Working with the Minnesota Newspaper Association, local historical societies and newspaper publishers, the Minnesota Historical Society launched an innovative project to expand the number of contemporary newspapers available in digital form.
In the pilot phase of the project, the Society developed a methodology for digitizing, preserving and indexing newspaper content. Those processes will be tested with six newspapers and optimized in 2011.
Through this funding, the Minnesota Historical Society is advancing the work of making collections information available online. The Society is photographing 3D objects in the collections and completing corresponding descriptions that will be published online, allowing web site visitors to access an increasing volume of historical information.
Partner Organizations: Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MNGeo), Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Minnesota Association of County Surveyors (MACS), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
This project will move from a development phase to an implementation phase during which the public will begin to gain access to a greater number of Minnesota newspapers from around the state on the internet. Society staff will refine and automate the newspaper management system it developed in the first phase of the project and continue to work out access agreements with publishers and also form new partnerships with many more publishers. Staff will continue the work of harvesting and archiving webonly news sources that was begun in the first phase of the project.
The Minnesota Historical Society will continue to increase access to its collections by making historical resources available online for the general public. This year, there will be a greater focus on posting collections items relating to the U.S.--Dakota War of 1862 and the Civil War as part of the Society's wider commemoration of both events.
To digitize a collection of archival materials from the 1925 Norse-American Centennial, allowing for greater public access to these historic resources.
Increasing the public's online access to the permanent collections remains a top priority for MNHS. Since the beginning of FY17, more than 800 artifacts have been digitally photographed and cataloged, including American Indian material culture, fine art, recent acquisitions and artifacts related to current events and MNHS initiatives. The digitization of edged armaments and artifacts associated with brewing and breweries in Minnesota has now been completed.
MNHS continues actively preserving and making accessible newspapers published in the state. In FY16, MNHS concentrated efforts on the backlog of hardcopy newspapers, piloting an approach to microfilming and digitizing issues in mass quantity to reduce the physical storage burden and increase access for researchers and local historical societies. MNHS also began testing in-house digitization of current newspapers, securing equipment and developing processes and staff expertise to support this activity. Online access continues to be offered through the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub.
Increasing the public's online access to the Minnesota Historical Society's permanent collection remains a top priority of the Collections Department. ACHF collections assistants continued to increase public access to the MNHS collection through the digitization of over 1,300 additional records published to our online database in FY14. In FY15, over 1,500 additional records were digitized and published to the database. These items focused primarily on American Indian material culture, World War I and recent acquisitions.
In FY14-15, the newspaper team continued work on the newspaper hub, increasing functionality and improving the web interface. The test version of the newspaper hub is available on workstations at the Gale Family Library and also on the web at www.mnhs.org/newspapers. MNHS negotiated with the Department of Education to add approximately 275,000 pages of the historic Minneapolis Tribune to the hub.
MNHS continues its focus on preserving and making accessible the newspapers published in the state. Last year, the staff concentrated on acquiring digital content from publishers and building the access hub, Minnesota Newspapers Online (MNO). Work on both of these activities will continue.
Increasing the public's online access to the MNHS permanent collections remains a top priority for the Collections Department. Since the beginning of FY16 (July 1, 2015), over 1,000 artifacts have been digitally photographed and cataloged. (About a third of the artifacts have been published to our online catalog.) This included American Indian material culture (338 items) as well as recent acquisitions and artifacts associated with the Minnesota State Fair (200 items) and popular music in Minnesota (345 items).
The Historic Recognition Grant program will preserve, recognize, and promote the historic legacy of Minnesota, with a focus on commemoration of Minnesota's role in the American Civil War via creation of a digital Civil War resource to aid student instruction for sixth and seventh grade teachers is the third of three projects being administered by MNHS in cooperation with the state's Civil War Commemoration Task Force are in development
We will determine the distribution, relative density, and spatial occupancy patterns of 3 small weasel species in Minnesota to fill key knowledge gaps in weasel distribution and status in Minnesota.
Minnesota Historical Society staff are working to serve Twin Cities area schools with increasingly diverse demographics. Staff are providing more support services for students competing in History Day and American Indian History Day. Staff are also promoting and recruiting students for programs that engage students in history like the American Indian Museum Fellowship Program and the Summer History Immersion Program. These funds also provide general staff and logistical support for diversity outreach efforts.
Partners: Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC), Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), Minneapolis Public Schools, St. Paul Public Schools, Through this program, partners are extending the reach of Minnesota History Day while providing History Day support for students from diverse backgrounds and strengthening the mentoring skills of Minnesota college students. Undergraduate students from ACTC and MNSCU colleges are trained to become History Day mentors and work with History Day students at local schools.
MNHS continues to recruit diverse students from the Twin Cities for programs that engage them in understanding how public organizations present historical narratives. Internally, the Department of Inclusion and Community Engagement supports the diversity and inclusion efforts of other MNHS departments, such as the access advisory group and training for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act officer. Staff also attend cultural competence learning opportunities.
Minnesota History magazine will commission four articles on topics that contribute to MNHS' diversity and inclusiveness strategic priority. Topics will illuminate the historical experiences of people and communities who are currently underrepresented in the pages of Minnesota History. Efforts will be made to find diverse authors for the articles, which could include writers of color or writers from disabled, LGBTQ, religious minority or other underrepresented communities.
MNHS is working to strengthen its presence and visibility as a community resource to Minnesota's diverse communities by supporting a strategic tabling and sponsorship effort at 12 community events, such as Rondo Days, Twin Cities Jazz Festival and the Cultural Heritage and Social Action Summit. In addition, funds supported co-sponsoring and hosting diverse events, such as Twin Cities Black Film Festival and Somali Independence Day events at the Minnesota History Center.
Partners: Minnesota Humanities Center for Indian Fellows; Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) for Summer Technology Workshop
MNHS is working to serve Twin Cities area schools with increasingly diverse demographics. Staff members provide support services for students competing in National History Day in Minnesota and American Indian History Day. In addition, MNHS promotes and recruits diverse students for programs that engage participants in history. Two of these programs are the American Indian Museum Fellowship Program and the Summer History Immersion Program.
Minnesota’s natural resource professional workforce is much less diverse than its citizenry and many other professional fields. The benefits of a more diverse workforce are many, including the ability of organizations to increase innovation and creativity, attract higher qualified candidate pools, and ensure services that meet the diverse interests and needs of all citizens.
Minnesota’s natural resource professional workforce is much less diverse than its citizenry and many other professional fields. The benefits of a more diverse workforce are many, including the ability of organizations to increase innovation and creativity, attract higher qualified candidate pools, and ensure services that meet the diverse interests and needs of all citizens.
The commissioner shall develop a ten-year strategic state parks and trails plan considering traditional funding and the funding available under the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, section 15. The plan shall incorporate the 25-year framework developed by the University of Minnesota Center for Changing Landscapes. (HF 1231, Art 3, Sec 2)
Grasslands continue to be the most threatened habitat in the state. This programmatic request will build on the DNR's history of enhancing and restoring grasslands, embedded wetlands, and oak savannas to increase wildlife populations. The Prairie Plan, Pheasant Plan, and Wildlife Action Plan will guide our efforts to ensure we are operating in a strategic and targeted manner.
This program provides critical assistance to MN DNR Parks and Trails Division Regional and District offices to assist with renewal and rehabilitation efforts prioritized locally by field staff. Projects include the following types: State Park Building and Facilities Emergency Repair and Maintenance, Paved Trail Maintenance and Asset Preservation, and State Park and State Forest Trail Renewal. This project is a newly reorganized budget area that consolidates these three smaller project areas reported on in previous years.
We restored and enhanced a total of 40,539 grassland acres with 446 activities on Wildlife Management Areas, Scientific and Natural Areas, Native Prairie Bank easements, Waterfowl Production Areas, and National Wildlife Refuges.
Grasslands continue to be the most threatened habitat in the state. This programmatic request will build on the DNR's history of enhancing and restoring grasslands, embedded wetlands, and savannas to increase wildlife populations. The Prairie Plan, Pheasant Plan, and Wildlife Action Plan will guide our efforts and ensure we are operating in a strategic and targeted manner. This proposal will enhance and restore grasslands on parcels that are permanently protected and most open to public hunting.
This project supports continuing development of County Groundwater Atlases for approximately three years. The goal is to provide this valuable water and resource management information infrastructure to every county.
Work resulting from this appropriation resulted in the acquisition, development, and inclusion of 2,095 acres into the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system, 74 acres into the the state Scientific and Natural Area system, and through easement acquisition added 387 acres to the state Native Prairie Bank.
The following table provides a short summary of the accomplishments under this appropriation. In total, the DNR enhanced and restored 283 sites for a total of 17,087 acres.
With this appropriation, the DNR enhanced and restored over 11,700 acres of public lands or permanently protected private lands under easement. Projects under this appropriation included prescribed fire, prescribed or conservation grazing, woody removal, and enhancing plant diversity. With this appropriation we were able to exceed our target acreage by 38 percent.
We restored 2,081 acres of grassland and enhanced 42,425 acres of grassland for a total of 44,506 acres of wildlife habitat across 329 sites with these funds.
Grasslands continue to be the most threatened habitat in the state. This programmatic request will build on the DNR's history of enhancing and restoring grasslands, embedded wetlands, and oak savannas to increase wildlife populations. The Prairie Plan, Pheasant Plan, and Wildlife Action Plan will guide our efforts to ensure we are operating in a strategic and targeted manner.
Grasslands continue to be the most threatened habitat in the state. This programmatic request will build on the DNR's history of enhancing and restoring grasslands, embedded wetlands, and oak savannas. The Prairie Plan, Pheasant Plan, and Wildlife Action Plan will guide our efforts to ensure we are operating in a strategic and targeted manner. This proposal will enhance and restore grasslands on 5,700 acres parcels that are permanently protected and most open to public hunting using prescribed fire, tree removal, high-diversity seedings, and similar practices.
Grasslands continue to be the most threatened habitat in the state. This programmatic request will build on the DNR's history of enhancing and restoring grasslands. The Prairie Plan and Wildlife Action Plan will guide our efforts to ensure we are operating in a strategic and targeted manner. This proposal will enhance and restore grasslands on 2,856 acres that are permanently protected using prescribed fire, tree removal, high-diversity seedings, and similar practices. Most lands enhanced with these funds are public and open to hunting.
