Bringing The Past Into The Present

The Ancestor Hunt has been tracking Advantage Archives Community History Archive installations at libraries and other institutions since 2017. We have been publishing links to these Archives for our readers since there were just a couple hundred institutions 7 years ago. Our interest has always been in newspapers, a favorite topic at The Ancestor Hunt. Advantage has always been very cooperative with us and we know it is dedicated to assisting local libraries especially, to digitize newspapers and other historical documents. Our mutual goals are the same - to assist library patrons, researchers, and local communities.

"I just wanted to thank your system for the wonderful resources that are free to use. Today, I found new addresses for my grandparents and great-grandparents, my grandparents wedding announcement and who attended the small party that was held later for them. I also learned that my great-grandmother, having just gained the right to vote, attended classes to learn how to exercise that right.  Then I found that--new to me--that the G-Grands had moved to Pittsburgh, but returned to visit Canton families over the years. They continued to visit after they moved to Washington, DC. Thank you again and please share my thoughts with those that want to know if money for digitizing has been well-spent. I'm sure that I am just one of thousands that would answer, YES!"

Our archives are an important part of community history. They help us understand events in our community’s history, and help us understand the contributions of generations past from a truly unique vantage point: as they were happening. Making these archives accessible to the public is a great service to the community

Local history is important to our community, and having resources available online, has opened access to documents that are fragile, and in need of preservation.  Having a digitized archive has made finding relevant material much more efficient, and enabled us to integrate multiple resources within one search.  Our community history archive has allowed us to serve a global audience, rather than just those individuals who walk through our doors.  Digitized resources are invaluable, and we plan to continue to add resources to our Community History Archive each year

We have newspapers on microfilm dating back from 1869. There is quite a lot of information in this collection from the local newspapers, but putting them in digital form is exciting for us and is something not very many libraries are capable of right now. The very idea that the entire collection would be made available for free access to anyone anywhere is amazing

The history of Dryden is so fascinating, There’s so many little stories, so many people – the amazing people that came through here and settled this area and created the village, the industry and the library itself. It’s just fascinating. And knowing those stories aren’t just buried in the newspaper or lost, or stuck on microfilm, and now are accessible, is just huge. When we know where we’ve been, where we came from, I think we can create a better future for Dryden. It’s such a wonderful village. The people are involved and care about it. So anything we can do to solidify the foundation is priceless

Right now, if you want to read those old newspapers, you have to go to the libraries or the museums to read the microfilms, which is not very accessible. With the digitization project, any student who is doing a history project, or anyone who is interested, can type in the keywords, a certain date and see the newspapers from their home, library, school or wherever they are. It will be accessible to everyone.

A newspaper is a journal of the life of a people, in the case of the Messenger, the life of the people of the Diocese of Davenport. So it is important that the Messenger be preserved. This new digital archive will make it easily accessible and preserve it for generations to come

We get a lot of requests from people to find information in the old local newspapers we have on microfilm, the issue we have is, if the person doesn’t have a good idea of the date or a fairly limited date range for us to search, with our staff, it’s just not practical for us. It’s amazing how much more valuable this tool is for making that history and information so accessible to everybody

The digital archives of the Ida Grove Library is a fantastic resource for library staff, patrons and visitors. Having a searchable online database of newspapers allows us to quickly find information that would have normally taken hours of searching microfilm rolls, we can now do this in a matter of minutes

While it was great that patrons could come in and search the microfilm in house, it wasn’t searchable in a real efficient way, we now have an online searchable index of every paper since 1895

We have been working towards this historic archive since the technology was introduced many years ago. It has been a long-time vision to provide online access to our microfilmed newspaper collection. This project aligns with the Board of Trustee’s Strategic Plan which focuses on five areas, one of which is Discover Your Roots: Genealogy and Local History

We receive many requests that come to the library from people who are searching for information, and without exact newspaper dates, it can be difficult to find what they are looking for. By digitizing the collection — It will have a keyword search, so people should have a much easier time finding all kinds of old stories, obituaries, ads and whatever else they might be searching for that ran on the pages of the newspaper through the years

In the past we would have been totally reliant on an outside vendor to provide access to this important historical archive. This allows us to make these items available through our website to anyone who needs them at no additional future cost

We are so excited to make our history available to residents both young and old, and to tell our story to the rest of the state, country, and world. What started out as a small project has gotten bigger with additional communities in our area all eager to participate. With the help of two large grants, the cost to our communities will be minimal and the benefits will be great

It’s been rewarding to observe patrons’ faces, as they express their delight in finding a missing piece of whatever puzzle they were researching. We hear many “guess what I found?” stories.  People often find family tree information, connections for reunions, or reminiscing about their high school sports records

Advantage’s approach is scalable as a comprehensive project not only for Iowa, but for any community across the country. We’re appreciative of Advantage’s approach and understanding for the value of the archive and their willingness to work as true partners

It’s truly amazing what you can find. I’ve searched some personal family history/genealogy items and information for work. It’s helpful that there are different ways to narrow a search, such as choosing specific newspapers or choosing a particular decade. The matches by decade can be interesting because you can see the time frame where your search item has the most “hits.” So many times we’ve tried to research something, and it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack unless you had a date to go by. This makes research so much easier and more productive. I have the site bookmarked on my computer!

You can go online and search for anything in those papers, and you can even crop sections, add notations, and save it as a digital image instead of taking out a newspaper from 1926. Archivists know it’s not the newspaper that’s valuable, but the content in that paper. We have a number of publications we can’t even bring out of the box because they’re just falling apart

Having a primary resource is an invaluable way to get details and day-to-day information from the time period. Using a resource published after the fact is more of a review. Plus, newspapers have so much more information that you end up finding things you weren’t looking for

Our Community History Archive has opened a window to things. You can uncover so much more, and so much more efficiently. Historic research is hard, going through newspaper after newspaper on a microfilm machine — your eyes miss things. This archive is going to help immensely

Our Community History Archive is a valuable research tool for our Moline community because it saves the time of the researcher and makes “lost things found. One example, in working on a collaborative project with a local museum for the upcoming 100th Anniversary of Suffrage in the United States, I found sample ballots for a local election—the men’s ballot and the women’s ballot from 1919.  Illinois allowed women to vote in 1891 for school officials and by 1913, Governor Edward Dunne signed the Illinois suffrage bill

We are excited that this project will unlock a significant source of local history for casual and serious researchers and genealogists, and perhaps even students in local schools

Free to users, the Advantage Community History Archive is incredibly user-friendly with a wonderful search engine and clipping tool that saves the newspaper source and info. It has easier and better searching than even some of the huge paid online sites. I love how it can highlight articles you have already viewed, which is enormously helpful when returning to a search of hundreds of articles on the same computer later so you don’t lose your place

We love having our digital archives available and free to anyone through Advantage Archives. We have received great feedback from our patrons and even from across the country of how grateful everyone is for this resource for genealogy and history research. Staff has also found it a great time saver when more in-depth research is needed, by allowing us to search more uncommon requests easily and quickly

Sometimes, a person will come to us and say, ‘I know my aunt died in 1936 but I don’t know the right date.’ So you’re searching for the reel, looking for the right one… you can never be 100 percent sure you missed it. We could be more accurate and more timely and give people exactly what they want, rather than close to it

Many states participating in the National Digital Newspaper Project, or Chronicling America, have had additional newspapers beyond this project digitized. One vendor that caught our interest while researching our own such project is Advantage Archives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They contracted with the Divide County Public Library to digitize the area newspapers from microfilm created by the North Dakota State Archives. Being a Divide County native, it certainly captured my interest as I was able to search for relatives — and even myself!

Our Community History Archive is a valuable tool for preserving and celebrating the past and guiding the future. Having access to information about the heritage of our town is important for determining our place in that continuing narrative, helping create meaning and a dynamic sense of community identity

Our Community History Archive is a valuable asset for anyone,  because it is readily available to anyone with or without a library card. We are very pleased with the services offered by Advantage Archives. It has helped us to offer a valuable resource and service to our community

Our partnership with Advantage Archives  has benefited us in two very important ways: 1) our print copies are no longer subject to so much physical handling, and 2) our collections are now visible and usable online so that visitors no longer have to travel long distances to view the materials on site

Our Community History Archive aligns directly with the portion of our mission that states that the public library will “maintain and improve the quality of life for all citizens of our community by providing resources and programs that enhance and contribute to individual knowledge, enlightenment, and enjoyment in the most efficient manner possible.”  What could be a more efficient method to access information than a digitized collection?

This is the first time that people can access these old newspapers without microfilm or online newspapers by subscription. This is a gift from our organizations to this community.

We live in a time where people have come to expect that the vast majority of information that they are seeking can be found quickly through online searches. However extremely specific questions like those we see with local history questions don’t lend themselves to successful “Google” searches. By providing access to this material online we’re contributing to our mission to provide material to our patrons in the manner and fashion that they now perform their research

I think one of the things we enjoy most about the digital archive is the people we come into contact with. We receive calls from all over the country looking for information, mostly genealogy questions. Helping them find their answers is always a lot of fun and we get to share in their discoveries. People are always so grateful that the information is available

Our Community History Archive has given the local community easier access to the history they want. By digitizing the local newspapers, people can search for specific things rather than just browsing the microfilm. This increases the success rate of finding what content they are looking for. They may even find content they didn’t even know existed. Even if specifics are unknown, browsing is made easier as well with the digital format.

Our Community History Archive is a resource that allows the library to work towards its mission of providing materials, programming, and other services. It’s just one of the services offered to the community, whether it’s within the walls of the library or accessed remotely.

Our digital collection of historic Moline newspapers connects our community to events that impact and transform their lives.  It makes history come to life. People can fill in missing pieces from their memories.

The earliest records of the history of our community are found in the newspapers, That’s really what we want, is we want people to be able to go out and find these old newspapers, and search through and find out where we came from, and how we got to be where we are today.

You’ve given us wonderful fund-raising ideas but even more importantly, you’ve provided a fantastic product that folks in Seward rave about. Being able to search our newspaper archives from home has generated so many compliments, especially in this year of historical significance, that I’m sorry we didn’t undertake this project years ago! It is easy to demonstrate its value to individuals and groups who are interested in donating to preserve our local history, and it is just fun to browse old local newspapers. Thank you for all you do to make us look good!

I want to tell you how excited we are with our digitization of our old newspapers. Now we have this wonderful searchable database. We can search so many ways, and the best part is, with the link on our homepage, our newspapers, dating back to 1850, are available from anywhere in the world! Now when someone in Michigan wants genealogy help, they are but a click away. Thank you thank you thank you. Progress is great

We are so pleased with the digitalization and search capabilities that Advantage has provided for The Hennessey Clipper. The website is a particular plus because it allows our patrons access in their own homes, and some of our patrons are researching from locations all across the United States. Advantage has made it possible for us to be 24/7 with our digital archives and has resulted in donations for additional electronic files. Thank you so much

We are so pleased with our digitized newspapers from Advantage Companies. The Advantage staff were great to work with, always courteous, very knowledgeable, and above-and-beyond helpful!”

We think this new website is so easy to use, and our county school teachers and students will also find it useful when doing local history projects

Newspapers preserve the history of our communities. We have had very consistent usage of the Jefferson newspaper archive… and statistics also show usage from all other states and many other countries.  We have always wanted to expand this resource to include resources that represent the history of the whole county

This project has been on my personal bucket list for years. The bound copies dating back to the 1880s are so fragile, they were literally falling apart and we couldn’t allow anyone to use them. Now with the newspapers searchable online, our history is preserved in a digital format that won’t crumble or be lost,

Searching for information on the archive website is similar to searching for information on Google.  Enter a name or keyword in the search field, and all the instances that name or keyword appears in all of these resources will be listed as search results.  You can narrow down the results by date and resource and also print, email or save the articles you find

Advantage did a perfect job of reproducing our newspapers on microfilm. The price was the best, the original papers were returned, and the microfilm was complete. Concordia Parish Library was very pleased with the service and look forward to using them in the future.

Michelle was easy to work with during the time we were purchasing our digital material. She was always pleasant to talk to and always willing answer any questions I had during that time. I feel she went up and beyond what most sales people do. We are very pleased with the product and customer service we received. Thank you,

Seward and Seward County Nebraska both turn 150 years old in 2017, so the Seward Memorial Library undertook a Sesquicentennial project to film and digitize all county papers, a monumental project for a library our size that totaled over $30,000! Thanks to the fantastic service provided by Advantage Preservation, we are already close to achieving our goal. You’ve given us wonderful fund-raising ideas but even more importantly, you’ve provide a fantastic product that folks in Seward rave about. Being able to search our newspaper archives from home has generated so many compliments, especially in this year of historical significance, that I’m sorry we didn’t undertake this project years ago! It is easy to demonstrate its value to individuals and groups who are interested in donating to preserving our local history and it is just fun to browse old local newspapers. Thank you for all you do to make us look good!

I want to tell you how excited we are with our digitization of our old newspapers. With trepidation we sent you all 42 reels of microfilm. They were returned safely and now we have this wonderful searchable database. We can search so many ways, and the best part is, with the link on our homepage, our newspapers, dating back to 1850, are available from anywhere in the world! Now when someone in Michigan wants genealogy help, they are but a click away. Thank you thank you thank you. Progress is great!

Larry Eckhardt from Advantage Companies was a huge help when our library embarked upon our first digital project. We were unfamiliar with the digital process, but Mr. Eckhardt walked us through every step. He was always available to answer any question and prompt to reply. We plan on doing more business with the Advantage Company because of Mr. Eckhardt’s quality service. We are also very happy with the quality of the digital images produced by the Advantage Company.

We are so pleased with our digitized newspapers from Advantage Companies. The Advantage staff were great to work with, always courteous, very knowledgeable, and above-and-beyond helpful!

I know there is always more work to do, and more mountains to climb, but I wanted to take a few minutes to show my gratitude, both as a librarian, and as a family historian. You guys all great! And thank you, also, for the shout out to libraries and all the other funding resources we work with to be able to digitize our newspapers and provide this wonderful resource for our communities. Next time I have an opportunity to visit with all the local organizations that helped make our project possible, I will share this article and show them how many archives have been preserved thanks to working with Advantage. We’re so pleased to be part of a true success story!

We are so pleased with the outcome of the project. It was a pleasure to work with you from the start. I have been contacted by other genealogy societies in the state regarding how it is done and about your firm, so you may eventually have more Nebraska newspapers to digitize. I truly appreciate all the work that went into making this possible. Thanks so much.

The Registrar’s Office feels confident with our choice in keeping with technology – going digital – and with our selection of Advantage to process our conversions.”

So happy we went with Advantage!!

Advantage has been a valuable partner for the scanning needs of the Linn County Treasurer’s office for many years. Their weekly pickup and delivery of our paperwork is always on time and very dependable. The ease of searching their indexing allows my employees to have immediate access to hundreds of thousands of documents at their fingertips! They are a great company to work with!”

“Larry, we are so pleased with the digitalization and search capabilities that Advantage has provided for The Hennessey Clipper. The website is a particular plus because it allows our patrons access in their own homes, and some of our patrons are researching from locations all across the United States. Advantage has made it possible for us to be 24/7 with our digital archives and has resulted in donations for additional electronic files. Thank you so much!”