Dick Wolfsie dives into digital archives at Indiana State Library
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Each and every week Dick Wolfsie shares a story that is unique to central Indiana.
This week Dick visits the digitizing room at the Indiana State Library to learn more about how they take pictures and books and get them in a digital form that’s free to the public.
“I work with libraries and historical societies across the state advising them on what I think would best to digitize in their collections,” said Justin Clark, digital initiatives director with the Indiana State Library.
Dick Wolfsie digitizes documents at Indiana State Library part 2
Part of the process includes scanning the picture or document, pulling it up on the computer, putting information, or metadata, with it and then publishing it online.
“I’ll upload it to our content management system, put all the metadata which is essentially all the data about the image along with it and then put it online on Indiana Memories for people to access for free,” said Clark.
Dick Wolfsie digitizes documents at Indiana State Library part 3
However, not every item given to them is preserved due to the amount of items the library is given. Clark said there are some decisions that are tough to make.
“It’s decided upon whether there’s the resources, labor, money to do it,” said Clark. “It’s also determined if it’s worthwhile to do.”
The Indiana State Library is located at 315 W. Ohio St. and hours vary depending on the day.
Click the videos to learn more!