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-Tit e of grant application project: The Price Library of Judaica Anniversary Collection: a pilot
project to digitize a unique set of Jewish newspapers




Project abstract (no more than 100 words):

A pilot project to digitize 32 newspapers from a collection of 200+ jubilee editions of Jewish
newspapers held in the Price Library of Judaica. The collection is unique to the University of
Florida, but it remains un-catalogued and in a poor state of preservation. Bringing this 'hidden
archive' to light will provide an exciting new resource for a rapidly developing field of
research, as well as a publicity tool by which to attract further funding. This special
anniversary archive will be the Judaica Library's first cohesive digital collection and will help
bring attention to the Judaica collection as a whole.


Funds requested (Limit of $5,000): $ R~- 9 e) 3 8


Describe how the10% mandatory cost share will be met (be specific):

Time and labour will be provided by members of the Preservation and Digitization departments
totaling $2,503.

Please list the library resources to be used in this project and the name of the person authorizing the
intended use and date authorized. Each authorizing person must initial their approval and availability of
resources for this project. If you need more room, continue on a separate page.


DLC-Digitization ILaunie Taglor
Internet Archive Scannlng/Preservation Cathy Martyniak
IT Rachel Schipper~


L


2010-21011 Smathers Libraries Mini Grant
APPLICATION COVER SHEET
Application due: Friday, October 1, 2010, 5:00 PM


tlCheck here~ if this is your first grant application where you will be serving as a principal investigator
(PIl).

Principal Investigator (PI) Name: Rebecca J. W. Jefferson


Department: Price Library of Judaica


Email: rjefferson@ufl.edu


Phone: 352-273-2650


Resources Required for Project as
applicable inc uding cost share
contributions


Authorizing
Individual


SApproving Initials Date Authorized






Submitted by:


PI Signature '




Dept. Chair Signature


Date




Dae











The Price Library of Judaica Anniversary Collection:
A pilot project to digitize a unique set of Jewish newspapers


Description of the project
Funding is requested for the first stage of a project to digitize a unique and important collection of over
200 anniversary editions of Jewish newspapers held in the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica. These
jubilee issues have never been catalogued by the Library and until now have remained 'hidden' from
Library users. Not only will this project bring a one-of-a-kind archive to light, it is the first time that such
a collection has been mounted online. Moreover, the project will result in creating the Judaica Library's
first cohesive digital collection, providing an important tool for publicity and research. This special
'Anniversary Collection' will be mounted to coincide with another important anniversary: the 30th ya
of the Price Library of Judaica.

The first stage of the project will focus on 32 anniversary issues of 28 Jewish newspapers from around
the world. This special set of newspapers date from 1904 to 1973, with a heavy concentration of
publications from the 1930s and 40s- a critical period in the history of 20th century Jewry. They were
published in 19 different world cities with large and significant Jewish populations, and in a range of
languages including Dutch, English, German, Hebrew and Yiddish. Many of these newspapers were
major daily or weekly editions, with large circulation numbers; most are no longer current; some were
disbanded before the Second World War and some merged with other titles. The jubilee issues range
from the first year celebration of a Yiddish daily published in Paris to the 120th anniversary of the oldest
Jewish newspaper in the world, with a good proportion of silver and golden jubilee issues in between
(see the complete list in appendix A).

This particular corpus of 32 pieces has been selected as representative of the entire collection of
anniversary newspapers and, in terms of size, the easiest to digitally process. Many of the newspapers
are in a poor state of preservation and will have to be removed from their bindings for digitization. Once
digitized the collection will be re-housed in acid-free archival boxes and thus physically preserved for as
long as possible.

Historical background and collection significance
This unusual collection of anniversary newspapers was first collected by Rabbi Leonard C. Mishkin as an
extension to his large and important festschrift collection. The Price Library's first bibliographer, Robert
Singerman continued to supplement the collection through his connections in the antiquarian
marketplace. The issues amassed here are highly significant for the following reasons: the 200+
newspaper titles represent a wide cross-section of Jewish serials from around the world which, by the
1960s, amou nted to nearly 600 titles.l The Jewish press of the twentieth centu ry was an extremely
vibrant entity and an important tool of social change: not only did it report on the key events of the day,
but it often led the way in major political movements, gave leading Jewish authors their first publishing
platform, offered a major outlet for struggling little-known authors, provided a means for Jewish women
to have a voice, assisted Jews with assimilation into the surrounding culture and provided a vital link
back to the community for those already assimilated. The editors of these newspapers were often major
Jewish writers of their day and as such these editions are great sources for their portraiture. Anniversary
issues of newspaper titles contain a great deal of information about the history of the particular
newspaper in question; together as a large and varied collection they provide a key resource for
research into the history of the Jewish press.











Why this project is important
This collection of newspapers is exceptional in a number of respects: firstly, because these original
newspapers together constitute a distinct collection unique to the University of Florida; secondly,
beca use their very d istinctiveness prom ises to facilitate fu rather study in a rapidly emerging field of
research. This burgeoning field was first defined by the renowned bibliographer, Robert Singerman in his
groundbreaking work Jewish Serials of the World (2001).2 In 1986, Singerman had amassed 3,041
bibliographical references to Jewish serials; yet just fifteen years later he was able to pu blish a fu rather
3,000 entries.3 This dramatic increase proved that historians were now turning to "the local Jewish press
for primary source material" and that scholarship in the 21st century had firmly turned its attention
towards "Jewish communication in the Diaspora".4 The digitization of the anniversary issues will provide
faculty and students with an untapped resource to enhance their research in Jewish culture and society.
It is also expected that seen together for the first time, these newspapers will bring to light previously
undetected patterns of publishing.

Making this collection digitally available is important and appropriate to the UF Libraries goals and
mission for the following reasons: it represents a "hidden" archive whose presence in the University of
Florida is currently unknown; in its current state of preservation it constitutes an endangered archive
which badly needs rescuing, and lastly because it follows in the footsteps of other similar, successful
digitization projects fu nded by the Libraries, such as the Digital Military Newspapers Library.

The project is greatly important to the ongoing development of the Price Library of Judaica: a digital
collection of this nature will constitute this library's first cohesive online collection and as such it will
help the library with its publicity and outreach. This is particularly salient during 2011, the Price Library's
30th year anniversary, when a number of key events are being planned. It is hoped that the publicity
created for the first part of the project will not only generate fu rather fu nds with which to com plete the
venture, it will also stimulate wider interest in the Judaica collection as a whole and may lead to future
large-scale collaborative projects with other libraries.

Similar projects in academic libraries
The Price Library of Judaica Anniversary Collection will be a unique digital archive. A search for similar
projects in other academic libraries reveals that this is the only known newspaper collection of its kind
(see Appendix B). Many US libraries have microfilm copies of certain newspaper titles, but of the few
that are producing digital collections the focus is on complete runs of the Jewish newspapers of their
region.5 Two examples include a digitized version of Chicago's longest-running Jewish weekly "The
Sentinel" hosted by the Asher Library at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies,6 and "The Pittsburgh
Jewish Newspaper Project" at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries.' American libraries with major
collections of Judaica are developing impressive digital collections; yet, none of these include
newspapers.8 Three of the current newspaper titles included in this project produce their own online
editions and have digital archives; of these, however, only the Jewish Chronicle has an online archive of
all its issues.g

Resources needed
John Freund's time and labor will be required for disbinding (estimated at 30 minutes per binding). A
student's time and labor will be necessary for digitizing. Time and labor will also be needed from Gus
Clifton and Jane Pen who will supervise the main imaging queue; Nelda Schwartz who will import
records; Matt Mariner who will load, load verify and archive data; Randall Renner and Laurie Taylor who
will be reporting and supervising at different levels, and Lourdes Santamaria-Wheeler who will be











responsible for banner design. Time, labor and materials will be required to house the collection in
archival boxes once the digitization process has been completed. The Pl will supply time and labor to
research and create guides and to generate publicity material and articles about the digital collection.


Plan of action

Time Action
January 32 newspaper issues (approximately 3,200 pages) will be disbound by John Freund in the
conservation department; as the papers are extremely fragile, estimated time is between 15-20
hours to prepare the entire collection for digitization
February A student assistant will digitize the newspapers; members of the DLC staff will oversee the careful
handling of these materials, the optical character recognition, digital archiving and loading of the
digitized materials as well as record importing and banner design. The Pl will check quality control
to ensure that the materials are correctly processed for archiving and online display.
March The Pl will aim to have a selection of 5 newspapers mounted with short descriptions ready for the
Price Library 30th anniversary event.
March-July The digitization process will continue
June The Pl will report on the project at the annual conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries.
July-September Digitization will be completed, and the newspapers will be placed in archival boxes by John
Freund (this will take between 4-6 weeks). The boxes will be allocated storage space together as a
collection. Special permission to consult them will be required for those issues that are still in a
fair state of preservation.
September-November The Pl will create landing pages for optimal access and use of the materials. The Pl will publicize
the digital collection widely, informing potential users via the library's own website, via email lists,
and by establishing links to the collections through popular online sites, such as ICON and ALA's
"Digital Library of the Week".
December-January The Pl will complete a needs assessment as part of a plan to obtain future grant funding. Funding
agencies and potential collaborators will be identified. The Pl will work with the grants manager
to determine the feasibility of the project and draft a possible proposal for submission.

Collection ownership and copyright
The collection is owned by the University of Florida as part of the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica.
It will not be necessary to obtain copyright permission for digitizing these newspapers as they were
published before 1977 without a copyright notice (therefore, they were not published in accordance
with US formalities for registering copyright) and are in the public domain.

Measuring Success
The project's success will be measured by completion of the following goals:
The successful digitization of 32 anniversary editions of 28 Jewish newspapers
The creation of a landing page guide for each issue
A cohesive digital collection to serve as an example to present for further funding
Faculty and student use of the collection monitored through user statistics
Successful publicity for the collection, including a presentation at the AJL conference, an article
in "Judaica Librarianship" and links to the collection from other websites.


Long-term financial implications
It is expected that the publicity drive for the first stage of "The Anniversary Collection" project will
awaken new interest in the newspaper collection as well as bring fresh interest to the Judaica collection
as a whole. This small but complete digital archive will serve as an excellent example of what can be
achieved on a minor grant and can be used to raise major funds to complete the digitization of all 200+
issues as well as larger scale collaborative projects of a similar nature.


















Arbeter-tsaytung 1929 10 Poland Yiddish 52 Published between 1918-1939
Central Blad voor Israeliten ... 1925 40 Amsterdam Dutch 95 One of three major general weeklies; ended c. 1940
Central Verein-Zeitung 1937 100 Berlin German 75 Published between 1922-1939
Der Argentiner Magazin 1946 10 Buenos Aires Yiddish 200 Est. 1936
Der Argentiner Magazin 1962 25 Buenos Aires Yiddish 350
Der Tog-Morgn-zhurnal 1964 50 New York Yiddish 46 ResulIted from the merger of Der tog (1914-1953) and Morgn-zh urnal (1901-1952)
Der Veg (El Camino) 1940 10 Mexico City Yiddish 207 One of two Mexican dailies for the Yiddish-speaking public until 1980s
Di Idishe Arbeter Shtime 1923 10 New York Yiddish 104 Published between 1914-1947
Di Idishe Tsaytung 1925 10 Buenos Aires Yiddish 162 Significant Latin American Jewish community; its archives lost in the 1994 bombing
Di Prese 1928 10 Buenos Aires Hebrew 216 One of two Yiddish dailies; provided a wealth of data about Jewish institutional life
Dos Idishe Folk 1929 25 New York Yiddish 50 Published between 1909-1954
Dos Naye Lebn 1929 10 Bialystok Yiddish 72 Published 1919-1931- most widely circulated newspaper in interwar Bialystok
Forverts 1947 50 New York Yiddish 162 Major Yiddish newspaper of US
Gerekhtikeyt 1960 50 New York Yiddish 48 1919-1960; 1910 is the year that its forerunner "Di Naye post" was founded
Hadoar 1947 25 New York Hebrew 262 Longest running Hebrew periodical in US (2004); cultivated Hebrew literature in US
HaMishmar 1973 30 Tel Aviv Hebrew 24 Daily published in Mandate Palestine and then Israel from 1943
Idishe Bilder 1937 20 Latvia Yiddish 75 1937-1939 short lived weekly
Israel 1941 25 Buenos Aires Yiddish 118 Est. 1916?
Israelitisches Wochenblatt 1931 30 Zurich German 48 Major weekly of Switzerland
Israelitisches Wochenblatt 1950 50 Zurich German 50
Moment 1935 25 Warsaw Yiddish 30 One of two longest running and important Yiddish daily newspapers in Warsaw
Naye Prese 1954 20 Paris Yiddish 60 Yiddish-language communist daily newspaper in Paris
Naye Prese 1973 40 Paris Yiddish 72
The American Israelite 1904 50 Cincinnati English 32 Oldest/longest running English Jewish Weekly in America -est. 1854; still current
The Indiana Jewish Chronicle 1951 30 Indianopolis English 114 Est. 1922; example of a regional newspaper; focused on entire community; no bias
The Jewish Advocate 1927 25 Boston English 216 Est.1902; oldest continually-circulated English-language Jewish newspaper in US
The Jewish Chronicle 1961 120 London English 64 Founded 1841 flourishes still as the oldest Jewish newspaper in the world
The Jewish Ledger 1945 50 New Orleans English 76 Published by Steeg family; covered Jewish community of New Orleans & mid-South
Unzer Vort 1946 1 Paris Yiddish 30 Yiddish daily; zionist; ceased 1996
Vokhnblat 1966 40 Canada Yiddish 24 Toronto based; started 1926; Canadian left-wing weekly
Zionist Record 1948 40 Johanesburg English 46 Est. 1908 monthly until 1924; then fortnightly; then weekly; SA Zionist federation
Zionist Record 1958 50 Johanesburg English 102















Digital Library of Georgia The Southern Israelite http://israelite. galileo.usg. edu/israelite/search 1929-1958
1984-1986

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies The Sentinel http://hannah. spertus. edu: 8881/R/P7Ul CFDTPCG6GB2VNBM4EV4J7SLG5 1911-1949
Asher Library Digital Collections ES2 8G9 9L 9XL3 SIPSCQ6P 5-00 12 9?func=collections&collectionpid= 1007
Ohio Memory The Ohio Jewish Chronicle blII~ip .i i Itsel s..ry!! org/cdm4/index oj~h?CISOROOT=/c 1922-1994
Carnegie Mellon Libraries: The The Jewish Criterion http://pjn.1ibrary. cmu.edu/ 1895-1962
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Proj ect 1 934-1 962
The American Jewish Outlook 1962-present

The Jewish Chronicle
Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online http://eagle. brooklynpubliclibrary .org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client. asp?Skin= 1841-1902
B ale&AppName=2&AW= 1286459948078&GZ= T
Jewish Daily Forward Archives Jewish Daily Forward bli1 ..... .Is.I svs 2003-2010
The Jewish Chronicle Archives The Jewish Chronicle Only the trial search is free. 1841-?

The Jewish Advocate Archives The Jewish Advocate http://pqasb .pqarchiver. com/thej ewishadvocate/advancedsearch.html 1991-2010
Historical Jewish Press Several newspapers (none from http://www.jpress.org. il/cross-section/allpub-en.asp Several
thisprosl










Appendix C: References


1 A concise history of the Jewish Press can be found in Fraenkel, Josef, et al. "Press" in Encyclopaedia
Judaica, eds Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed. Vol. 16, pp. 486-505 [online @Gale Virtual
Reference Library], and in Greenbaum, Avraham. "Newspapers and Periodicals" in Y/VO Encyclopedia of
Jews in Eastern Europe: http ://www.vivoencyclo ped ia.o rg/a rticl e.aspx/Newspa pers a nd Period icalIs

2 Singerman, R., Jewish Serials of the World: a research bibliography of secondary sources, Westport,
Conn., Greenwood Press, 1986.

SSingerman, R., Jewish Serials of the World: a supplement to the research bibliography of secondary
sources, Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 2001.

4 lbid., pp. xv-xvi.

s Searches were conducted on OCLC; The Library of Congress' "Chronicling America" newspaper project,
and on the webites of major Jewish Studies programs in US academic institutions (see Appendix B,
above for examples). Comparisons were also made with international projects, including the German
project to digitize Jewish periodicals 'Compact Memory' (http://www.compactmemory.de/) and two
digital projects for historic Hebrew and Jewish newspapers being undertaken by the National Library of
Israel in Jerusalem: (http://inul.huji.ac.il/dl/newspapers/indx04hm and
http://www.jpress.orgl.il/view-engllish~ap. The existence of the abovementioned projects proves that
there is growing interest in accessing these primary sources; however, the newspapers titles and issues
proposed for this special project are not included here.

SSee "The Sentinel" digital collection at http://www.spertus.edu/asher cla/index.php.

SSee "The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project" at http://pin.Iibrary.cmu.edu/.

SThe Library at the Jewish Theological Seminary is a good example of a library that is developing a
number of important digital projects, see http://sylvester.itsa.edu:8881/R?RN=9534562


SSee "The Jewish Chronicle" at http://www.theic.com/.












College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Center for Jewish Studies


201 Walker Hall
PO Box 118020
Gainesville, FL 32611-8020
352-392-9247
352-392-5378 Fax
center@jst.ufl.edu E-mail


http://web.jist. ufl. edu





Rebecca Jefferson, Head
Price Judaica Library

October 11, 2010

Dear Dr. Jefferson,

I have read through your proposal to digitize the price Library Judaica anniversary collection. As you know, I
have long been an advocate of the library's acquiring historical Jewish newspapers on microfilm. I did not
realize that we have the anniversary collection. I agree that such special publications are excellent sources for
the history of various newspapers and their contributors and having them available in digitized form provides
a service not only to our own faculty and students but also to readers everywhere who can gain access to the
material on line. Indeed, the titles listed are very impressive -Forverts and Tog MGorgn-zhurnal from New York,
LUndzer vort from Paris, Di prese from Buenos Aires, MGoment from Warsaw and clearly include some of the most
important Yiddish publications of their day. Also included in the list are Hebrew publications from Israel and
various other newspapers from Latin America, Canada, berlin and South Africa.

I believe that what will move the Price Library up the ranks of national Judaica collections is the development
of a historical newspaper collection. It seems to me that this proposal is a step in that direction precisely
because it begins to make use of material we already have and that in its current state, is pretty much
inaccessible. Let us hope that with this project we will begin to use our resources to acquire whole runs of some
of the most important historical newspapers in Yiddish and Hebrew.

I support this project wholeheartedly,


Jack Kugelmass, Director
Melton Legislative Professor










The Foundation for The Gator Nation
An Equal Opportunity Institution


WW UNl;.IVERS:ITY of










October 12, 2010
Re: The Price Library of Judaica Anniversary Collection

To whom it may concern:

We live in a "here today, gone tomorrow" world whereby everyday things have a short expectancy in a
consumer culture favoring disposal over retention. This is manifestly apparent with newspapers; for
instance, try to locate a hardcopy edition of the daily newspaper issued in the city of your birth on the
day you were born. Jewish newspapers, as with the general press, come and go; their ambitious
publishers, believing they have the winning formula for success, learn through bitter experience that
many newspapers will never see their fifth or tenth anniversary, let alone thrive to enjoy their golden
anniversary or the patronage to go the distance of a centennial.

The 'Anniversary Collection' at the Price Library of Judaica is a unique resource not duplicated anywhere
else. From this important cache of anniversary issues, students and researchers can access a treasure
trove of primary resources for writing community history in addition, of course, to reconstructing a
paper's publishing history, gauging Jewish positions taken on local and national issues, or locating a
photograph of the founding publisher or local personalities. Printed on acidic papers, these historical
keepsake issues are now fragile, and in their present state cannot withstand a great deal of handling, let
alone copying. Digitization, with a capacity for keyword searching, will ensure that this collection,
beginning with the pilot project, is made truly accessible for the first time.

Having maintained Rabbi Leonard C. Mishkin's core collection acquired in 1977, then expanding it by
purchases in the antiquarian marketplace and with newer acquisitions (typically as solicited gifts from
newspaper publishers) during my career at the Price Library of Judaica from 1979 to 2006, I encourage
and fully endorse the proposal at hand, hoping that a successful grant will inaugurate the Price Library
of Judaica's entree into the digital age, with other projects to follow in due course.



Robert Singerman
University Librarian Emeritus










[Email communication]


Dear Rebecca

It is really an exciting proj ect! It is very significant for the study of the history of the Jewish
Press in the 20th century. Those newspapers, journals and magazines were published on acidic
paper: we need to preserve those publications from self-destruction and the best way (up to now)
is to digitize them.
Proj ects like the one that you suggest for the University of Florida will also encourage other and
similar proj ects and by that we will make sure that our past will be accessible to future
generations.
I wish all the best,

Yours Sincerely

Yossi

Joseph (Yossi) Galron-Goldschlaeger, Associate Professor
Head, Hebraica & Jewish Studies Library
355A Thompson Memorial Library
The Ohio State University Libraries
1858 Neil Ave. Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210 USA
E-Mail: nalron.1@iosu.edu or jealron~igmail.com
Tel.: (614) 292-3362, Fax: (614)292-1918
Google Voice: (614) 285-4290
UJRL: http://library.osu. edu/about/departments/j ewish-studies/
Lexicon of Modern Hebrew Literature:
htt ://heb rewlit. notl ong. com










Mini Grant Budget Form

Please add lines to table as needed. If you need help completing this form, please contact Bess de Farber, PH# 273-2519.


1. Salaries and Wage (no frirg benefits reuired)
Name of Person Salary times % of effort Grant Funds Cost Share Total
Jefferson, Rebecca 3 $0.00 $2,149.03 $2,149.03
Freund, John 1.92 $0.00 $1,352.28 $1,352.28
Clifton, Gus 1.21 $0.00 $601.64 $601.64
Pen, Jane 0.7 $0.00 $343.85 $343.85
Schwartz, Nelda 0.1 $0.00 $59.91 $59.91
Mariner, Matt 0.1 $0.00 $46.60 $46.60
Renner, Randall 0.08 $0.00 $48.64 $48.64
Santamaria-Wheeler, Lourdes 0.07 $0.00 $35.77 $35.77
Taylor, Laurie 0.02 $0.00 $14.21 $14.21
OPS (.50 FTE @$10/hr) $1,075.20 $0.00 $1,075.20
SUBTOTAL $1,075.20 $4,651.93 $5,727.13

2. Equipment
Item Quantity times Cost Grant Funds Cost Share Total
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
SUBTOTAL $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

3. Supplies
Item Quaty times Cost Grant Funds Cost Share Total
Archival boxes 32 x $20 each $640.00 $0.00 $640.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
SUBTOTAL $640.00 $0.00 $640.00

4. Travel
From/To # of people/# of days Grant Funds Cost Share Total
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
SUBTOTAL $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

5. Other (services vended, etc.)
Item Quantity times cost Grant Funds Cost Share Total
Digital Storage costs $675.18 $0.00 $675.18
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00


MINI GRANT PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION











I $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
SUBTOTAL $675.18 $0.00 $675.18

Grant Funds Cost Share Total
Total Direct Costs (add subtotals of items 1-5) $2,390.38 $4,651.93 $7,042.31


MINI GRANT PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION