Alliance Digitization Grants

Introduction
The Ohio Local History Alliance (OLHA) will award a total of up to $7,500 to preserve local history collections through digitization. The grant is given yearly to OLHA members. The maximum award to be given to a single institution is $2,500. The collections selected for digitization should be important to the history of thearea represented by the applicant and/or to the history of Ohio.

Grant recipients will receive an Ohio Memory collection to publicly display their digital content. Each collection will be branded with the grantee’s logo and organizational information. For more information about the Ohio Memory Program, please visit www.ohiomemory.org.

2023 Grant Recipients

• $1,056.50 to the Clark County Historical Society to digitize The Springfield Post from 1956.

•  $1,700 to the Delaware County Historical Society to digitize the Delaware Daily Journal Herald newspaper from March 21, 1902 to December 14, 1904, which will help meet the goal to make all issues of this newspaper available on the internet.

• $1,225 to the Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University to preserve and make accessible important primary sources related to the history of Forest City Hospital, an institution founded by Black physicians to serve Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.

• $1,300 to the Cleveland Police Historical Society and Museum for The Cleveland Police Oath of Office Project to digitize the original oaths of office of over 6100 Cleveland Police officers, dating from 1866 to 1956, as well as additional auxiliary personnel.

• $2,322 to Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens to digitize photos, blueprints, architectural drawings, and correspondence pertaining to the design and construction of Stan Hywet Hall dating between 1910 and 1930.

Application
Applications are online only. Applicants must be an OLHA member and have either a Federal ID number or a State of Ohio Certification of Continued Existence number to apply. Scroll down to complete the online application form.

Deadline

The deadline is February 15 of each year. Grantees will be notified by April 1^st with projects beginning no earlier than May 1^st. Projects should be completed 12 months after start date.

Project Narrative
The application should consist of the following:

• Project description
  • Briefly describe the project, including: what collection will be digitized, collection’s significance to the history of Ohio, ownership and the size (in linear feet) of collection to be digitized. Also indicate how the original documents will be preserved after the materials have been digitized. [500 words or less]
  • Grant reviewers will consider the following:
    • Does the project preserve local history collections through digitization?
    • In what ways is the topic/subject matter important to Ohio history?
    • Would the collection selected for digitization fill an important gap or compliment other digital collections?
    • Who will benefit from this project and in what ways?
• Methodology
  • Explain the manner in which the project will be executed. Specify quantity of uniquely described digital files to be created through digitization, technical specifications for those files (dpi, bit-depth, and file type) and equipment to be used. Identify the project staff and summarize their duties. Please indicate which staff members will serve as the project director and project bookkeeper. Include a project timeline.  [500 words or less]
  • Grant reviewers will consider the following:
    • Does the project follow standards and best practices?
    • Is the number of items to be digitized clearly listed?
    • Are the proposed procedures clear and appropriate for achieving the project’s goals?
    • Are the roles and duties of project staff clear?
    • How will the results of the project reach the intended users?
    • Can the project be completed in the proposed timeframe?
• Representative samples of materials to be digitized
  • Upload two images of selected items from the collection to be digitized. Each image should be accompanied by a brief description. Images should be 1MB or smaller.
• Budget
  • Download and complete the budget form.The organization must show a 1:1 match of the grant request. All matching funds, with the exception of volunteer time, must be cash match (that is, for every dollar requested, the organization must plan to spend a dollar). Volunteer time should be budgeted at Ohio’s current minimum wage rate at the time of application. If the grant is approved, the grantee receives 50% of the request upon acceptance, and the remainder upon evidence of successful completion of the work.
  • Grant reviewers will consider the following:
    • Are the specific budget items justified in the narrative?
    • Are the proposed expenditures cost effective?
• Final Report
  • Grantees must submit a final report before receiving the final half of their grant award.  This report should be a narrative summary of the work done and a financial report of how the funds (including the cash match) were spent.  This report should ideally be received by OLHA by the grant period end date.

Eligible expenses
NOTE: All purchases made with grant funds must be made during the grant period. OLHA funds may not be used to pay for previous work.

• Contracted services: Costs to cover digitization activities performed by a third-party vendor
• Equipment/software: Costs to purchase technical equipment or software such as scanner, hard drives, photo editing software, etc.
• Supplies: Costs related to the purchase of archival storage supplies

Ineligible expenses

• Existing staff salaries: Costs to cover full-time staff salaries and/or overtime. Staff salaries may, however, be listed as cash match.
• Operating costs: Costs related to operation of the organization such as rent, utilities and/or other normal operating expenses.
• Collection development: Costs associated with the acquisition of historical materials for an institution’s collection.
• Training: Costs related to staff training unrelated to the grant.
• Maintenance agreements: Costs related to maintenance agreements for equipment purchased as part of the grant.
• Other activities: The list above is not comprehensive. Contact OLHA if you have a question about whether an activity is eligible for funding.

Evaluation
Applications will be reviewed by the OLHA Governance Committee and award decisions will be submitted to the board for approval. Grants will be selected on a competitive basis.

Timeline

• February 15, 2024 – Applications due
• February – March – Grant review period
• April 1, 2024 – Awards announced
• May 1, 2024 – Award period begins
• April 30, 2025 – Grant ends
• June 15, 2025 – Final report due

Links

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Budget Form
• For more information or questions, contact OLHA Executive Secretary Betsy Hedler: ehedler@ohiohistory.org or 614-297-2538.

Application