Winter 2023

Our PPO Links hosting service is home to more than 27,000 multimedia files that further enhance PastPerfect Online records! These files include audio clips of oral histories, video recordings, PDF transcriptions, high resolution images, and more. Curious how you can share multimedia files with your web visitors? Check out the Tech Tip below to get started! For more information about PPO Links, please visit the PPO product page.

Cookie Notice

We recently added a small pop-up to alert users of cookie usage on all PastPerfect Online sites. Several states have been working to pass laws regarding online privacy and data collection, which includes letting web visitors know when cookies are in use. This cookie notice will appear until a user clicks the “I accept” button. Afterwards, the pop-up will not appear until the user’s cookies have been cleared or the cookie has expired.

We use Google Analytics to collection information about visits to all PastPerfect Online sites. The cookies used by Google Analytics are not capturing any personal information nor do we sell any of the collected data. The data that is collected has also been anonymized, so it cannot be used to identify an individual visitor. With this data, we learn information such as the days and times sites are visited most and which features are being used most often, which can then be used to further develop PastPerfect Online and to plan maintenance windows.

Tech Tip: Sharing Multimedia Files

PastPerfect Online includes the ability to share records and images. However, you may have additional media like PDFs, MP3s, and videos attached to your PastPerfect records you would like to share online as well. Those files can be shared with a few extra steps.

To share these files, you will need to first upload them online so that they can be accessed by the public. Add HTML to a custom field in your PastPerfect records, creating a link to those file locations, and share the custom field online. The way that the files are played or loaded depends on both your visitor’s browser settings and the HTML you add to your PastPerfect records.

A few examples of files shared using our available PPO Links hosting solution can be found in the “Multimedia” field for these records on our demo site:

• PDF: https://squaretop.pastperfectonline.com/archive/23198E3E-8082-4E6A-AD29-344918037275
• MP3 (audio): https://squaretop.pastperfectonline.com/archive/3E266C8F-7777-4A70-B545-803487010620
• MPG (video): https://squaretop.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/81045CF4-3A99-48CF-9B23-486427579837

Sharing any type of multimedia file (high resolution image, PDF, Word document, audio, video, etc.) through your own hosting, our PPO Links hosting option, or a third-party solution all follow the same general steps. The option that is best for you depends on your situation, including your goals and budget.

Information about sharing multimedia files, including a demonstration of how this works, can be found in the following resources:

• Recorded Webinar: Sharing Media Files with PPO
• Knowledge Base: How do I share PDFs on my PPO site?
• User Guide: Options for Hosting Multimedia Files
• User Guide: Linking to Multimedia Files Hosted on Remote Servers

Most Viewed Records in 2023

We are delighted to share the top three most viewed records this year!

The most viewed record for this year has been a postcard of Harlan High School in Harlan, Indiana, made available online by The Indiana Album. This postcard, which is dated circa 1909 and features a handwritten note on the back, was viewed over 3,600 times between January 1st and November 30th!

This early 1900's sewing machine, shared by the McLeod County Historical Society & Museum, comes in second! This machine was owned by the donor's grandparents and amazingly still has an original illustrated instruction book and many accessories with it.

Finally, this quilt made in 1863 rounds out our top three! The Bennington Museum has shared some wonderful detail online about this quilt and the skills required to create it. It is safe to say that many online visitors also appreciate its craftsmanship!

We can't wait to see what else these organizations and our 900+ other PastPerfect Online sites share in the year to come. Thank you for sharing your fantastic collections!

Applications for the National Digital Newspaper Program, offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), are open. The application is due by January 12, 2024.

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).

Guidelines for this grant are available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/national-digital-newspaper-program.

Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection

City of Deadwood Historic Preservation

Lyman Allyn Art Museum