Kara Reuter and Stefan Langer of Worthington Library of Ohio were selected as the 2017 winners of the History Section’s Online History Award for their work on the “Worthington Memory” project.
This initiative in community history centers on the history and people of Worthington, Ohio and has applied time and thought to digitization standards, organization, and design questions confronting community history and memory. Given the importance of outreach and community buy-in not only in gathering data but processing it, the efforts of Worthington Memory in leveraging such participation is a huge success. Because of the thorough thematic organization, the impact of this and similar projects could go beyond local history to generate ideas about how people reacted to larger national phenomena.
The Online History Award is given to a publisher of reference materials in the field of history. The award recognizes the accomplishments of a person or a group of people producing (1) a freely available online historical collection, or (2) an online tool tailored for the purpose of finding historical materials, or (3) an online teaching aid stimulating creative historical scholarship. The award seeks to encourage the development of freely available, sustainable online history resources by singling out innovative projects and the individuals who created them.
Langer and Reuter will receive a citation at the RUSA Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception held from 5-6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 25 at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. All conference attendees are invited to the event.
The Online History Award committee includes: Joshua M. Lupkin (Chair), Sabrina D. Dyck, Dr. Helene Huet and Steven A. Knowlton.