Collaborations
Digital Archive
Recognizing the increased popularity and benefits of digital collection, the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library applied and received a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Services to digitize and create keyword searchable local industry newsletters.
In 2012 the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library partnered with the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, and University of Southern Indiana to create the Evansville in WWII Digital Collection which brings the public thousands of Evansville Shipyard photographs and images of war bond posters.
​
With the inclusion of University of Evansville, the Library and the Evansville Museum collaborated again in 2015 to digitize Karl Kae Knecht's original editorial cartoon artwork. Knecht was an editorial cartoonist for the Evansville Courier for 54 years and his work covered many historically significant events.
​
Collecting cultural institutions all have one goal - to preserve the past and educate the public. However, obstacles such as small budget and staff often prohibit us from reaching this goal. Collaborations allow us to combine forces and make a larger impact in the community. Not to mention collaborative grants have been on the rise.
​
By facilitating collaboration discussions and networking opportunities SICCA aims to foster cooperation among its members. Below are case studies of recent partnerships between members of SICCA.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Got a collaboration idea?
​
Tell us about it!
Endangered Heritage & Untapped Treasures
By Amber Gowen - Archivist at Vanderburgh County Clerk's Archives
SICCA Collaborations
​
SICCA’s most valuable resource is its members. By creating professional networking opportunities SICCA facilitates relationships between members that allow our organizations to be more impactful in our community outreach efforts.
In 2015, the Vanderburgh County Clerk’s Archives began planning for its first public program to reintroduce its collection to the community and highlight the risk to historical paper based materials if they are not properly cared for. The 2015 SICCA Annual Meeting introduced us to individuals in several community institutions that soon became our partners in outreach efforts.
Traveling Exhibit and Public Programs
The Indiana Historical Society's Local History Services department visited the Clerk's Archives in January of 2015 and made several helpful suggestions to address our collections care challenges, including introducing us the IHS traveling exhibits program. We decided to request the Endangered Heritage exhibit to go along with our community’s Preservation Month efforts during the month of May. Endangered Heritage sheds light on the importance of good collections stewardship and offers practical solutions to common collection problems. The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library’s Local History Librarian co-sponsored the Endangered Heritage exhibit and provided us with a high- visibility facility.
​
We displayed material directly relating to our collection's needs with the corresponding exhibit panels as a way to bring the message home. We also set up table displays with photocopies of the most interesting items we have inventoried so far, highlighting key periods of community history and records from our collection that relate to them. Willard Library Archives provided access to their photographs, which we used to give our documents additional historical context and reiterate that collaboration leads to a much fuller picture of our community’s past. For example, the Clerk's Archives holds a rare Soldier’s Pension registry that documents the injuries of local Civil War Veterans. We selected a photograph from the Willard Library Archives of a Civil War soldier who later became a local banker to accompany photographs of pages from the Soldier's Pension registry. Court records notarized by the same man in his capacity at the bank which are held in the Clerk's Archives were also included in the display. Together, the combined collections of the Clerk's Archives and the Willard Library Archives provided a richer look at this man’s life.
​
We also took the opportunity to plan a public program at the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library called Untapped Treasures that served as our institution's s a fun and informative reintroduction of the collection to the community.
Over 40 people turned out to participate on a sunny Derby Saturday, and since the date of the program we have noticed a perceptible increase in records requests from the community and enthusiasm for our collection.
Collaborating with the Indiana Historical Society, Willard Library Archives, and the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library raised the profile of our event and highlighted the diverse local history resources available in our community. Each institution promoted the event, leading increased media coverage and event awareness.
​
The program and exhibit were featured in traditional and social media by the Clerk’s Archives, other branches of county government and the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library. On the Saturday of the Untapped Treasures program, the Evansville Courier & Press featured our exhibit and programmatic efforts on the front page of the paper. Coupling the exhibit with a program allowed us to keep this issue in front of the community for a longer period of time and has provided the perfect launching point to increase our facility’s profile and advocate for additional resources within local government.
Plans are in the works for additional programming, an expanded Clerk's archive online presence and eventually posting research guides online to increase the accessibility to our collection and highlight the “hidden collections” that contain so much forgotten history.
​
The opportunities to network and build relationships with other cultural heritage professionals that SICCA provides laid the groundwork for the success of this event and opened doors for many events to come.