Announcing the IHLS Mobile Memory Lab

Earlier this year, IHLS received a $4,000 grant from Illinois Humanities to help create the Mobile Memory Lab. This October and November, Metadata Cataloger Kat Anderberg will visit Marshall Public Library, Sparta Public Library, and the Hayner Public Library District’s Genealogy & Local History Library for Digitization Days. During these events, Kat will help library patrons digitize artifacts such as photographs, realia, letters, and other documents. The digitized materials will be added to the Illinois Digital Archives.

The grant from Illinois Humanities allowed for the purchase of two flatbed scanners, a digital camera, and a light box to be used for digitization. Kat will process and catalog the digitized materials over the next several months and create a new collection in the Illinois Digital Archives for each participating library specifically for materials digitized and shared through the Mobile Memory Lab. Collections will be available to view online in Spring 2024.