The IMLS digital cultural heritage community project: A case study of tools for effective project management and collaboration

Designed to create a model environment for collaboration on digitization projects, the Digital Cultural Heritage Community Project (DCHC) focused on the digitization of materials from central Illinois museums, archives, and libraries for integration into elementary grades' social science curricula. Support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services' National Leadership Grants, Model Program of Cooperation enabled a group of central Illinois libraries, museums, and elementary schools to develop the underpinnings of a new community. Together the participants in this community built a framework for digitizing primary source materials on common teaching themes, according to the Illinois Board of Education Learning Standards, and providing free access to those materials, organized through a simple search interface.