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METRO has partnered with the Urban Democracy Lab (UDL) at New York University’s Urban Listeners working group to get more oral histories online. We’ve co-sponsored an Aviary account where independent oral historians can upload their audio or video content, with OHMS metadata and transcription options. Check it out at https://urbanlisteners.aviaryplatform.com/.
METRO’s Studio offers a new mobile audio recording kit! This backpack has everything you need to record oral history or podcast interviews in the field. You can use this kit in the field, at home, or wherever your audio ventures take you. It is perfect for recording oral histories, podcasts, voice-overs, and interviews.
METRO is pleased to announce the 2019 METRO Digitization Grant Program awards. All of the funded projects will provide free online access to unique/rare materials in the collections of METRO member institutions. METRO members selected to receive the grants, totaling approximately $25,000, include Brooklyn Historical Society, The Grolier Club, and New York Public Radio.
On Monday, July 29, METRO Library Council released the first beta of Archipelago, a new open source repository system. More information and code for this project can be found at https://github.com/esmero/archipelago-deployment.
For almost five years, METRO has operated the New York State Service Hub for the Digital Public Library of America, ESDN. Over these years, METRO has facilitated the addition of 443,200 records from about 200 organizations to the DPLA platform, thus making many hard to find primary source artifacts more discoverable on the web. Despite these results and a great deal of investment in the service, we must sunset these activities beginning in FY18–19 due to a lack of sustainable funding. This is sad. We and our partners have all invested a great deal in this effort. In this post, we’ll explain the history of the service, how it has been paid for, why we haven’t been able to develop a business model to sustain it and what will happen next. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
New York Public Radio recently completed a project to digitize early On the Media broadcasts from 1993-1996, courtesy of a METRO digitization grant. Over 200 hours of the seminal program, which investigates “how the media shapes our world view” are now freely available online.
The Staten Island Museum recently completed a project to digitize two periodicals published by Women’s Suffrage organizations in the 1910s, courtesy of a METRO digitization (micro)grant which covered scanning of the materials by Internet Archive. Over 6,000 pages/scanned images from The Woman Voter and The Suffragist are now publicly available online.
The Leo Baeck Institute recently completed a project to digitize the collection of architect and art historian Rachel Wischnitzer, courtesy of a METRO digitization (micro)grant which covered scanning of the materials by Internet Archive. Over 10,000 pages/scanned images from the collection are now publicly available online.
NYC Digital Safety: Privacy & Security is a partnership between Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library, Queens Library, and Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), a library resources council serving NYC and Westchester County. With support from the City of New York Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the project will ensure that NYC residents can rely on public libraries for their questions about internet privacy and security.
Our culture is overwhelmed with instances of incorrect information in many forms. From foreign actors to our social connections, misleading and often dangerous information has seemingly co-opted our online and offline spaces.
METRO is pleased to announce the awards for our 2017-2018 METRO Digitization Grant Program. METRO members selected to receive the grants, totaling approximately $50,000, are..
All of the projects will provide free online access to unique/rare materials in the collections of these METRO member institutions, and all newly digitized items will also be included in the Digital Public Library of America.
Since 2005, METRO’s Digitization Grant program has awarded over $880,000 to help fund 87 projects at 54 METRO member institutions. The program supports the implementation of digitization projects among METRO member libraries and archives.
It has been one year since we posted the first episode of METRO’s Library Bytegeist podcast. Fittingly, Molly Schwartz, our Studio Manager who also hosts and produces Library Bytegeist (LB), created a “year in review” for the podcast’s 14th episode.
Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library, Queens Library, and Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) are pleased to announce a new initiative that will bring resources and information regarding digital privacy and data security to New York City’s public library staff.
METRO’s AV Media Transfer Rack is set up and ready for pilot projects!
What does it mean for libraries, archives, and museums to serve the public interest in a cultural environment in which profit is all-important? What pressures do we face in a money-driven world, on an institutional level and as individuals?
Library Bytegeist isn’t the only library podcast out there. You can find a list of library podcasts on the Circulating Ideas blog.
Since it wasn’t clear whether or not Library Bytegeist would continue after the end of Molly’s fellowship at METRO, the entire process of creating the podcast was as DIY and iterative as possible.
Library Bytegeist is a podcast that tells audio stories about the libraries and archives of New York. Our 11 episodes have run the gamut, with stories of:
We’re pleased to introduce the latest version of metro.org, built using Jekyll and hosted on GitHub.
Do you want strategies for helping library patrons understand vulnerabilities in their online communications and transactions? Are you looking to train library staff in digital privacy concepts? Do you want to better understand networks, privacy-protecting tools, and risk assessment in a library context?
We are excited to announce a new partnership between METRO and XFR Collective!
Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) has been supporting libraries, archives, and community organizations in our city and around the state for more than 50 years. Our membership reflects the depth and richness of New York City; from small community archives to our city’s museums and research institutions, our members are dedicated to documenting the history and culture of our city.
METRO’s relocation reached a milestone when staff moved in to 599 last month. After working remotely since our location at 11th street was closed, returning to a typical schedule complete with a commute has been a welcome change of pace.
2016/2017 Hospital Library Services Program Technology Grants are open for application.
CLRC and METRO, with support from NN/LM MAR and in partnership with The Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan, are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for Systematic Review workshops in NYC and Syracuse.
Our new podcast Library Bytegeist debuted on November 15! Hosted by METRO Fellow Molly Schwartz, Library Bytegeist is a collection of audio stories about the libraries, archives, and museums of New York City.
METRO’s 2017 Annual Conference will take place at NYU’s Kimmel Center on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
We are thrilled to announce the tenth and final collection to be digitized as part of the Culture in Transit project is now on DCMNY, METRO’s collection hosting platform.
We’re excited to announce the two keynote speakers we will hear from at METRO’s 2017 Annual Conference.
Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) and Archivists Roundtable of New York City (A.R.T.) are visiting libraries and archives in and around NYC this fall! Please join us for one of our fabulous tours.
Lifelong learning and collaboration are central to METRO’s mission. We know that not all of our members have funds available to attend professional conferences, learning programs, and networking opportunities. We are very pleased to announce the return of METRO’s Professional Development Scholarships program!
Columbia University will host Fedora Camp on Monday, November 28th through Wednesday, November 30.
Metropolitan New York Library Council, a non-profit organization founded in 1960 that develops, maintains, and augments essential library services throughout New York City and Westchester County, has been located in the Union Square area at 11th and Broadway since 1990. Our membership currently consists of a diverse group of over 250 libraries, archives, museums and other information organizations ranging from New York’s largest libraries to small community archives, and we are growing and expanding all the time.