Libraries, archives, and museums play a crucial role in helping their local populations discover and preserve the documentary heritage of their communities. CLRC’s Cultural Heritage Services program works to help its members realize their full capacity to collect, preserve, and disseminate information about their unique cultural materials and records of enduring value.
CLRC Services
Site Visits and Guidance
Members can request a site visit where CLRC staff will come out and provide basic archival processing, collection management, digitization, and archival preservation advice. As well as evaluate members’ collections for digitization.
We also have a listserv, CLRC’s Digitization Special Interest Group (DIG-SIG), which is made up of New York Heritage users, digitization practitioners, and other organizations around the region.
Digitization and Metadata Training
We offer in-house digitization and metadata services for our members. We provide recommended digitization specifications for digitizing and guidance on the process of digitizing. As well as training in metadata/catalog creation for New York Heritage Digital Collections.
Whoever will be creating metadata will be trained by Ashley Beavers, Digital Projects and Preservation Librarian, so when you are ready to create the metadata, reach out to Ashley Beavers who will provide the training and spreadsheet. To learn more, check out our Digitization Lab page.
Members can borrow equipment and schedule to use our in-house digitization equipment.
Digital Dark Archive
Digital preservation is available for CLRC members in the Digital Dark Archive, a long-term storage of digital files meant to serve as a “last resort” or backup. Created and administered by Southeastern NY Library Resources Council (SENYLRC). The Digital Dark Archive is not intended to be an organization’s only backup system but to provide an additional storage solution for a comprehensive digital preservation strategy. For more information on digital preservation, visit Southeastern Digital Dark Archive.
CLRC will take your preservation-quality master copies and send them to the Digital Dark Archive, where the files will be processed via Archivematica and stored via Amazon Glacier. As a courtesy, CLRC will add its members’ NY Heritage collections that were digitized in the Digitization Lab to the Digital Dark Archive for free.
Digital Collections
CLRC and its partners at the Empire State Library Network (ESLN) offer members access to these statewide digital initiatives, which help members collect, preserve, and disseminate information about their unique cultural materials and records of enduring value.
New York Heritage Digital Collections
A statewide digital collections repository with historical photographs, newsletters, maps, diaries, letters, registers, artwork, oral history interviews, newsreels, videos, and more, contributed by hundreds of archives, libraries, cultural organizations, and museums around New York State. These collections feature a broad range of materials that present a glimpse into our state’s history and culture.
In addition, you’ll find a collection of digital exhibits and supporting materials, which can be used for classroom use and other educational settings. We also have traveling exhibits created using content from statewide NY Heritage collections that members can borrow for display. See and learn more about our traveling exhibits.
NYH Metadata Dictionary and Usage Guide (Version 6)
NYH Contributor page for more resources
NYH Website Traffic (Statistics)
New York State Historic Newspapers
CLRC partners with the Northern New York Library Network (NNYLN) to support contributions to New York State Historic Newspapers, an ever-growing repository of newspapers from across New York State.
Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative (Empire ADC)
A searchable repository of archival finding aids hosted by Southeastern NY Library Resources Council (SENYLRC). It houses electronic archival description finding aids (EADs). You can search and browse finding aids to discover what historical materials and archival collections are held in archives, cultural heritage organizations, institutions, and museums and where to find them across New York State.
CLRC will cover the first year costs of the one time set up fee and the first year annual fee for new members.
Empire State Immersive Experiences (ESIE)
A repository for hosting 360º images and panorama tours. It is administered by the Western NY Library Resources Council (WNYLRC). It can be used to highlight places, landmarks, and objects in your community, and you can create and share virtual walking tours or use 360º images to supplement learning.
Empire State Library Network Academic Institutional Repository (ESLN AIR)
An institutional repository platform by Ubiquity Press for our academic library members. Ubiquity provides easy, flexible hosting for institutions looking to house their public, private, and embargoed works at a fraction of the cost of competitors like BePress or Digital Commons.
Other Services
Documentary Heritage & Preservation Services Program (DHPSNY)
A statewide program that provides free planning and education services to support archives, cultural and historical organizations, libraries, historical societies, museums, and other organizations that safeguard and ensure access to cultural and historical records and library research materials. DHPSNY does not provide resources for digitization, which is something CLRC can do.
Consider the Source
A free online community that connects educators across New York State to the valuable primary source materials found in archives, churches, historical organizations, libraries, museums, and state and local governments, with a series of highly engaging learning activities designed to guide and encourage students at all grade levels to make discoveries using critical thinking skills.
Materials contributed to New York Heritage Digital Collections can be added to Consider the Source, for teachers to use in crafting their lesson plans.