Recollection Wisconsin

Recollection Wisconsin
Name	Recollection Wisconsin
Established	2005
Location	Wisconsin, United States
Type	Digital archive

Recollection Wisconsin is a collaborative digital portal aggregating primary sources, photographs, documents, oral histories, and audiovisual materials from cultural institutions across Wisconsin and beyond. Launched as a statewide initiative, it brings together materials from libraries, museums, historical societies, archives, and universities to support research, teaching, and public engagement. Partners include major institutions such as the Wisconsin Historical Society, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and numerous local organizations.

History

Recollection Wisconsin grew from regional digitization efforts at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the early 2000s, influenced by national projects like the Digital Public Library of America, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Nevada Test Site initiatives for public access. Early collaborations involved municipal partners such as the Milwaukee Public Library, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, the Madison Public Library, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, and the Kenosha Public Museum. Funding and methodological models were informed by programs at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. Technical standards and workflows reflected best practices from the OCLC Research, DPLA Hub, and the Consortium of Wisconsin Libraries. Over time, partnerships expanded to include university archives at Marquette University, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Carroll University, and Concordia University Wisconsin, as well as local historical societies in Sheboygan County, Dane County, Waukesha County, and Brown County. Recollection Wisconsin’s trajectory paralleled digitization and metadata initiatives seen at the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Chicago Historical Society, and the Library and Archives Canada.

Collections and Content

The portal aggregates diverse materials: digitized newspapers similar to holdings at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, manuscript collections akin to those at the Newberry Library, oral histories comparable to the Smithsonian Folklife Archive, and photographic collections paralleling those at the Museum of History and Industry. Notable collections include industrial photography from firms like Allis-Chalmers, agricultural records referencing Green Bay Packers era materials, civil rights-era documents linked to organizations such as the NAACP, and labor movement ephemera relating to unions like the AFL–CIO. Contributors have supplied items connected to figures such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Les Paul, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Robert M. La Follette, Golda Meir-related materials via community collections, and local political archives reminiscent of holdings at the Hoover Institution or the Kennedy Library. Collections cover events and topics associated with the Great Depression, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and regional phenomena like the Great Lakes shipping industry and the Fox River valley. Holdings also include works by artists with references similar to Carl Sandburg, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, and manuscripts comparable to items in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Participating Institutions

Participating institutions span state, municipal, academic, and private sectors: the Wisconsin Historical Society, the University of Wisconsin System, the Marquette University Libraries, the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center-type organizations, the Kenosha Public Museum, the Oshkosh Public Museum, local historical societies in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Appleton, Sheboygan, and Wausau, and special collections at institutions akin to the Harvard University Archives and the Yale University Library in collaborative practice. Smaller partners include genealogy groups like the Daughters of the American Revolution, civic groups similar to Rotary International chapters, cultural centers reflecting communities connected to Hmong American Day, Polish Fest, St. Patrick's Day parades, and faith-based archives from institutions such as St. Francis Xavier Parish-style collections. Federal and state entities such as the National Park Service-administered sites, regional USGS datasets, and municipal planning archives contribute contextual materials.

Technology and Access

Technological infrastructure relies on standards from organizations like OCLC, the DPLA, the Adobe Systems Incorporated file formats ecosystem, and the Internet Archive-style digitization workflows. Metadata practices align with schemas developed by the Library of Congress, including subject headings inspired by the LCSH and structural frameworks used by the MODS and Dublin Core communities. The portal supports search and discovery functionality in ways similar to platforms developed by the Europeana project, the HathiTrust, and the Gallica digital library. Access policies reflect balancing public access models seen at the Smithsonian Institution and controlled-access arrangements like those at the National Security Archive for sensitive materials. Digitization hardware and imaging standards reference vendors and practices employed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art conservation labs and university imaging centers modeled on the Getty Research Institute.

Governance and Funding

Governance includes oversight by a consortium board with representatives from the Wisconsin Historical Society, the University of Wisconsin System, municipal libraries such as the Milwaukee Public Library, and regional foundations like the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Funding streams combine grants from entities such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, corporate sponsorships akin to support from Rockwell Automation-type firms, and in-kind contributions from partner institutions modeled after collaborative agreements used by the New England Regional Library Association. Project management draws on nonprofit administration approaches seen at the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Impact and Outreach

Recollection Wisconsin supports scholarship at universities like University of Wisconsin–Madison and Marquette University, enriches K–12 programming modeled on curricula from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and informs exhibits at venues similar to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Elkhorn Historical Society. Outreach efforts include workshops based on training models from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, crowdsourcing transcription projects inspired by the Transcribe Bentham initiative, and community history partnerships comparable to projects run by the New York Historical Society. The portal has facilitated research cited in publications associated with presses such as the University of Wisconsin Press and has been integrated into digital humanities projects akin to those at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media.

Category:Digital archives in Wisconsin