Helping to Digitize Smaller Collections That Might Otherwise Be Forgotten

Holding On Tight To Old New York

Linton Weeks | August 28, 2015

Once thought to be ephemeral and fleeting, the keeping of keepsakes online may be the best way to hold on to — and to share — historic photographs and documents.
That's the thinking behind "Culture in Transit," a project that "democratizes and preserves New York's cultural heritage by helping communities and small institutions digitize items that would have otherwise been hidden," says Sarah Quick of the Brooklyn Public Library. "These important items are not only inaccessible, but often suffering damage due to improper storage conditions."

Louise and Michael Toscano, mother and father of Brooklyn Public Library patron Vera Toscano, on their wedding day. The reception was at the Grand Paradise Ballroom in the Williamsburg neighborhood on May 9, 1926. The photo is now part of the "Culture in Transit" online collection. Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/08/28/435144667/holding-on-tight-to-old-new-york

<more at http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/08/28/435144667/holding-on-tight-to-old-new-york; related links: http://knightfoundation.org/grants/201550377/ (What We Fund / Knight Library Initiative / Culture in Transit. (+Video) Helping more communities share their histories online by creating a mobile kit that will scan and digitize print materials for public archiving in partnership with Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Library. January 30, 2015) and http://www.mnylc.org/cit/ (Welcome to Culture in Transit. May 2015)>