Digital Collections

Hey everybody, it's resolution time! I've decided to brush up on my scanning procedures, photoshop skills, and general digitization knowledge. I often find myself in the middle of doing a job wondering if there are more efficient ways to go about it. I flip through manuals looking for answers, but they usually gloss over the advanced features, or they fail to discuss some of the most rudimentary functions.

One of the benefits of volunteering for the Historic Newspapers Online Project at the Washington State Library is the opportunity to read fascinating articles written in the 1800's. Recently, Deb Ross, a dedicated volunteer of several years, discovered an article titled, A Cannon For Every Boy, from the 4/30/1891 issue of the Yakima Herald, which included detailed instructions on building a homemade cannon using common household ingredients.

Would you like to bend time and travel to pioneer days in Washington territory? Volunteers at the Washington State Library find themselves re-living the lives of settlers through the pages of historical newspapers published from 1852 to 1889. If you enjoy Washington State history, you may want to work a few hours a week reading articles electronically and entering keywords, titles, and subjects into a searchable database. Library users can then access the newspapers online.

San Juan Island Heritage has become the second Washington Rural Heritage collection to be cataloged at the item level in WorldCat.

Who doesn’t enjoy a little escapist literature now and then? Serial stories in Washington’s territorial newspapers provided much-needed relief for early pioneers.