Western Trails Partnership Provides Access
to Historic Resources
The Western Trails collaborative grant
project made available a wide range of artifacts, books,
documents, maps, postcards, original paintings, and photographs
on a variety of topics relating to trails in Nebraska. Nebraska
libraries and museums scanned images of their artifacts and
documents for Web access, searchable through the Nebraska
database,
trails.unl.edu/search/.
Highlights of this partnership include:
• Nebraska participants contributed to
the development of standardized practices.
• The Nebraska Western Trails Web site
provides access to digitized materials illustrating
Nebraska’s rich trails of all types—pioneer wagon
trails, railroads, highways, nature trails, and modern
recreational trails at
nlc.nebraska.gov/westerntrails/home.html.
• The Multi-State Western Trails Web site,
hosted by Colorado, links all the state sites together with a
unified search interface for all of the project images at
www.cdpheritage.org/westerntrails
• The Nebraska Library Commission
conducted a usability test on the Nebraska Western Trails Web
site. Participants responded positively to the content and
indicated that it will be a valuable collection of primary
source materials for historians, educators, and the general
public. Suggestions for changes and additions for enhancing the
usability of the site were made and acted on.
• The Nebraska Library Commission
provided a grant to the Nebraska Educational Media Association
for high school media specialists to develop sample lesson
plans for using the Web site and database.
• Partially as a result of
participation in this project, the Nebraska Library Commission
designated digitization projects as one of the 2004 LSTA grant
priorities. The Library Commission will also continue to
facilitate access to historically and culturally significant
digital collections created by Nebraska libraries through the
development of the Nebraska Memories project, by funding OCLC’s CONTENTdm
software for the use of Nebraska libraries and library
partnerships with other cultural institutions.
The Western Trails Project was funded
through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, <www.imls.gov>. The Nebraska Library
Commission coordinated the Nebraska participants. For more
information contact Beth Goble, 402-471-4017, 800-307-2665,
e-mail: Beth Goble
.
Library Commission Sponsors Community
Technology Fairs
The Nebraska State Records Board awarded
the Library Commission a $25,000 grant to purchase a wireless
mobile network and implement Community Information Technology
Fairs in rural Nebraska.
This network of twelve laptops expanded
training opportunities for the more remote, less populated
parts of the state and improved training opportunities
throughout the state. The wireless mobile network was first
introduced to library personnel, community members, and state
legislators at the February 2003 Nebraska Library Association
Legislative Day. Online information resources were demonstrated
for participants. The equipment was used in a variety of
workshops, training sessions, and in Community Information
Technology Fairs.
A successful Community Information
Technology Fair was hosted by the Jensen Memorial Library in
Minden. Fourteen community members attended the session and
spent two hours learning basic Internet searching techniques
and skills for accessing database information. Ellen Burchell,
Director of the Jensen Memorial Library said, “I received
lots of positive feedback about the class and the teachers!
People attending were appreciative of the opportunity.”
At a session at the Sioux County Public Library in Harrison,
one participant used the Library Commission-supported
subscription databases to access magazine articles written by a
family member, senior citizens found a wealth of online medical
information, a genealogist found local family records, and a
young family located regional Web sites with education and
employment resources.
To schedule a session or for further
information contact Kit Keller, 402-471-3216, 800-307-2665,
e-mail: Kit Keller.
Minden’s Jensen Memorial Library
Director Ellen Burchell (left) helps a customer.
“I received lots of positive
feedback about the class and the teachers! People attending
were appreciative of the opportunity.”
Lincoln Southeast High School Media
Specialist Mary Reiman (right) assists a student.
