Are you using your PastPerfect Online site to its full potential? Brush up on your PPO knowledge by joining Allison and Demi for our free Lunchtime Lectures. Watch, listen, and learn as we review some PastPerfect Online basics and demonstrate ways to improve your site. Each lecture will end with a Q&A session. We hope to see you there!

Our first series starts this fall and will provide a deep dive into the PastPerfect side of your online collections, including the various methods to select records, an in-depth overview of each step in the Web Publishing Wizard, and an explanation of what happens when you upload new files.

Registration links for each session are below. Videos will be sent to all registrants after each session, so we invite you to sign up even if you are unable to attend live. Each session can be viewed on its own, but we recommend watching all three.

In our first lecture, we will review selecting records to be shared online individually, using a query, and using a Catalog List. We will discuss how to remove both records and individual image attachments. We will also share a few tips on how Catalog Lists can be used to further manage your online collections for future uploads.

Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/709904513704250457.

Our second lecture will cover the first three steps of the Web Publishing Wizard and will review how to select which fields are shared and why field order matters, customizing the display names for your fields, and setting up Advanced Search categories and field mapping.

Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1355561930790188118.

Our series concludes with the final three steps of the Web Publishing Wizard: reviewing your selected records, creating web copies of your selected data and images, and uploading your files.

Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6483619291551437406.

The Random Images page on your site loads a random assortment of the shared images for your online catalog records. Visitors can click these image thumbnails to view a larger copy of the image and navigate to the record. You have the option to display a text hyperlink below each thumbnail to bring visitors directly to that catalog record, or you can display just the image thumbnails for a simpler appearance.

To toggle between the two options, follow these steps:

If you choose to include the catalog record hyperlink below your thumbnails, it will display the text of the first field you are sharing for that record type. You can update your field order in the Web Publishing Wizard – Selecting Data Fields step. More information can be found in the PPO User’s Guide page for the Selecting Data Fields step at https://museumsoftware.com/ppohelp/#t=SelectDataFieldsInclude1010.htm.

The Alberni Valley Museum in Port Alberni has a recurring "Look Back" feature in the Alberni Valley News, which highlights an item from their online collection of historic photographs. You can read the most recent article at https://www.albernivalleynews.com/community/look-back-swimming-in-the-alberni-inlet-1657228.

Applications for the Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Digital Editions grant, offered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), are open. The application is due by November 2, 2023.

The NHPRC seeks proposals to publish online editions of historical records. All types of historical records are eligible, including documents, photographs, born-digital records, and analog audio. The goal of this program is to provide access to, and editorial context for, the historical documents and records that tell the American story.

Guidelines for this grant are available at https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/editions.html.

Applications for the Public Engagement with Historical Records grant, offered by the NHPRC, are open. The application is due by November 2, 2023.

The NHPRC seeks projects that encourage public engagement with historical records. The idea behind this program is to form collaborations among archivists, educators, historians (including documentary editors) and people working in community-based archives to involve the public in discovering and using historical records.

Guidelines for this grant are available at https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/engagement.html.

Applications for the Archival Project grant, offered by the NHPRC, are open. The application is due by November 2, 2023.

The NHPRC seeks archival projects that will significantly improve online public discovery and use of historical records collections.

Guidelines for this grant are available at https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/archival.html.

The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress (LC) to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963, from all the states and U.S. jurisdictions. This searchable database will be permanently maintained at LC and will be freely accessible online (see the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website).

As the cycle approaches, guidelines for this grant will be available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/national-digital-newspaper-program. Until then, you can use this page to review the guidelines from the previous cycle for an idea of what the application process is like.