Digitization at the National Archives
Background
Modern technology has transformed the way we access, consume and digest information. At the National Archives, this digital breakthrough means that our national memory is accessible beyond our museum walls. With the click of a button or the touch of a screen, individuals across the globe can become first-hand witnesses to American history.
To support the National Archives in its efforts to digitize its more than 15 billion records spanning every era and every medium, the National Archives Foundation has funded large-scale digitization and outreach projects over the last seven years.
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Seas of Knowledge
Digitization and Retrospective Analysis of the Historical Logbooks of the U.S. Navy
In collaboration with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO), a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Washington, the National Archives Foundation has continued to support the multi-year process of digitizing Civil War-era handwritten U.S. Navy logbooks and muster rolls. The digitization of these logbooks will allow researchers and climate scientists to recover ships’ positions, weather records, oceanographic data and other historical information.
The National Archives Foundation is using the digitized records to develop middle school and high school lesson plans, curricular material, and supporting student resources. This multidisciplinary approach will allow students to engage with the National Archives historical records as they relate to history, geography and climate science. The curriculum will be hosted on the National Archives’ DocsTeach.org platform, which features more primary source documents and interactive activities for teachers and students.
Sponsor: The Council on Library and Information Resources, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Treasure Vault Digitization
Native American Treaties
The Foundation is supporting the work of the National Archives to digitize all 377 Ratified Indian Treaties in its vault and make them available online. These treaties are among a group of records within the National Archives that are so historically significant that they are separated from the standard holdings and stored in vaults. This limits physical public accessibility to these pieces of American history and makes digitization of these records critical.
The National Archives Foundation supported the creation of the American Indian project page on DocsTeach.org, an online resource where students and teachers can engage with the newly digitized Indian treaties. Additionally, in the fall of 2018, the National Archives Foundation joined the National Archives in hosting a native-themed sleepover where children learned about the history of Native American traditions and culture through activities using the digitized Archives records.
In September 2018, the National Archives at New York City unveiled a new exhibit, “Be it Remembered: Treaties with Nation Americans,” in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in lower Manhattan using National Archives digitized records.
Sponsor: Anonymous
Since 2013, the National Archives Foundation supported a large-scale digitization and outreach project for the extensive holdings of photographs and film reels from World Wars I and II. In addition to making the records digitally available, the Archives increased public access to and creative reuse of these historical American records. For the first time, more than 100,000 photographs and 300 reels of film, totaling more than 70 hours of content, can be widely viewed in the National Archives’ catalog and on YouTube. In addition, 800 citizen participants transcribed films and tagged the silent films with finding aids.
The National Archives made these records available to students and teachers by creating the World War I project page on DocsTeach.org, the National Archives’ preeminent online resource for teachers and students.
In April 2017, the National Archives Foundation also supported the launch of the Remembering WWI interactive app, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I. Using these digitized photos and film, the app allowed users to access unprecedented amounts of original primary source records about “the war to end all wars,” from the Archives and other collaborating institution. The app was available through iTunes and Google Play.
Sponsor: Anonymous
