ACGS to Begin Major Digitization Project
The Society is pleased to announce that, on June 20th, 2021, at its regular Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved a new project to digitize most of the books in its research library, and to make the contents available to our members through the Members Only section of the website ACGS.org.
This will serve to preserve the books from deterioration, as well as to make the contents available to our members who cannot easily travel to the research library. Our grant writer, Steve Lefoley, is applying to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an $80,000 grant, and will seek other grantors who fund this type of project. In the interim, the Board has authorized a budget of $75,000 to acquire additional scanning equipment and to pay for professional digitizing services. Any grant moneys received will serve to reduce this budget.
The Digitization Project Team has already secured a written opinion from its intellectual property counsel regarding copyright issues, and those items considered to be in the public domain that are not copyright-protected. A complete inventory of the Society’s holdings is in process, which will help identify books that are copyright-protected and those that are not.
The Society is making an attempt to be proactive and embrace change. Digitization of archival materials is not new, and it is not going away, so we need to get on the train and move the Society forward.
As more information becomes available, we will share it with you.
Those who would like to help fund the cost of this monumental effort are asked to make their donations payable to the ACGS, mailed to our address of: 1 Sundial Avenue, Suite 317N, Manchester, NH 03103.
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