Welcome to the Community History Archives FAQ! Here, you will find answers to questions about how the archives work, what they include, and how to access them. The archives are free to access and designed to help you explore and discover your community’s unique stories.
You can use the search bar to enter keywords, names, or dates. For more targeted results, use the Query Builder to refine your search by including or excluding specific keywords, setting a date range, or selecting particular titles.
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The Query Builder tool is a powerful feature for creating precise and tailored search queries. It allows you to include or exclude multiple keywords by adding as many search fields as needed using the “+” button.
There’s no limit to the number of fields, and each field gives you the flexibility to refine your results with options for combining keywords. You can choose whether results must include terms from one field and another (AND) or can include results from either of the fields (OR). By combining search types like “All,” “Exact,” “Any,” and “None,” you can construct detailed queries to target specific information.
The “All” search option is the default setting and is designed to locate pages that include all the keywords you enter, regardless of their order or how close they appear to each other on the page. This makes it an effective tool for broad searches when you want to ensure all your terms are present but don’t require them to be connected or arranged in a specific way.
For example, if you input multiple keywords related to your topic, the “All” search will return results where every keyword appears somewhere on the page. This option is best suited for gathering comprehensive information across a wide range of content, allowing you to explore documents without narrowing your results to specific phrases or arrangements.
The “Exact” Search option provides results where the search terms appear exactly as entered and in the exact order. This is particularly useful when searching for specific names, titles, or phrases that must be matched precisely to ensure accurate results.
For instance, if you search for “Harriet Tubman” using the “Exact” option, it will only return pages where her full name appears in that specific order. This helps narrow your results to references directly related to Harriet Tubman, excluding any unrelated mentions of “Harriet” or “Tubman” appearing separately. This search type is ideal for pinpointing detailed and specific information.
The “Any” Search option returns results containing at least one of the keywords in your query. This is a useful tool when exploring multiple related topics, and you don’t need all the terms to appear on every page. By broadening the search, it allows you to gather a variety of relevant information across a wider range of resources.
For example, if you are looking into literature and searching for “poetry” OR “novels,” the “Any” Search will show results that mention either term rather than requiring both to appear on the same page. This search type is ideal for topics with multiple related aspects or when you want to cast a wide net to uncover more diverse results.
The “None” Search Modifier lets you exclude specific terms from your results, ensuring your search focuses only on the information you need. This is especially helpful when a keyword is associated with multiple contexts and you want to eliminate unrelated results.
For instance, if you’re researching Alexander Hamilton but want to avoid results about the popular Broadway show, you can exclude terms like “musical,” “actress,” “Lin-Manuel Miranda,” or “songs.” By applying the “None” Search Modifier to these words, your results will focus on historical records and documents about Alexander Hamilton rather than content related to the stage production. This allows for a more refined and accurate search.
In the Query Builder, the “AND” connector is used to combine multiple search fields, ensuring that the results include all the specified criteria. When you select AND, the search will return only those pages or records where all the conditions from each connected search field are met.
For example, if you create a query with one field searching for “John Smith” and another using AND to search for “New York,” the results will include only pages where both “John Smith” and “New York” appear. This is useful when you want to narrow your results to items that meet multiple specific criteria, ensuring greater accuracy in your search.
In the Query Builder, the “OR“ connector broadens your search by including results that meet any of the specified criteria from connected search fields. When you use OR, the search will return pages or records that match at least one of the keywords or phrases in the connected fields.
For example, if one search field contains “John Smith” and another connected with OR contains “Jonathan Smith,” the results will include pages where either “John Smith” OR “Jonathan Smith” appears. This is especially useful when searching for variations of a name, alternate spellings, or related topics, allowing you to cast a wider net without requiring all terms to appear in the same record.
To refine your search by date, use the date range tool in the Query Builder. You can set specific start and end dates by typing them in mm/dd/yyyy format or selecting them with the calendar icon. This tool is ideal for narrowing results to a specific time frame, like focusing on July 1923 by setting the start date to 07/01/1923 and the end date to 07/31/1923.
The tool also includes options to search between dates, on a specific date, or before or after a certain date:
These filters, combined with other search options, help you efficiently target the most relevant documents.
Not at this time. Currently, results are sorted based on relevance. However, a date-sorting feature is planned for future updates, so stay tuned for this enhancement.
The Browse feature lets you navigate the archive by viewing content organized by publication title and date. It’s ideal for exploring documents systematically or discovering materials when you don’t have a specific search term in mind.
You can find the Browse feature at on the homepage of the archive below the section where the search Query Builder is located
To learn more about using the Browse feature, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Browse By Decade feature on the Community History Archive homepage allows you to search archived materials by decade, year, or the full date range available.
To use this feature:
A “See All” button in the top right of the section. Click See All to display the entire range of decades covered by the archive for a full overview.
This tool provides a straightforward way to locate materials by time period.
The Browse By Title feature lets you explore the archive by publication name, making it easy to locate specific materials.
To use this feature:
If the archive has a large number of titles, a “See All” button will appear in the upper right of the “Browse By Title” section. Click See All to open a drawer in the upper-left corner that lists all available titles in the archive, providing a complete overview of publications and collections.
This feature simplifies finding specific publications or exploring the archive’s full scope.
There is a toggle above the browse section on the Community History Archive’s homepage labeled “Multi-Select,” which lets you select multiple titles and date ranges before starting your search. This feature saves time by allowing you to focus on specific publications and time periods that align with your research goals.
Activate the toggle to enable clickable circles next to titles and decades. Choose as many options as needed, then click Apply Filter to go to the Search Results Page with results tailored to your selections. This simplifies browsing and provides a customized starting point for exploring the archive.
The Results Page is where you review the findings from your search. At the top of the page, just below the Query Builder, you’ll see a summary of your search query along with the total number of results. This recap provides a quick overview of what your search retrieved.
The Query Builder on the Results Page is pre-filled with your original search parameters, allowing you to refine your search easily. You can adjust keywords, dates, or filters directly from this page, making it simple to narrow your results further without starting a new search.
The Search Query Recap is a summary of your search criteria displayed at the top of the Results Page in a clear sentence format. It allows you to quickly verify that your search parameters are correct and helps you identify if any adjustments are needed.
For example, the recap might look like this:
This recap is particularly useful for refining your search. If you notice any errors, such as incorrect connectors (e.g., “OR” instead of “AND”) or misplaced modifiers, you can quickly update these settings in the Query Builder to ensure your search is as accurate as possible.
Yes, you can refine your search directly from the Results Page using the Query Builder at the top. The Query Builder is pre-filled with your original search parameters, allowing you to make quick changes without starting a new search.
Here’s how you can adjust your query:
Once you’ve made your changes, press Enter/Return on your keyboard or click the Refine Search button to refresh your search. This streamlined process helps you refine results quickly and efficiently without leaving the Results Page.
An individual Result on the Results Page represents an entry from the archive that matches your search query. The preview is generated using OCR with your search terms highlighted to make them easy to locate.
Here’s what you can learn from a result:
These details help you quickly determine if a result is relevant to your research, making it easy to focus on the most useful entries.
You can refine your search results directly on the Search Results Page using two powerful tools designed to make your search more efficient:
By combining these tools, you can tailor your search to locate the most relevant records, saving time and effort while maintaining control over your results.
The Filters on the left-hand side of the Results Page let you narrow your search results without resetting your query, giving you greater control over what you see. These options allow you to focus on specific criteria, helping you find the most relevant records with ease. For example, you can:
To apply your choices, simply click the Apply Filter button, and the results will update. These filters are dynamic, meaning they reflect only the options relevant to your initial query, ensuring you can make adjustments as you refine your results.
Filters allow you to refine date ranges anywhere from decades to years to months and down to a single day if you so choose.
This ensures you can align your search with the exact timeframe you need, whether for broad historical analysis or detailed event-specific research.
The Calendar Widget only appears if you have filtered the date down to a single year. In the Filter section, first, refine your search to a single Decade, then a single Year. Verify only one Year is selected and click the “Apply Filter” button.
This will trigger the Calendar Widget to appear below the Year Filter. Highlighted days indicate dates with matching records.
The Calendar Widget offers multiple tools for navigating and selecting dates:
The Calendar Widget provides flexibility for narrowing your search to a specific month or day.
Once you have clicked on a result and viewed the content, when you return to the Results Page, the Result will have a small checkmark next to the title, helping you track your progress and stay organized.
The Image Viewer is where the historical records are viewed. It offers a user-friendly interface with tools designed to make navigating the publication, edition, or collection as intuitive as possible.
In addition to navigation, the Image Viewer allows you to print or download entire pages or use the clipping tool to select and save specific sections for future reference and provides a seamless way to view, interact with, and save historical content.
The Image Viewer lets you adjust the display to suit your needs:
• Accessibility Controls that allow for adjustments to brightness, contrast, and text size.
These tools allow you to focus on the document while maintaining flexibility in how you interact with the content.
At the top center of the screen, you’ll see details like the title, city, state, date, and page number. This makes it easy to identify the document and understand its context while exploring the archive. Above this section, navigation controls show the current page and total pages of the edition.
On the right side of the screen, you’ll find a “Return to Results” button. This feature lets you quickly go back to your most recent search results without re-entering any search parameters, saving time and keeping your search process efficient.
Using this button is more reliable than your browser’s back button, as it preserves your search state and avoids unintended resets. To learn more, visit our “How To” page.
To customize your viewing experience, use the toolbar display toggle (the icon located in the top right corner of the screen). Clicking this icon hides the top toolbar, including edition information, page details, and navigation options, giving you a cleaner, larger viewing area for the document or image. Clicking it again restores the toolbar and navigation options.
You can also use the Full-Screen Mode button in the bottom right corner of the viewer. This expands the document to fill your entire screen, maximizing visibility while retaining all controls.
Combining Full-Screen Mode with the toolbar display toggle offers the clearest view possible, ideal for presentations or detailed document reviews. For a more detailed explanation on how to maximize your viewing area, visit our “How To” page.
There are simple navigation tools to browse through multi-page documents or newspaper content. On either side of the page display, you’ll find navigation arrows. The left arrow lets you go back to the previous page, while the right arrow allows you to move forward with a single click.
You can also use the Page Selector in the top toolbar, located above the page information, to jump directly to any page within the edition. This allows you to skip pages without navigating one by one, saving time and making exploration more efficient.
To learn more about navigating pages within an edition, you can visit our “How To” page.
There are simple navigation tools to browse through multi-page documents or newspaper content. On either side of the page display, you’ll find navigation arrows. The left arrow lets you go back to the previous page, while the right arrow allows you to move forward with a single click.
You can also use the Page Selector in the top toolbar, located above the page information, to jump directly to any page within the edition. This allows you to skip pages without navigating one by one, saving time and making exploration more efficient.
To learn more about navigating pages within an edition, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Download button is located in the bottom left corner of the screen, next to the highlight tool. Clicking this button downloads the entire page in PDF format, making it easy to save or print a full page for your records.
Downloading the entire page will result in larger file sizes compared to using the clipping tool for specific sections, but it serves as a reference for context in a way that clipping does not.
The Zoom controls are located in the center of the Bottom Toolbar and include plus (+) and minus (-) buttons for adjusting the zoom level. Clicking these buttons lets you increase or decrease the zoom incrementally until you find the view that works best for your needs. The selected zoom percentage is displayed, making it easy to track your preferred level.
Zooming allows you to magnify or reduce the displayed image, helping you focus on specific details or view the entire document layout. This flexibility ensures you can comfortably read small text or examine visual elements while maintaining an overall sense of the page. To learn more about adjusting zoom settings, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Page Orientation control, represented by a circular arrow icon, is located on the bottom toolbar to the right of the page size selector. This tool lets you rotate the page to your preferred angle, making it easier to view content that was scanned sideways or in an unusual orientation.
To rotate the page, click the circular arrow icon. Each click rotates the page 90 degrees clockwise. Continue clicking until the page is oriented as needed. This is particularly helpful for documents scanned in landscape mode or with content appearing upside down or sideways.
To learn more about rotating pages, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Comfort View toggle, located on the bottom toolbar to the right of the Orientation icon, adds a soft tint to the page. This tint reduces eye strain by softening the contrast between text and background, making it easier to read bitonal documents like newspapers with black text on bright white pages.
To use this feature, click the Comfort View toggle to enable the warming tint. Click it again to return to the default display. This tool is especially useful for improving readability during extended research sessions or when working with dense text or small print.
To learn more about using the Comfort View toggle, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Clipping Tool, located in the top left corner of the screen and marked with a “Scissors” icon and the label “Clip,” allows you to create custom clippings of specific areas within a historical newspaper or document. This feature is perfect for saving or focusing on a particular article, image, or section of the page.
Using the Clipping Tool is an efficient way to isolate and save the most relevant portions of a document without needing to save or print the entire page. To learn more about using the Clipping Tool, you can visit our “How To” page.
Clicking the Clipping Tool icon activates a moveable Clipping Selection Window, allowing you to select a specific area of the document to clip. You can drag this window to any location on the page to focus on particular sections like articles, images, or other details you want to save.
The Clipping Selection Window is fully adjustable. Small circles along the window’s border act as handles for resizing, letting you expand, shrink, or reshape the window to fit the content you’re clipping. To learn more about using the Clipping Tool, you can visit our “How To” page.
After positioning the Clipping Selection Window over the desired area, click the right-facing Arrow icon in the bottom right corner of the window. This locks in your selection and provides a preview to ensure the clipping is accurate.
The preview allows you to confirm that the selected area is correctly positioned, making it especially useful for capturing precise sections like small text or specific columns. Once satisfied, you can proceed with the clipping process.
To learn more about finalizing a clipped selection, you can visit our “How To” page.
Once you’ve finalized your clipping, you can save it digitally by clicking the Download button in the bottom left corner of the pop-up window.
The downloaded file will be automatically named with details like the page number, publication title, city, state, and date (e.g., “Page 2 of Cedar Rapids Times, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, January 13, 1876”). This naming convention makes it easy to organize and reference your clippings.
Downloading your clipping allows you to store it on your device, share it electronically, or incorporate it into digital projects. To learn more about downloading your clippings, you can visit our “How To” page.
To print your clipped selection, click the Print button in the bottom left corner of the pop-up window. This will open your computer’s print dialog box, where you can select paper size, print quality, and other preferences.
Printing your clipping is available at any step in the clipping process. To learn more about printing your clippings, you can visit our “How To” page.
A clipping Container is an optional feature that adds organization and context to your clipping. It houses your selected content and allows you to include a custom title, detailed notes, and observations. This feature is ideal for enriching your clip with background information, historical context, or other relevant details to make it easier to reference later.
Each clip Container automatically includes a caption with essential source details, such as the page number, publication title, city, and date. This ensures your clipping retains its source information for future citation or reference. You can also personalize the container with a custom title for quick identification and add notes to record observations, such as names, relationships, or keywords related to the clip’s content.
To learn more about creating and using clipping Containers, you can visit our “How To” page.
Steps 2 and 3 of the clipping process offer optional tools to enhance the appearance and organization of your clipping. These features include:
Additionally, you can add a custom title, detailed notes, and tags to provide context and make your clipping searchable. Tags help categorize clips based on relevant keywords, topics, or names, making them easier to locate later. Once complete, sharing options let you collaborate or distribute your clippings with others.
To learn more about these features, you can visit our “How To” page.
The On-Page Search tool, located in the bottom left corner of the viewer, helps you find specific terms or phrases within the current page. If your original search brought you to the page, the search term will already be highlighted.
If you navigated manually, you can enter a keyword or phrase into the search box to locate it on the page. The tool highlights all instances of your search term, making it easy to spot relevant content. To learn more about using the On-Page Search tool, you can visit our “How To” page.
The “Highlight All” option highlights every instance of each word in your search term across the current page. This feature is helpful for quickly identifying all occurrences of a word or phrase, but it can become overwhelming if your search includes common words like “the” or “and.”
To learn more about the “Highlight All” option, you can visit our “How To” page.
The “Highlight All” option is particularly helpful when the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) struggles to capture text perfectly due to the quality or age of a document.
For instance, if searching for “Pearl Harbor” but the OCR only recognized “Pearl” or “Harbor” separately, “Highlight All” will allow you to see each term individually and piece together the intended content.
This feature is also useful when searching for partial matches in names or phrases. For example, if you’re looking for “Mary Ellen Smith” but only “Mary Smith” appears in the document, an exact search wouldn’t highlight it. With “Highlight All” enabled, both “Mary” and “Smith” would be highlighted, helping you locate relevant information even when it doesn’t match exactly as typed.
To learn more about how to use “Highlight All,” you can visit our “How To” page.
“Highlight All” can become less effective when your search includes common words like “the,” “and,” or “or.” It can also be troublesome when common words or phrases might have multiple meanings or uses, potentially leading to irrelevant highlights. For example:
Imagine searching for information related to Bill Light’s Last Will and Testimony and any related land records filed in the State of Nebraska related to his estate (including right-of-way documents).
However, one of your results leads you to a page with an article about a man named “Will Jones” related to a traffic accident where the driver (Bill Smith) made an illegal right turn at a traffic light. The article was about the court case over Will’s inability to pay his bills due to being unable to work after his injuries.The headline read: “Will Will Jones pay the light bill, or will Bill Smith?” with a byline of: “The state Judge hears testimony and says Bill has the right not to pay Will’s bill”
You may think this is far-fetched…but it is an actual query by an actual user and an actual article. With “Highlight All” enabled, she ended up with a page glowing like a Christmas tree, with highlights for every “Will,” “Bill,” “state,” “right,” and “light.” To learn more about navigating tricky searches, you can visit our “How To” page.
Next to the On-Page Search box, you’ll find small up and down arrows that let you jump directly between each highlighted instance of your search term.
Clicking these arrows moves you through the document one occurrence at a time, making it easy to scan results without losing your place.
This feature is especially helpful in longer documents where a term appears multiple times across different sections, allowing you to navigate efficiently. To learn more about using this tool, you can visit our “How To” page.
The Community History Archives are digital platforms that provide free access to historical documents, newspapers, photographs, and other records specific to local communities. It allows users to search, browse, and explore primary source materials that tell the story of a community’s past.
If you’re looking for an obituary, article, information about a relative, or have other general research questions, your best resource is the library or institution that partnered with Advantage Archives to make the content available. These institutions are more familiar with the content in their archives and are well-equipped to assist and can help direct you to specific resources or assist with broader research needs.
You can connect with them by visiting CommunityHistoryArchives.com and searching for the library or institution by name. Go to its details page to find the institution’s phone number, email address, and possibly links to its website or social media accounts.
Our partner archives feature a diverse collection of materials that reflect the unique history and identity of each community. These collections often include historical newspapers, providing firsthand accounts of local events, directories that document businesses and residents, yearbooks offering glimpses into past school years, and photographs that capture moments in time. Many archives also include local histories, maps, and other community records, which serve as invaluable resources for understanding the culture, people, and events that shaped these communities.
The specific content available varies by community, as each partnering institution determines what materials to digitize based on their priorities, resources, and historical significance. For instance, some archives may focus heavily on preserving historical newspapers spanning decades, while others might prioritize rare maps or photographs unique to their region. This tailored approach ensures that each archive highlights the materials most relevant and meaningful to its community, creating a rich and varied network of resources accessible to researchers, genealogists, and history enthusiasts alike.
Yes! For detailed instructions and tips on using the Community History Archive, visit the Community History Archives Resource Page. This guide includes helpful information on searching, browsing, and making the most of the archive’s features.
Yes, the Community History Archive was thoughtfully designed to support a wide range of users, including those with varying abilities. The site includes Accessibility Controls that allow for adjustments to brightness, contrast, and text size, enabling users to customize their viewing experience based on their individual preferences or needs.
The controls, available on every page, include:
These features aim to make the archives as inclusive as possible, ensuring that historical resources are accessible and comfortable for a wide audience.
Some newspaper headlines and other content in the archives may be viewed by some as “inappropriate” or “offensive” if viewed outside of their historical context.
The nature of the colloquialisms, culture, attitude, region, and/or political climate of the various time periods represented may cause some users to feel offended or uncomfortable.
The content has been made available to the community for the purpose of research, study and to satisfy curiosity, and we do not limit, edit, or censor the record and present it as it was published.
Anyone with internet access can explore the Community History Archives. The platform is free to use, allowing community members, researchers, students, genealogists, and history enthusiasts to access historical content from anywhere, at any time, and on any device.
The Community History Archives can be accessed on any device, including desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. For a more app-like experience on mobile and tablets, you can install the Community History Archives PWA (Progressive Web App), which provides faster access and an optimized layout for smaller screens.
Learn More:
The Community History Archives are completely free to use. Thanks to community partnerships, all content is accessible to the public at no charge.
Subscription services only unlock history to those who can afford it, and the aggregation services widely available in larger libraries are often cost-prohibitive to libraries that are underserved or have budget limitations. With no reoccurring charges, seat license, or ongoing costs, communities no longer have to “rent” their history from a 3rd party. They own it.
Advantage Archives and their partners have embraced the free access model, ensuring that all patrons, regardless of their economic means, can delve into their community’s history, enriching their understanding of local heritage and enabling them to participate in community discussions with a well-informed perspective.
A few Community History Archives are restricted to on-site access due to compliance with copyright law or institutional policy.
While these collections are free for anyone to access, some restrictions are imposed by content owners or community institutions to protect the rights of the content creator or for discretionary reasons. You can check with your local library or institution to see if additional resources are available for on-premise use.
The Community History Archive platform represents a unique opportunity for local educators to teach national and international historical events using local primary source materials.
The free access to the local historical content within the archives allows teachers to use the platform as an educational resource that puts history in perspective.
WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance refers to meeting the Level AA standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, which are internationally recognized guidelines for making websites accessible to people with disabilities. These standards are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and focus on ensuring that digital content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users.
Level AA is considered the industry standard for accessibility and addresses the most common barriers experienced by individuals with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. This includes features such as proper color contrast, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, clear structure, and accessible forms and media.
By meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards, websites provide a more inclusive user experience while also aligning with legal requirements and best practices for accessibility.
The Community History Archives platform includes a variety of built-in accessibility tools that allow users to customize their experience based on their individual needs. Key features include:
These tools work together to create a flexible, accessible experience, ensuring that users of all abilities can comfortably explore and interact with historical content.
You can access all accessibility features by clicking the accessibility button located in the bottom-left corner of the screen on any page within the Community History Archives. This button opens the accessibility panel, where you can toggle features on or off and customize your browsing experience in real time.
Once opened, the panel allows you to adjust settings such as text size, contrast, reading aids, and more, based on your individual preferences. All changes take effect immediately and can be modified or reset at any time during your visit.
No, the previous PWA and legacy versions of the site have been retired. These platforms did not meet current WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and were phased out to ensure all users have access to a more accessible, compliant, and improved experience through the Community History Archives platform.
WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is important because it ensures that digital content is accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities. Without these standards, many users may face barriers that prevent them from fully accessing or interacting with a website’s content.
By following WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines, websites provide essential accommodations such as readable text, clear navigation, keyboard accessibility, and compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers. These improvements not only support users with disabilities but also enhance the overall experience for all visitors, including older adults and those using different devices or browsing environments.
In addition to improving usability, WCAG compliance helps organizations align with recognized accessibility standards and legal expectations. Many accessibility laws and regulations reference WCAG Level AA as the benchmark for compliance, making it a critical component of responsible digital practices.
Ultimately, WCAG 2.1 AA compliance reflects a commitment to inclusivity, equal access, and providing a high-quality user experience for everyone.
Advantage Archives is a company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, dedicated to making local history freely accessible to communities across the United States.
The corporate offices, digitization center, and preservation labs are housed within Advantage’s secure 80,000-square-foot records management and archival storage facility.
With divisions dedicated to digitization, access, preservation, and archival storage, Advantage Archives is committed to being reliable, collaborative partners for the communities they serve. Their approach ensures that communities have unrestricted access to their history without any ongoing financial commitments or budgetary burdens.
Advantage Archives works hand-in-hand with libraries, educational institutions, historical societies, museums, and other community organizations to digitize and provide practical access to historical content.
By digitizing newspapers, photographs, and other historical materials, Advantage Archives aims to bridge the gap between the past and the present. By offering free access to these resources, they help communities retain control of their collective history, offering a tool to share and explore the community’s past without relying on paid services for access.
Advantage Archives collaborates with libraries, historical societies, museums, genealogical societies, cultural institutions, civic organizations, colleges and universities, individuals, state and local governmental agencies, resource centers, and educational institutions, focusing on organizations committed to providing free and open access to local history.
Advantage’s partners appreciate the collaborative approach they take, their ability to customize solutions to work within current budget constraints or project requirements, and the experience and knowledge they bring in handling and converting historical and at-risk documents.
If your community doesn’t yet have a Community History Archive and you’d like to see your local history online, please contact your community’s library, newspaper publisher, genealogical society, historical society, or educational institution. Encourage them to call (855) 303-2727 to explore a partnership with Advantage!
Jeffrey Kiley is the Founder and Chief executive Officer of Advantage Archives. He was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he still lives with his family. Jeff is passionate about local history and has worked in the imaging, access, and preservation industry for over twenty years.
Chris Donohue co-founded Advantage Archives with Jeff and is the Chief Financial Officer. Chris is a CPA and has been the CFO at Advantage Archives since 2010. He has over 28 years of business experience in the finance and document imaging industries.
In general, if a book, newspaper, document, or other material is available in one of our partner’s archives, it is typically either in the public domain or made accessible online with permission granted to the partnering institution by the publisher, author, or rights holder.
We suggest contacting the partnering institution directly if you want specific information or clarification on your intended use of an article or document. They manage their collection and are best positioned to provide more insight. You can find their contact information and more on their Listing Details page in the CommunityHistoryArchives.com directory
United States copyright laws apply protection to the intellectual property of a publisher, individual author, or artist.
Copyright holders have rights to their intellectual property. Advantage Archives and its partners respect those rights and make every effort not to infringe upon them while providing access to digitized newspapers or other materials protected by copyright law.
“Public Domain” refers to a publisher’s works not protected by intellectual property laws. The public owns these works, and anyone can responsibly use public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever “own it.”
A work is clearly in the public domain if the copyright has expired (before 1929 or more than 95 years from publication)
However, it MIGHT BE in the public domain under certain conditions:
Although copyright laws are well-defined, there is an area of gray between 1924 and 1977. During this period, some publications were printed without notice of copyright or in compliance with the day’s copyright laws.
The other way newspaper content has become public domain is if the copyright owner has failed to comply with copyright renewal rules (1923-1989).
If it was published before 1978 and did not have the © copyright symbol printed in the publication, it could fall within the public domain. Between 1924 and 1977, many newspapers were published without notice of copyright or did not register with the U.S. Copyright Office.
The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 effectively froze the public domain in the United States for works published after 1922. Works published before 1923 entered the public domain. Works published in 1923 or later were still protected by copyright and would not enter the public domain until January 1, 2019, or later.
On January 1st, 2019, new content entered the public domain for the first time since 1998, making 1924 content available, and every year since (and every year going forward), a new year’s worth of content is free to use without restriction.
Some exemptions exist for libraries, archives, and museums IF specific and defined guidelines are followed.
Title 17, section 108 of the U.S. Code permits libraries, museums, and archives that are open to the public to use copyrighted material in specific ways. These provisions are called “limitations” or “exceptions” because they limit the exclusive rights of copyright owners. In specified circumstances, they exempt libraries, archives, and museums from obtaining permission from copyright holders.
The critical thing to remember about these exemptions is that the digitized content MUST be used in the same manner, method, or intent as the original.
To provide access to content that does not clearly reside in the public domain, the qualifying institution MUST ensure that these publications are currently in the library or museum collections.
Any copy made in digital format may not be made available to the public in that format outside the library premises. If not in the public domain, the content MUST be restricted to use from within the libraries physical location only.
OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, is a technology used to convert images of printed text into searchable, digital text. This allows users to search for specific words or phrases within digitized documents, making research more efficient.
The quality of the original materials has several implications throughout an automated OCR process. Faded printing, shaded backgrounds, fragmented letters, skewed text, curved lines, and backside-bleedthrough on the originals can greatly limit the OCR engine’s effectiveness.
In the case of microfilm, If the second or third-generation images on the microfilm have deteriorated to any degree, the imperfections and poor image quality will interfere dramatically with the OCR process.
The quality issues of the original materials can lead to a lack of consistency in OCR quality from page to page. Combinations of letters forming incomplete words, creation of “new” words, or conflation of two unrelated words happens when the originals are damaged or faded. This often leads to a “ballooning” number of terms submitted for a search. For example, a simple imperfection can close a “C,” transforming a word like “cat” into “oat”.
OCR accuracy can vary depending on factors such as print quality, font, and document condition. While OCR is generally reliable on more modern newspapers and documents, historical records and newspapers present a number of unique challenges. OCR may misinterpret certain characters or words, especially in older documents or decorative fonts.
One method of measuring OCR efficiency is gauging how accurately it determines which words are on the printed page. This is normally expressed as the percentage of words on the page that are accurately “read” by the software. Of course, “reading” a word entails piecing it together letter by letter. Therefore, OCR accuracy is sometimes measured as the percentage of letters that are accurately “read.”
It is important to note, however, that these two measures of accuracy are fundamentally different. Word accuracy is, by definition, significantly lower than letter accuracy, as it is effectively the joint accuracies or joint probabilities- of the letters in the word. For example, OCR accuracy at the letter-level for a document may be 98 percent. But computing the accuracy of a five-letter word in that same document is done by taking 0.98 to the fifth power.
The “S/F” issue is caused by the “medial s,” where the letter looks similar to an F.
The “medial s” was commonly used in newspapers until nearly 1900. This “medial s” often appears in the middle of a word, while the “terminal s” was used to finish one off. In practice, this rule was not strictly adhered to, which poses a larger challenge in recognizing the S/F issue on a computer.
At Advantage Archives, we use 100 percent automation for both zoning and capture. The quality of the OCR is completely dependent upon the quality of the medium that is scanned, as is the case in every step preceding OCR.
Most OCR software tools do not necessarily follow the logical arrangement of a newspaper’s multi-column, multi-sectioned layout. The software does, however, endeavor to identify zones with possible text so that OCR may be applied to these zones. There are two types of zones: graphic and text. Typically, the text zones are very accurately represented.
The challenges come when breaks and zones are erroneously applied due to spacing inconsistencies or unintentional detection of a column by an impurity in the paper, a printing defect, or a scratch on the microfilm from which the image was captured. This can lead to additional utility issues as the software tries to apply a “zone” anywhere it detects a defined structured data set.
The OCR will only be as good as the digital image it was applied to. The digital image will only be as good as the quality of the original from which it was created. In the case of microfilm, the quality of the image on film will only be as good as the condition of the original materials at the time of filming. Even the most diligent and careful filming cannot restore poor source material.
Unfortunately, by the time some newspaper pages or documents are filmed for preservation purposes, they have already deteriorated to the point where some pages are in a nearly illegible state.
Even newspapers with great significance sometimes needed to be pieced together and taped at the time of filming. Large amounts of text can be eradicated by age, neglect, and inadequate storage.
We understand that funding can often be a hurdle for institutions looking to digitize and preserve their historical records.
At Advantage Archives, we believe in the power of partnerships and the importance of making history accessible to all. That’s why we work hand-in-hand with these institutions to identify potential funding sources for their projects. This could be through their existing donor networks, Friends of the Library programs, foundations, or available grants.
If taken on internally, yes, it can often be cost-prohibitive for many institutions. This is one of the reasons we developed the Community History Archives model and centered our core values around being a “partner” to the communities we serve.
We believe that a good partner shares responsibilities and contributes their fair share to the collective effort. Once the project is funded and brought to fruition, we take it upon ourselves to ensure that there are no additional or ongoing costs that might become a burden to our partner institutions.
This includes the costs associated with storage, hosting, development, and maintenance of the Community History Archives. Our commitment to providing these services free of charge to the institutions enables the institution to provide free access to the community.
Almost anything printed on paper or images captured on film can paint a picture of how our family, community, business, state, or country existed at almost any time in history.
Amongst the most common digital conversion projects requested by Advantage’s partners include historical newspapers, yearbooks, collections of photographic materials, and directories; however, the Community History Archives are full of other records that Advantage has digitized, including:
Correspondence, Atlases, Meeting Minutes, Property Transfer Books, Public Notices, Census Data, Postcards, Manuscripts,Memoranda, Almanacs, Genealogical Research, Baptismal Records, Birth Announcements, Journals & Diaries, Marriage Records, Death Notices, Church Records, Slides, Negatives, Funeral Home Records, Deed Books, Indexes, Mortgage Records, Survey Books, Town and County Plats, Plans & Blueprints, Vital Records, Family Books, Memorial Documents, Family Histories, War Records, and many, many other records from the past.
Absolutely! One of the most significant benefits of consolidating your previously digitized content into a Community History Archive is the enhanced accessibility and searchability it offers by creating on repository. The content can then be searched globally from a single search box.
This user-friendly approach not only benefits researchers, historians, and students but also allows community members to explore their heritage with ease.
If you have content that is self-hosted or hosted on another platform, it can easily be converted and ingested into your Community History Archive platform!
Digitization is not just about accessibility; it’s also a sustainable choice. Physical archives require significant climate-controlled space and are susceptible to damage over time. Repeated handling of the physical originals can damage and compromise their integrity.
Damage does not just come from abuse but from just the act of using the original materials as an access tool. Removing them from temperature- and humidity-controlled storage exposes the originals to environmental risks. Additionally, residual acids in the skin lead to degradation, and oils left behind from handling collect dust and other abrasive contaminants.
Digital archives eliminate these concerns, ensuring that these important documents are accessible without unneeded handling and access to physical storage.
Technology is ever-changing, and the permanence of records stored electronically remains unknown. Microfilm, however, is universally accepted as the only true preservation medium.
Digitization alone offers amazing access but may be limited in its sustainability due to technology changes, migration, and cost to maintain. With microfilm stored in accordance with standards, microfilmed content will be available for future generations and can be accessed by anyone with a magnifying glass and a light source.