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Florida Statewide Digital Initiative

About

The Florida Statewide Digital Initiative is a collaborative effort to provide infrastructure for digitizing and promoting the use of cultural heritage materials held by Florida libraries, archives, museums and other cultural heritage organizations.

Interested in digitizing your cultural heritage organization’s materials? 

Find resources to guide you below. 

If you are interested in the history of the Florida Statewide Digital Initiative itself, you can see reports on our progress.

Plan and manage your project 

Check out these Guidelines for Creating Good Digital Content (PDF) for: 

  • Ideas on collaboration, partnerships and outsourcing. 
  • Specifications for text, photos, graphics, artwork, maps and more. 

Review technical guidelines

These 2023 guidelines (PDF) from the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative include:

  • Digitization parameters
  • Book and document imaging
  • Microfilm and more

Consider copyright

This information on copyright issues can help you find a good balance between your users and the copyright owners of the content in your digital archive.

If you're looking for a tool to license your own works, consider using one of the Six Licenses for Sharing Your Work (PDF) from Creative Commons. 

Learn about public domain in the Guide to Using Public Domain Tools (PDF), also from Creative Commons. 

The U.S. Copyright Office provides the Learning Engine series of videos which introduces copyright concepts and the Copyright Office to those who may be new to the topic or who want to learn more.

Provide a rights statement

We recommend you indicate how human users and search engines can use the digital work in your online archive with a standardized rights statement.

These Recommendations for Standardized International Rights Statements (PDF) include: 

  • Definition and background information
  • Approaches and specifications
  • Detailed information

Choose your platform

If you wish to host on your own digital platform or repository, you can choose an existing platform from one of many available commercially. 

Watch the Sunshine State Digital Network's Digital Library Platforms Panel Discussion (1:22:16).

Preserve your collections

Watch the Sunshine State Digital Network’s 2023 webinar A Short Introduction to Digital Preservation (8:42).  

Review digital preservation resources, including: 

Learn how to preserve your physical collections with this guide from the State Archives of Florida. These practices are helpful to refer to for handling analog materials for digitization, but note that digitization is not the same as digital preservation.​  

Preserve your digital collections using the 2019 Levels of Preservation (PDF). 

Consider how you will back up your digital resources to protect them from loss. This information on Data Backup Options (PDF) from the U.S. Emergency Readiness Team includes: 

  • Pros and cons of remote data and physical media backups
  • Choosing the best backup options 

Review preservation information from the National Archives and Records Administration on handling Electronic Media - Hard Drives (PDF) in the event of an emergency.

Take online classes

  • If you are a staff member of a public, academic, special or school library in Florida, you can watch self-paced courses and curated webinar archives related to digital initiatives available through WebJunction and Niche Academy.
  • Florida’s five Multitype Library Cooperatives offer free trainings and staff development for Florida library staff related to digital initiatives.

Find inspiration in other projects

Explore Florida digitization projects, including:

Discover more projects in Florida public libraries through the 2023 DLIS Discussion Digitization Projects in Libraries (57:18).

Overview of Florida's cultural heritage organizations

Discover Florida organizations

Libraries 

Archives 

Museums 

Other Cultural Heritage Organizations 

Partner with Florida organizations

Learn how libraries in Florida partner with local cultural organizations such as museums and historical centers through the 2024 DLIS Discussion Community Partnerships (49:57). 

Explore Archives Partnerships with Libraries and Museums through the 2023 Adult Programming Brainstorming Session (41:59). The partnership discussion starts at 7:47. 

Fund your project

Review Federal Grant Opportunities related to digital initiatives through the Northeast Document Conservation Center.

The Florida Division of Historical Resources, through their Small Matching Grants, funds planning projects necessary to guide the long-term preservation of historic resources or a historic district, including the digitization of municipal and county land records (such as deeds and permitting records) and the preparation of design or preservation guidelines. 

Florida Humanities provides a Public Humanities Program Grant. Florida Humanities has previously funded oral history or story collection projects that share community histories through public programming or digital archives.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provides a variety of grants related to digital initiatives.

Apply for a Library Services and Technology Act grant to fund your digital initiative project. Successful LSTA-funded digital initiative grant projects include:

  • Walton County Public Library System’s Project Digitization for Access (2022-23)
  • Jacksonville Public Library’s Project: Main Library Digitization Preservation and Virtual Learning Center (2021-22)
  • Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Project MDPLS Digital Collections 3D Scanning Project (2021-22)
  • Northwest Regional Library System’s Project Digital Media Co-Lab Space (2021-22)
  • University of Florida - George A. Smathers Libraries’ Project Digitizing FL Newspapers for Public Use (2021-22)
  • Lake County Library System’s Project Lake County Cultural Resources Digitization (2020-21)

Contact us with questions

Email [email protected] for more information.

Digital

During FY2025-26, the percentage of total costs for the Florida Statewide Digital Initiative Program financed with federal money is 67%; the federal dollar amount to be spent on the program is $737,448. This program does not receive any non-governmental funding.

imls180.for.panel.jpgMany of these resources and programs are funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Florida's LSTA program is administered by the Department of State's Division of Library and Information Services.

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