By Melody GustafsonEAST LIVERPOOL – The Kent State E.L. campus is partnering with the East Liverpool Historical Society and Carnegie Library to preserve historic books and photographs in digital format.
Professor Matt Stewart and historical society member Jim Allison were doing research in the history room of the Carnegie Public Library in April 0f 2008 when they discovered some old, irreplaceable, out-of-copyright books in such poor condition that they were literally falling apart.
“We were concerned that the library is just going to toss this stuff,” Stewart said. He and Allison decided to scan the material and make digital copies so that it will not be lost.
Stewart approached KSU-EL Dean Jeff Nolte and business manager Henry Trenklebach about getting students involved, setting up an office and using a large format scanner, necessary because some of the books are very large. Although KSU did not have one at the time, the business office procured one last month, allowing Stewart and Allison to start digitizing material in the Eastern Flash office.
The first book selected for preservation is City of Hills and Kilns by William Gates. It is the last full-length history of East Liverpool, and has been out of print for many years. From time to time used copies appear for sale through Amazon.com at prices up to $500. Because the historical society owns the copyright to the book, Stewart approached members about the project. Knowing that Stewart only wanted to preserve the material, permission was granted, and the digitization is nearly complete.
The second selection is Artwork: East Liverpool and Vicinity, published in 1895. It contains some high-quality photographs of the city with some text of local history. It is almost done, too.
Stewart said he’d like to do the entire collection of photographs in the society’s archive next. “This is a vital service for research,” he said. Eventually, after working with the KSU library system, the images can be incorporated into the Ohiolink server so that anyone can access them easily, and in one place.
Stewart has conceived of the digital archiving as a community project. He mentioned Joan Witt, one of the city's most knowledgable historians and long-time member of the historical society, as a vital source of information. He would like her input on the society’s stockpile of photographs as a means of preserving what she knows.
“We hope to get plenty of students and community members involved in this,” he said.
______________________
The photograph is from Artwork of East Liverpool and Vicinity (1895) showing what is now the Thompson House museum. Because of highway construction, this view of the Thompson House (from what used to be Third Street) is no longer available.
