDNP award should mark “New” under “Type of Application” on the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs. If you currently administer an NDNP project and are requesting funding for an additional two-year period, you should mark “Supplement” on the Supplementary Cover Sheet and also provide the number of your current grant.
How may we deliver digital content to LC?
The primary method for delivering digital content to LC is hard disk. Alternative methods of delivery can be discussed at a meeting of award recipients that will be convened shortly after the cooperative agreements are announced.
How and when are newspapers digitized by NDNP made available to the public?
Newspapers digitized by participants in the National Digital Newspaper Program are aggregated and made available through the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website, hosted by the Library of Congress. The website is updated quarterly with content submitted by NDNP awardees.
Are there any restrictions on the reuse or repurposing of digital files that have been created through an NDNP cooperative agreement?
There are no restrictions on the subsequent use of digital files created as part of the cooperative agreement with NEH for NDNP. However, any costs related to local reuse or enhancement of these files will not be eligible for support in the agreement.
How may we obtain further information about the application process?
Questions about the process of applying to this competition may be addressed to NEH staff at preservation@neh.gov or (202) 606-8570.
Where can I find out more about NDNP technical guidelines, and to whom may I address questions?
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