The Canton History project is intended to foster connections per our 2009 Strategic Plan. It launched in October 2010 with an initial batch of over 900 items.

Strategic Plan

Objective (#3): The Canton Public Library will service the community by being a conduit for connections between residents and local groups, through the awareness of needs and opportunities.

Create a digital archive to connect the community

• Pursue partnerships within the community to establish the library as the digital repository for local historical and community information
• Develop plan for grant initiative to fund digital archive
• Review existing infrastructure
• Develop implementation plan
• Implement and evaluate plan

The Plan

We are presently digitizing Canton Public Library's history, using the experience of doing so to improve our workflow and interface. Soon we will pursue more community partnerships and digitize materials from outside the library.

If you have artifacts of possible historical significance to Canton communities, please contact Brad Czerniak, our Digital Resources Developer.

If you would like to assist with the Canton History project, learn more about volunteering at CPL, then contact Kathie Gladden, Volunteer Coordinator.

Standards

Images and Documents should be scanned at 600dpi whenever practical

• Images larger than 5"7" but smaller than the scanner's full tray may be scanned at 300dpi for speed and storage purposes
• Slides and other small-format images should be scanned at a minimum resolution of 2400dpi
• Images larger than the scanner tray may be scanned in multiple passes if the risk of damage to the original is negligible, but should also be photographed for contextual purposes
• Documents should generally be done at 600dpi to allow for Optical Character Recognition. Documents with type no smaller than 24-point may be scanned at 300dpi for speed and storage purposes
• Audio should be recorded at the highest practical bit rate given recording circumstances
• Video should be recorded at the highest practical resolution and bit rate given recording circumstances
• Objects should be photographed or otherwise recorded individually without added context in well-considered lighting at high resolution, per the camera's capabilities

All fixed visual artifacts (images, documents) should be saved as uncorrected full-quality TIFF files, unless such output is unavailable on the scanner or camera.
Audio should be saved in the native lossless format of the recording device
Video should be saved in the native lossless format of the recording device

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Canton Historical Society and Plymouth-Canton Community Schools for support in this continuing relationship.

Additionally, this project would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the 2010 CPL Summer Interns, Jared and Hilary.

As CPL strives to keep up with the latest and greatest of everything, it's important to know where you stand on using technology.

• Take the survey (or anonymously)

Now that we know a little more about YOU, we'd like to understand more about your home-life, your family, your lifestyle.

• Take the survey (or anonymously)

This week in the comments, let's talk about lifestyle. How would you describe yourself in terms of personal lifestyle or culture?

If you'd like to see the process behind our strategic plan as presented to the Library Board of Trustees, just view this Presentation: