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SCHOAM! for August 2026
Special Collections, Historical Organizations, Archives & Museums
| | in short: News | Grants | Ideas | Events | Webinars | Jobs | | |
News from SCRLC
New Service: Ask the Grant Advisor
SCRLC and several of our library council siblings are contracting with Brit Campese, a professional grant writing consultant, to work one-on-one with our members. SCRLC Members (including Affiliate Members) can request assistance, and we’ll put you in touch with Brit to discuss various fundraising strategies and consult through the resource mobilization and grant writing processes. Fill out this form to start the process.
New Collection: Judge William Cooper’s Papers at Hartwick College
Professor Tim Vatovec of Hartwick College has been working with archivist Rachel Gleiberman to add materials to NY Heritage, including this recent collection about Judge William Cooper, father to James Fenimore Cooper and founder of Cooperstown. This digital collection includes some highlights from the enormous physical collection at Hartwick College, like a letter from Alexander Hamilton and the original Land Patent of 1790.
New Collection: Seneca County Historian Articles
This collection from the Seneca County Historian, Pam Becker, shares the many articles written by her predecessor, Walt Gable, as used for publication in local newspapers between 2006 and 2013. The topics are diverse, covering the Underground Railroad, prominent families, the naming of towns, the curious development of the two-county-seat system, the flu pandemic of 1918, the winter of 1912 when the lake froze, and more.
New Collection: Tunison Farm Collection
This collection from the Backbone Ridge History Group is based around the Tunison family, who lived in the Backbone Ridge area around Covert, NY. There are photos and maps to accompany a presentation written by Michael Tunison about his father's reminiscences.
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Grants & Assistance
Bank of America Art Conservation Project
This grant can be used for conservation of art that is in danger of degeneration, is significant to the cultural heritage of the region, and is on view to the public. Due September 30.
Community Foundation's Keuka Area Fund
If you serve residents around Keuka Lake, you can apply for funding between $500 and $7,500. Due August 21.
Community Foundation's Elmo M. Royce Fund
If you serve residents of Schuyler County, apply on a rolling basis by October 5; you'll hear back in about six weeks.
Community Foundation's Edith Saxton Fund
If you are in the Bath area of Steuben County and have a program idea to engage kids, apply for up to $25,000 by September 15.
DHPSNY Planning & Assessment Services Grants
The next deadline for DHPSNY applications is November 20. Get help with strategic planning, archival needs, preservation surveys, or condition surveys.
ICYMI: NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Grants
Support of up to $10,000 is available for conservation treatment of paintings, works on paper (including individual drawings, watercolors, prints, or photographs), textiles (including costumes, domestic textiles, and upholstery), furniture, frames, sculpture, historical, ethnographic, and decorative objects by professional conservators. Due Sept. 1.
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Ideas & Inspiration
JSTOR Stewardship's Seeklight News
JSTOR (short for "Journal Storage") was founded in the 1990s with funding from the Mellon Foundation to host and replace those huge collections of academic journals that fill up the stacks of research libraries. I've been using it a lot lately because some material is free to access as an individual researcher with a free account. JSTOR now also offers a hosting platform similar to CONTENTdm, which is what NY Heritage uses. JSTOR's Digital Stewardship Services, as it's called, just received a large Mellon Foundation grant to build out their AI-based Seeklight tool. Seeklight uses AI to generate metadata that a librarian or archivist should then review before publishing. Read more here.
NYS Museum's 250th Commemoration Collection
The New York State Museum is seeking donations to accession into a 250th Commemoration Collection. If your cultural organization, local or regional 250th commission, or history museum has any printed material (posters, maps, books, leaflets, pamphlets) or small souvenirs (keychains, t-shirts, mugs, etc.) you would like to donate to the NYS Museum, reach out to NYS Historian Devin Lander at Devin.Lander@nysed.gov.
The C. Herbert Finch Award
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC)'s C. Herbert Finch Online Publication Award was established to honor the former Assistant Director of Cornell University Libraries who died in 2005. This award goes to an online publication, including digital exhibitions, LibGuides, web sites and web pages devoted to the promotion and use of archival materials, created by individuals or institutions in the MARAC region. Nominate yourself or a colleague for work done between July 2025 and December 2026.
America's 250-Year Bookshelf
OCLC analyzed data from WorldCat, the world's most comprehensive source of information about library collections, and found the nonfiction book about America from every year since 1776 that is the most widely held in libraries today. It's an interesting list to browse!
Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State's Freedom 2027 Committee
Derrick Pratt of the Erie Canal Museum sent out an email two weeks ago inviting people in Central New York to fill out this form to express interest in meeting and discussing how community partners will celebrate and commemorate the bicentennial of New York's abolition of slavery. This newsletter is coming to you a week later than his deadline, but the form is still active, so if you're interested, fill it out and get in the loop!
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🌳Sustainability Idea:
While visiting the Edith Wharton Cultural Center in Massachusetts recently, I saw something clever: printed window shades as photo displays. Throughout the mansion, exhibit materials were protected from sun damage, but enough natural light filtered through to be pleasant. The surface area of the windows was put to use for the exhibit and the effect of giant backlit photographs was very compelling!
Here's one company that makes these window shades.
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Happening in the Neighborhood
Chemung
Yates
Cortland
- Tabitha Scoville of Cortland County Historical Society included a reminder in her newsletter that CCHS participates in the Empire State Museums Reciprocal Program (ESMRP), which grants free entry into other participating museums. She used very cute pictures to drive home the argument for ESMRP membership. Tabitha also shared in the newsletter that CCHS has been able to purchase microphones and other audio equipment for their new Grace Street building thanks to the Bertini Family Foundation.
Otsego
- The Swart-Wilcox House Museum in Oneonta still has a few free summer Sunday lectures left this year. Jeanne Turner will talk about colonial clothing on August 9. William Walker of the Cooperstown Graduate Program and SUNY Oneonta will talk about Susan Fenimore Cooper on August 16. Marcela Micucci of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society will talk about the women in the American Revolution on August 23. Finally, Mark Simonson will talk about the last fifty years in Oneonta on August 30. Bring a lawn chair and a friend for these great talks! Helen Rees also shared a bunch of exciting photos of the barn building happening at the Swart-Wilcox House.
- Marcela and her staff have been very busy at the Greater Oneonta Historical Society. on August 22, GOHS will unveil the third NYS Historical Marker of the year, at the Oneonta Fairgrounds. GOHS Librarian Wayne Wright will lead a walking tour following the unveiling. On Saturday, August 15, join GOHS for their very popular Hops for History fundraiser, a bar-crawl all around Oneonta that wraps up at GOHS in their beautiful new ballroom space.
- Fenimore Art Museum has lots of summery art programs coming up, including Art by the Lake, a Needle Felted Flower Meadow Workshop on August 15, and a Plein Air Landscape Painting Workshop on August 16.
Delaware
Chenango
Tompkins
- The History Center in Tompkins County has a new online catalog, and they're training volunteers to transcribe old paper accession records into the system. THC is now promoting the Tompkins Treasure Hunt, sponsored by the JewelBox of Ithaca. Somewhere in Tompkins County, a treasure box with $10,000 worth of precious gems is hiding! THC had to close suddenly for an unexpected ceiling repair in their exhibit space, but it was quickly repaired, just in time for Ithaca Gallery Night.
- Historic Ithaca has an Ithaca City Cemetery clean up event planned for August 29.
- Newfield Historical Society recently celebrated Newfield Old Home Days at the end of July. Don't forget, the back catalog of Old Home Days programs are on NYHeritage. They have very exciting news: they have a new building! A two-story building at 264 Main Street was donated by NHS member Kevin Ingerson in memory of his late wife, Marian, a long-time NHS volunteer. Read more about the new space here.
Cayuga
- Vince Slaugh and Bill Hecht worked on an exhibit of anaglyphs (red/blue variations of stereographs) in collaboration with the Genoa Historical Association, and it's on display at the Northville Arts Center in King Ferry, open to be seen during café hours.
- The Cayuga Museum, to accompany their new exhibit "Harriet: A Taste of Freedom," will play the 2019 "Harriet" movie on Saturday, August 22 at 2 pm, with free admission. Throughout the summer, the museum is also hosting free concerts on their lovely lawn.
- Seymour Library in Auburn just saw the return of their historic (and enormous) doors, freshly repaired.
- The Seward House Museum will host Shakespeare in the Garden on August 13, with Syracuse Shakespeare-in-the-Park performing "The Taming of the Shrew." SHM has brought their popular ghost tours into the summer with big success. On August 21, SHM is hosting Tom Guiler of the Oneida Community Mansion House as he discusses the burned over district and his recent book, "The Handcrafted Utopia."
- The Howland Stone Store Museum will host Michael Long as he gives a book talk on Sea Captains, Quakers, Abolition and Suffrage on Sunday, August 30 at 4 pm. HSSM will hold a fundraiser, the Sherwood Treasures Market, on September 12 from 9 am to 2 pm. Save the date for Anthony Gero's presentation, Black New Yorkers in the War of 1812, on Sunday, September 27 at 4 pm.
Seneca
Schuyler
Steuben
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Zooms & Webinars Up Your Alley
[Backlog] Archival Value
Monday, August 10 at 6 pm
[CCAHA] New Tools to Create Dynamin Collections Resources for Your Organization
Tuesday, August 11 at 12 pm
[ASERL] Don’t Buy (Into) It! How to spot AI-Generated Slop
Tuesday, August 11 at 2 pm
[Library of Congress] Geography & Map Virtual Orientation
Tuesday, August 11 at 3 pm
[ESLN] Introduction to Candid Foundation Directory
Wednesday, August 12 at 10 am
[DHPSNY] Funding: New York State Conservation & Preservation (C/P) Grants
Wednesday, August 12 at 12 pm
[FAIC] Preserving the Now: Archiving in Times of Crisis
Wednesday, August 12 at 12 pm
[LILRC] 9/11 Memorial & Museum Resources for Libraries, Educators, and Communities
Wednesday, August 12 at 1 pm
[Gaylord] Matting & Framing
Thursday, August 13 at 2 pm
[ASERL] Beyond Borders, Within Reach: The Fulbright Specialist Experience for Librarians
Tuesday, August 18 at 2 pm
[NYSL] Tasting History at Your Library
Wednesday, August 19 at 10 am
[Niche] The Practice of Real Prioritization
Wednesday, August 19 at 2 pm
[SAA] The Tradecraft of Acquisitions and Appraisal
Monday, August 24 at 3 pm
[ESLN] Expert Voices Together: Basic Digital Safety for Library Staff
Wednesday, August 26 at 1:30 pm
Wikipedia in the Age of AI
Tuesday, September 2 at 1 pm
[Choice] ICE in Academic Libraries: Tips, Protocols, and Strategies for Protecting Campus Communities
Tuesday, September 2 at 1 pm
NY250: Collaboration Opportunities from NYS Parks, Recreation &Historic Preservation
Tuesday, September 15 at 2 pm
[CLRC] Is This for Real? Understanding AI Scams
Wednesday, September 16 at 2 pm
A Live Event & Discussion with David Wyble of Gray Sky Imaging and Avian Rochester
(about color verity in digitization)
Wednesday, September 16 at 4 pm
[NYSL] Inclusive Emergency Preparedness
Friday, September 18 at 11 am
In-Person Events & Save-the-Dates
Recordings & Follow-up Resources
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That's all for this month!
Send me an email if there's anything at your organization you'd like me to include in the next newsletter: clovell@scrlc.org | Claire Lovell, Digital Services Librarian
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