Pocahontas County History Preservation, Digitization, Community

Via Library Law Blog, I found out about Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums. It's available as a free pdf, and also as a print book. Here's the abstract:

Digital communications technologies have led to fundamental changes in the ways that cultural institutions fulfil their public missions of access, preservation, research, and education. Institutions are developing publicly-accessible websites in which users can visit online exhibitions, search collection databases, access images of collection items, and in some cases create their own digital content. Digitization, however, also raises the possibility of copyright infringement. "Copyright and Digitization" aims to assist understanding and compliance with copyright law across libraries, archives, and museums. It discusses the exclusive rights of the copyright owner, the major exemptions used by cultural heritage institutions, and stresses the importance of “risk assessment” when conducting any digitization project. It also includes two cases studies, examining digitizing oral histories and student work. As well as free availability here, print copies are available for purchase via createspace.

Dr. Susan A. Price (1873-1956), daughter of William T. Price. This photograph was taken in Marlinton, some time after Dr. Price's graduation from the Women's Medical College of Baltimore, 1903.

As a supplement to the Pocahontas County Historic Preservation Project report, I've uploaded a sample image gallery of the sort that would be included with any digitization project DVD's that would be distributed to the county libraries and court house. These galleries should make browsing the digital collection DVD's easier and more enjoyable.

The gallery sample represents about 15% of the Susan A. Price Collection in the Pocahontas County Historical Society paper archives. Dr. Price, who graduated from medical school in 1903, left several dozen photographic images and many more letters and typewritten manuscripts. Some of her writings were on professional topics, while others incuded family stories and local history.

Abstract

18 months into the project, the Pocahontas County Historic Preservation project has moved out of the development phase and into "production." Necessary equipment and software have been acquired, the website, Pocahontas County History: Preservation, Digitization, Community. http://pocahontascohistory.org/community is up and running, the server-side database has been populated, and scanning of historic documents is underway. Accomplishments for 2009 include:

Goals of the Digitization Project

• To facilitate preservation of historic materials through digitization.
• To make freely available as much material as possible, over the web and through local libraries, museums, and historic sites.
• To behave in a scholarly, courteous, and responsible manner to those who create or donate historic materials and to those who wish to access such material for noncommercial purposes. This must include acting in accordance with copyright, property, and privacy laws.

Digitization has tremendous potential to enhance preservation of historic materials, and to make all types of information available to interested parties around the world at little cost. However, it also presents novel problems in intellectual property rights. Who owns the rights to reproduce materials, and what may be done with the digital copies? There have been many changes in intellectual property rights law in the last 20 years, and there are few simple, straightforward answers to these questions.

I believe there are some cases in which we can use materials without fear of infringing anyone's rights.

Concluding Comments

Let it be far from me to write anything captiously or peevishly about any policy deemed wisest and best by my brethren as earnest and conscientious as I can justly claim to be and possibly far more in practice than I have been, yet I must say that to me it has been something rather bitter that efforts made by an obscure member of our assembly to have a grievous evil palliated should be ignored as they have been. The censorship of the press, recommended by the Moderator of the Little Rock Assembly in 1873 was so effective that not even a hint appeared in the papers of that cities concerning the preamble and resolutions that had been presented. So far as I am advised there was not a syllable published in the religious papers, North or South, concerning the affair. With magnanimous courtesy, which I shall always appreciate, the Christian Observer, at Louisville, Ky,., one of whose Editors was present when the paper in question was presented, published a communication written soon after the adjournment of the Assembly, form which this extract is given:

May, 1873, Little Rock, Arkansas

By way of illustration I will mention one other well remembered incidence on record in my diary: At the fall meeting of the Lexington Presbytery in 1872, at the instance of Rev. S. R. Bowman, D.D., I was elected as one of the four commissioners to the General Assembly to meet at Little Rock, Arkansas, May 1873. The Assembly was opened one Thursday morning and on Saturday afternoon following, prompted by a seemingly irresistible sense of duty, I attempted to read a paper I had prepared with prayerful care, which was to this effect:

Whereas the General Assembly, North, has recognized our separate existence and has expressed an earnest desire to be on friendly relations with ours on principles of love, honor, and mutual respect, and to that end did appoint a committee of persons highly acceptable to us, and to remove all scruples on our part in regard to receiving and treating with said committee, emphatically reaffirmed a joint resolution previously adopted that no rule or precedent should be valid, but all null and void, unless reaffirmed by the united bodies;

Whereas, said committee was received and heard with marked courtesy, thus showing to the world that notwithstanding the position occupied by us as sole witnesses of the cross of Christ as witnesses for the crown rights of Jesus Christ as our King we virtually assented that scruples, barring the correspondence contemplated were removed;

Afterward

Thus closes my diary virtually, transcribed as written forty years ago under the circumstances indicated there in.

No doubt our discerning readers have perceived ere this that the writer was usually in the vanguard when the marching was retrogressive but, when it was otherwise, he was save, comparatively, in the rearward, during those weeks in May and June, 1861, which he spent with the "foremost ranks in danger's dark career." And should they surmise that I greatly preferred to be a living noncombatant to be a heroic slain or wounded combatant, they will not miss it very far.

June 20, 1861

How slowly, wearily and sadly these days came and went. If time ever moved on wings weighted with lead, it was about these days around Huttonsville and vicinity farther up toward Mingo. In the most feeling sense of the word, Tygarts Valley was now a vale of tears. Rumors were rife that the Unionists were gathering at Philippa and Buchannon in great force. In the meantime General Garnett came hastily over the eastern mountains with reinforcements and moved on toward Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain. Reorganization was the order of the day with the soldiers I had been identified with. I had some trouble finding my nice shotgun. It had drifted up to Mingo Flats and, when I found it, I turned homewards to McDowell by way of Marlin's Bottom. The citizens of lower Pocahontas had arranged to observe the 20th of June as a day of fasting and prayer, recommended by the Virginia authorities. In company with my venerated mother, Mrs. James Atlee Price, I attended two meetings, one in the forenoon at Buckeye, and the other in the afternoon at Hillsboro.

The services at Buckeye were led by the Rev. Joshua Buckley, assisted by Jonathan McNeill and Capt. William Cochran. It seemed to me that I had never seen people more devoutly humbled than the large audience that was present. The prayers had no spirit of revenge or complaint that twas perceptible. Nothing was solicited, but what God deemed just and right to grant. The Lord of Hosts was feelingly implored to lead our men in battle and to give success accordingly.

June 2, 1861

Sabbath morning, June 2, 1861.--Religious services were held on a lawn attached to a private residence. The speakers and leaders occupied the portico. the Rev. Mr. Hindman, a resident pastor of the M. E. Church, gave a timely, practical discourse on the blessings of faith. At the conclusion I was asked to lead in the closing services, which I improved as an opportunity for a somewhat extended exhortation in which I delivered a message to our boys sent them by their mothers, sisters, and devoted young friends from Highland County. The purport of the message was "to be good and brave," and avoid all temptations of the army camp, fight the god fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life. That afternoon two young ladies rode rapidly down from the bridge and were hailed in the street about opposite the Court House by parties that recognized them as acquaintances and it was learned in a few minutes that they were young ladies from Fairmont with a message for Col. Porterfield and the were shown to headquarters by their soldier acquaintances. The sudden arrival of these young ladies, the Misses Mollie Kerr and Mollie McLeod, was the sensation of the afternoon bringing, as it turned out, intelligence that the Union forces were quite strong at Grafton and that an attack was planned for Sunday night on the Virginia troops at Philippa or on the following morning at the fartherest.