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Chronicling America Posts 5 Millionth Page

October 24, 2012

Popular Online Resource Provides Access to Nation’s Historic Newspapers

The Chronicling America website, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, a free, searchable database of historic U.S. newspapers, has posted its 5 millionth page.

Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is a part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a joint effort between the two agencies and 32 state partners.

"This magnificent resource captures the warp and weft of life as it was lived in grassroots America," said NEH Chairman Jim Leach. "Metropolitan newspapers were early targets for digitization, but Chronicling America allows the journalism of the smaller cities and the rural countryside to become accessible in all its variety—and sometimes, quirkiness."

"Chronicling America is one of the great historical reference services on the web," said Roberta Shaffer, associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress. "It is a treasure trove of information about communities, personalities, key events and culture in the United States, and it is all free and available to the public."

The site now features 5 million pages from more than 800 newspapers from 25 states. The site averaged more than 2.5 million page views per month last year and is being used by students, researchers, congressional staff, journalists and others for all kinds of projects, from daily podcasts to history contests. The news, narratives and entertainment encapsulated in the papers transport readers in time.

Library of Congress press release: http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2012/12-198.html

NEH press release: http://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2012-10-22

NEH Announces Guidelines for 2013 National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) Awards - Application Deadline: January 17, 2013

October 19, 2012

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is now soliciting proposals from institutions wishing to participate in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Applications are due January 17, 2013. Program awardees participate in the creation of a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1836 and 1922 in all U.S. states and territories and printed in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish. Each award supports a 2-year project to digitally convert 100,000 newspaper pages from that state's collections, primarily from microfilm negative.

The program provides access to this resource through the Chronicling America web site (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/), hosted by the Library of Congress (LC).

For more program information, please visit the NEH's program page at http://www.neh.gov/divisions/preservation/national-digital-newspaper-program or for technical information, visit the LC site at http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/.

NEH Announces $3.6 Million for 2012 NDNP Awards, Including 4 New States

August 20, 2012

Recently the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced awards totaling $3.6 million to 13 institutions representing their states in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Four of these institutions - the State Historical Society of Iowa; the University of Maryland, College Park; Central Michigan University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - are new to the program this year. Nine other institutions - the Arizona Department of Libraries, Archives and Public Records; the University of Hawai'i, Manoa; the State Historical Society of Missouri; the University of New Mexico; the Ohio Historical Society; Pennsylvania State University, Main Campus; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the Washington State Library and the University of Vermont - have received continuing awards to contribute additional content to the program.

This funding will support the selection and digitization of historic American newspapers published between 1836 and 1922 by each participating state, according to NDNP technical guidelines. The Library of Congress (LC) will make these newspapers freely available through the Chronicling America Website (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) beginning in mid-2013. In all, 32 states have participated in the program.

NDNP, a partnership between the NEH and the LC, is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of all U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. The NEH grant program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.

The press release is available on the NEH website at: http://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2012-07-26 (external link)

Last Updated: 10/24/2012