About the Arkansas History Commission Stage One Digitization Grant Project

In September 1998, Arkansas History Commission (AHC) photo archivist Lynn Ewbank attended Planning for Digitization at the Denver Public Library courtesy of the Arkansas State Library. There she was awed by digital possibilities, especially those showcased by the Denver Public Library's Western History Photo Project. So in March 1999, when the Arkansas History Commission was invited to apply for a grant through the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, Lynn shared ideas gleaned from Planning for Digitization and adapted to the AHC photograph collections. As a result AHC management approved the pursuit of digitization and the AHC Stage One Digitization (SOD) Project was born. In May, the ANCRC funded the project with $255,976 from monies gathered from the Real Estate Transfer Tax under the leadership of AHC archivists Lynn Ewbank, grant administrator, and Jane Hooker, fiscal officer.

The scope of the Stage One Digitization project was three-fold:

1. evaluate digital technology,
2. conduct a test digitization of selected photo images and
3. create a comprehensive digitization plan.

The underlying aim of the SOD grant project was to provide expanded public access to AHC photographs while at the same time protecting the original negatives and prints from possible damage through handling. For complete information on the project, see the SOD Project papers

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