Eleta Exline
Scholarly Communication Librarian
University of New Hampshire
Sarah Stinson
Digital Collections Coordinator
University of New Hampshire
The New Hampshire City and Town Annual Reports Collection is used widely throughout the state and beyond and is a valuable source of historical data on the fiscal management and vital statistics of New Hampshire’s municipalities. With funding from the American Rescue Plan Act through the New Hampshire State Library and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we successfully completed the goals of an ongoing project initiated more than ten years ago and internally funded by The UNH Library. The final grant funded sprint of our multi-year digitization work was completed on a short timeline, had many moving pieces, and required collaboration with several partners. The completed project makes all known New Hampshire annual reports from the University of New Hampshire Library and New Hampshire State Library (NHSL) collections accessible to the public and more than doubles the size of the original collection. This presentation will give a project overview and discuss collaborations with NHSL and the Internet Archive. Drawing from this experience, the speakers will pass along lessons learned in managing complex collaborations, tight timeframes, and engaging with a public eagerly anticipating the results of a project.
https://scholars.unh.edu/nh_town_reports
https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/2023/02/unh-library-digitizes-town-reports-entire-granite-state