National Digital Newspaper Program Image
Get Program & Application Information from NEH
For important information and application resources, go to the NEH National Digital Newspaper Program site.
Technical Guidelines & Specifications
Over a period of two years, successful applicants will select newspapers—published in their state or territory between 1836 and 1922—and convert approximately 100,000 pages into digital files (primarily from microfilm), according to the technical guidelines outlined here.
Latest Guidelines for Applicants
- Technical Guidelines for 2013 Awards (PDF, 157KB)
- For more information on applying for NDNP awards, see the NEH NDNP Program Guidelines
- Overview of Technical Guidelines (PDF, 1.78MB)
- Examples of NDNP Digital Assets
Current Guidelines for Awardees
Past Guidelines
NDNP Resources
Architecture Development
- Technical Premises and Digital Preservation (PDF, 220 KB)
- Structural Metadata & Use of XML (PDF, 149 KB)
- Open-source LC Newspaper Viewer Software (external link)
Presentations & Publications Relating to NDNP
- NDIIPP News and Events - "Mediated by Software"
- NDNP 2010 (PDF, 724 KB), presented at American Libraries Association (June 2010)
- D-Lib article, Littman, "Actualized Preservation Threats," (external link) (Jul/Aug 2007)
- JPEG2000 Historical Newspapers Profile Report (PDF, 1.9 MB)
- D-Lib article, Littman, "Technical Validation," (external link) (May 2006)
- More Presentations and Publications...
Selection Criteria
- Content Selection
- Microfilm Selection (PDF, 1.3 MB)
- N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual (1880-1922) - (See Digital Reference Collections)
Guidelines for Newspaper Title History Essays
- General Writing Guidelines (PDF, 22 KB)
- Newspaper Title Notes - Elements (PDF, 33 KB)
Resources for Preservation & Digital Conversion
Preserving Newspapers
- United States Newspaper Program Preservation Guidelines
- Caring for Your Collections: Preserving Newspapers
Digital Conversion
To view PDFs 
Last Updated: 10/22/2012
