Introduction to the Crossroads Archive Project
Background:
The main objectives of the Preserve America grant program are to make historic preservation more
self-sustaining by helping local government bodies, the only entities that can receive grants through the
program, build tourism capacity in one of five categories: Planning, Research, Interpretation, Marketing
and Training. After a great deal of discussion with museums and other history-oriented organizations the
Crossroads on the Columbia Digital Archive was submitted as a research grant. A large number of private,
public and government agencies supported the application. Although Stevens County government is
receiving and disseminating the funds, several other government agencies have records to contribute.
Objectives:
The Preserve America grant was approved through the National Park Service in the amount of
$86,850 as the Federal share of a $174,830 project to create a digital archive of 22,000 images preserving
content from a broad range of museums, government offices, private collections and historical organizations
throughout historic Stevens County and some surrounding areas.
Archive holdings are to be labeled internally with “metadata” concerning the origins, dates,
locations, rights, contacts and content of the digital files. They are to be made available for research
through an online catalog that is searchable using this metadata. They will be grouped in these 7 themes:
 Native Culture
 The Fur Trade
 Government forts and roads
 Mining
 Boats
 Railways and
 Ends of the Road
These themes are intended to aid development of historic tours and other interpretation.
Compensation:
Over 50% of project expenses are designed to be donated through labor and material contributions
from the county. To this end, a corps of “History Detectives” will be enlisted to help with digitizing and
developing associated metadata for the images. The Federal Share of the funds will not be disbursed
without the matching contributions already in place.
The Federal contributions are partly budgeted to pay for labor from a core Preserve America team
(PA Team) of management and technicians. $30,000 is budgeted to be distributed directly to museums for
curator services in supplying the material. This money can be used by museums and other contributors in
any way they chose. Preliminary estimates of what each museum would receive were based on estimates of
their holdings in each of the targeted theme categories listed above.
A Preserve America Committee will review expenses and activities of the PA Team and make
recommendations to the County Commissioners, who control the project locally. The county has been very
helpful in developing the administration of this grant and is vitally concerned that it does not incur expenses
that are not repaid during the project.
Process:
The Washington State Archives in Cheney has agreed to preserve the original digital files
accumulated by this project at no cost to the County. In order to accept these files, they will need to meet
certain criteria for the metadata associated with each file. The PA Team internet technicians will prepare
submissions to the archive based on these criteria.
1. At the outset, the PA Team will work out a Memorandum of Understanding with each contributor
of material to the project. The agreement will cover rights and responsibilities in the ownership,
preservation, promotion and the security of the contributed material.
2. Museums and other contributors will need to develop inventories of pictures, documents, artifacts,
audio and video recordings and for consideration as valuable material for the archive. The PA Team
and The Heritage Network can assist in developing these inventories as part of the overall costs of
the project.
3. The Museums and Preservation Consultant will establish criteria for prioritizing contributions to
the archive. They will work out preservation plans for each contributor based on the inventories.
4. The metadata that needs to be attached to each archive file should be gathered at the time the
original material is digitized or contributed. PA Team Internet Technicians will prepare materials to
help the contributors develop the necessary metadata.
5. Some equipment is already available for this project through The Heritage Network, Stevens
County, the Rural Library District and private individuals. If museums or other contributors have
computer, photography or other equipment that we can use, it will be counted as an in-kind
contribution. We would like to conduct as much digitization as practical on site at the museums or
other places where it resides. In some cases, heating, security, access, insurance or other issues may
make that impractical. In those cases other alternative can be used. The Washington State Archives
and Eastern Washington State University at Cheney have offered secure transportation and student
labor using state-of-the-art equipment to help with the process.
6. Volunteer Labor is key to the success of this project. A benefit of this project is that it allows
volunteer History Detectives to work on their own schedules, often with their own equipment at
home and on projects with a limited scope that is of interest to them personally. A broader spectrum
of the public is willing to help with historic preservation and interpretation on these terms than can
find the time to help at museums during business hours. These volunteers can increase interest and
historic preservation activities in each community and increase the sustainability of our museums.
The PA Team will speak at community meetings and spread information through local media to
enlist volunteers. Museums can also find more volunteer help on these terms. The PA Team will
handle volunteer coordination for this project where it becomes a burden for the museums and other
contributors.
7. Training will be conducted by the PA Team. There are a number of techniques to use and standards
to meet during this process. Because of the variety of tasks to accomplish, we can use volunteer
skills in many different areas. This will require a great deal of flexibility at all levels.
The End Results:
Success in this project will mean that the core historical holdings of each of our museums and other
contributors will be protected from loss through fire, flood, theft, bankruptcy and other perils that often
destroy a community’s heritage overnight.
Moreover these materials will be available for research on the Washington State Archives website,
one of the most active Internet sites in the State. This will raise awareness and interaction with the huge
number of passionate genealogical researchers that visit that site as well as other historians. The State
Archives do not provide an interpreted introduction to their materials as do sites like HistoryLink.org.
But the State Archive will connect researchers to individual museums and a special Crossroads on
the Columbia Archive Site. The Crossroads site, also developed through this project, will make it easier to
find some materials such as video recordings that do not fit easily into the search engine setup at the State
Archives. The Crossroads site will also provide some interpretive links to the material in the archive.
Everyone loves a good story and they often make the best introductions to local history. It will host an
online forum for historical researchers to connect with one another.