Digitizing West Texas: How a Small-Scale Effort Evolved to Become the Largest Archive of Digitized West Texas Newspapers

Title: Digitizing West Texas: How a Small-Scale Effort Evolved to Become the Largest Archive of Digitized West Texas Newspapers 

Presenter:  Austin Allison, Assistant Librarian for the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University.

Presenter Bio: 

Austin Allison is an assistant librarian at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University. He earned his Masters of Science in Library Science from the University of North Texas in 2016, and his Bachelors of Arts in History from Texas Tech University in 2012. Austin has worked extensively with the Southwest Collection’s digital newspaper program since 2013. He has been with the Southwest Collection since 2010.

Time: 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Central Time

Location: Virtual (Zoom)

Description: 

Since 2011, the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University has digitized more than 385,000 issues of West Texas newspapers. Initially a small-scale effort narrowly focused on local Lubbock newspapers such as El Editor and the Southwest Digest, the program has evolved significantly to facilitate the growth of the project to reach every corner of West Texas and adjacent areas. This presentation will discuss the origins and scope of the project, equipment and software utilized, initial and continuing struggles, managing relationships with external stakeholders, and the project’s funding sources since its inception.

Duration Length: 60 minutes

For assistance registering, please email: pdc@southwestarchivists.org

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