The Wednesday Word: Library News from Around Indiana

Indiana will be the first state to make available digitized versions of German-language newspapers through the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) - a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Until now, the Library of Congress could not accept German-printed newspapers because the font type (Fraktur) represented significant challenges for its Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. However, recent OCR technology advancements have enabled the Indiana State Library to digitally preserve the Indiana Tribüne, making it the first German paper available on Chronicling America.

The digitization of the Indiana Tribüne is part of the Indiana Historic Newspaper Digitization Project, which is funded by a $293,157 NEH grant to the Indiana State Library to digitize Indiana’s historically significant newspapers published between 1836 & 1922. Newspapers digitized as part of the two-year project will be included in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America Database and on Indiana Memory.

Learn more about the Indiana Historic Newspaper Digitization Project at indiananewspapers.wordpress.com or by contacting Chris Ittenbach, NEH-NDNP Project Manager, at 317-234-8153 or cittenbach@library.in.gov.

Judges Sought for National Reading/Writing Contest

The Indiana Center for the Book is currently seeking judges for this year’s Letters About Literature competition. Letters About Literature is a national reading-writing contest sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in cooperation with the Indiana Center for the Book at the Indiana State Library. Students in grades 4 through 10 are invited to write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre, explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves.

Approximately 1,500 Indiana students enter the contest annually. However, judges will only be required rate semifinalist essays in one category. The deadline to submit essays for this year’s contest is January 11, 2013. Judges will receive their first round of essays and judging materials in early February and have approximately two months to choose finalists.

If you are interested in judging the 2012 contest, contact Drew Griffis at agriffis@library.in.gov. Visit the Indiana Center for the Book's website learn more about Letters About Literature and other Center programs.

Stay tuned to next week's The Wednesday Word for more information on how your young patrons or students can participate in the contest.

Historical Bureau Hosting Unique Book Signing on October 4

The Indiana Historical Bureau Book Shop is hosting three Hoosier authors—Marie Albertson, Lucy Jane King, MD, and Alan D. Schmetzer, MD—on Thursday, October 4 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Indiana State Library and Historical Building, 315 West Ohio Street in downtown Indianapolis. Two books by these authors will be sold at 20% off list price; authors will talk briefly about their books. Both books are from Hawthorne Publishing, Carmel.

Visit the Indiana Historical Bureau website or call 317-232-2535 to place pre-orders. There will be limited book quantities at the reception. Parking will be available at the Senate Avenue State Parking Facility for $5.00. Street parking is also available.

Register today for the 2012 Our Heroes’ Tree program

Registration Now Open for 21st Century Literacy Days

Register today for the 21st Century Literacy Days hosted by the Indiana State Library and brought to you by the Indiana Geographic Information Office.

Click here to register and for workshop & LEU details.

Dates & Locations:
Friday, Oct. 5: Ivy Tech, Lawrenceburg
Friday, Oct. 12: Purdue-Calumet, Hammond
Friday, Oct. 19: Ivy Tech, Evansville
Friday, Oct. 26: Ivy Tech, Ft. Wayne

Upcoming Workshops,
Events & Important Dates

Association for Library Service to Children National Institute
When: September 20-22
Where: Sheraton Indy City Centre Hotel

SAMS Conference -
When: September 20 - 21
Where: Lebanon Public Library

IPLA Conference
When: October 2 @ 9:30 AM
Where: Oak Hill Mansion, Carmel

Legislative Fall Forum -
When: October 3 @ 8:30 AM
Where: Oak Hill Mansion, Carmel

AISLE Workshop: Getting the Most Out of INSPIRE -
When: October 3 @ 4:45 PM
Where: Hamilton East Public Library - Noblesville Branch

Indiana Vision Expo & Vision Walk
When: September 29 @ 9:30 AM
Where: Indiana State Library

Society of Indiana Archivists Fall Workshop
When: October 5 @ 9:00 AM
Where: Indiana State Library

Basic INSPIRE Training
When: October 23 @ 1:00 PM
Where: Wells County Public Library

Indiana Genealogy & Local History Fair
When: October 27 @ 9:00 AM
Where: Indiana State Library

ILF Annual Conference
When: November 12-14
Where: Indiana Convention Center, Downtown Indianapolis

View free LEU
opportunities from:

Find us on: