National Digital Newspaper Program
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.
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 may we deliver digital content to LC?
Several options exist for delivery of digital content. LC will accept delivery by 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.
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 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?
How do we determine if the quality of our microfilm is good enough for successful digitization?
The technical guidelines indicate 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.
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.
What resources are already available in digital form to assist in selecting newspapers for digitization?
The United States Newspaper Program (USNP) has produced over 150,000 newspaper catalog records and more than 450,000 local holdings records. These records are accessible through the OCLC Union Lists or OCLC’s WorldCat. The Library of Congress will provide 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 Web site.
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 Web site, hosted by the Library of Congress. The Web site is updated quarterly with content submitted by NDNP awardees.
|