Digital Archives

We accept born-digital files, digitized items, and physical materials such as photographs, documents, audio, video, and other items that fit our collection development priorities and document the history of Hancock County and the surrounding area. Not every donation can be accepted, but we encourage people to contact us before sending materials.

Please do not send large groups of files or informal donations by email unless staff has asked you to do so. Email is not a reliable preservation workflow, and files sent this way often arrive in formats, sizes, or quality levels that are not ready for long-term use. If you have materials to offer, contact us first so we can determine the best way to review them.

We review donations for collection fit, copyright status, technical quality, file size, and preservation value. Some items may be valuable historically but still unsuitable for immediate digital preservation if they are blurry, cropped, incomplete, mislabeled, or in a format that is hard to preserve reliably. In some cases, we may accept materials for future processing; in others, we may recommend a different repository.

Digitization is a preservation process, not just a quick scan. Each item may need review, description, rights checking, scanning or imaging, quality control, file naming, metadata, and storage preparation, and we also have to manage a backlog of projects. We are a small staff and may rely on volunteers or partners, so timelines can vary.

Typically, yes. The Deed of Gift allows for photographs and documents to be digitized and returned to the donor, and some materials may instead be transferred to the library for digitization and/or display depending on the agreement and project needs. Final decisions depend on suitability, condition, rights, and staff capacity.

For born-digital and donated digital files, we prefer formats that are commonly used for preservation and access, including TIFF, PNG, JP2, PDF, WAV, FLAC, AVI, MPEG-4, MOV, and PDF/A, depending on material type. If you are unsure what you have, send a brief description first rather than a large attachment.

Poor-quality files can limit both preservation and access. If a file is blurry, cropped, underexposed, upside down, or missing pages, it may be unusable for research even if it still “looks okay” on a phone or computer screen. Good capture quality helps us preserve details, search accurately, and create a trustworthy public record.

Sometimes we can correct basic issues such as orientation, cropping, duplicate pages, and descriptive metadata. More intensive fixes, like rescanning to address blur, missing pages, or low visibility, may take longer and are not always possible. When possible, we may ask you for a better source file instead of trying to repair a low-quality image.

Yes. We prefer donations be accompanied by a Deed of Gift, which documents ownership, rights, permissions, and how the library may preserve, use, and provide access to the materials. The form also allows us to clarify copyright status and any special arrangements before materials are accepted.

That can still be possible in some cases, but copyright matters must be reviewed carefully. The Deed of Gift has options for materials you own outright, materials with mixed copyright ownership, and materials you possess but do not own the copyright to. Please contact staff before sending items if the rights situation is unclear.