Join us for the...

Historic Maryland Newspapers Edit-a-thon

Join us for an edit-a-thon jointly hosted by the Maryland State Archives and the Historic Maryland Newspapers Project (University of Maryland Libraries), focusing on newspaper sources available through the Library of Congress' Chronicling America database.

Participants will learn about Maryland newspaper history, newspapers in the collections of the Maryland State Archives, and digitized public domain newspapers in Chronicling America. Presenters will include staff from both the UMD Libraries and the State Archives. An introduction to Wikipedia editing will be included.

when

May 2, 2016 at 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

where

Maryland State Archives

350 Rowe Blvd, Annapolis, MD

Getting there

your hosts

Maryland State Archives and University of Maryland Libraries

Register

Advance registration is strongly encouraged. Please note that photo ID is required to enter MSA.

Thank you!

Thank you very much to everyone who attended, and to MSA for being wonderful hosts!

A number of other local edit-a-thons are coming up:

About the Historic Maryland Newspapers Project

The Historic Maryland Newspapers Project is an ongoing effort at the University of Maryland Libraries to digitize Maryland newspapers and make them accessible for free on the Library of Congress' Chronicling America website. Our project is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grants, and we adhere to NDNP standards for title selection and digitization. Since being awarded our first NDNP grant in 2012, we have digitized 107,414 pages from Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Cumberland newspapers. In 2014 we were awarded a second NDNP grant to digitize an additional 100,000 pages of Maryland newsprint through August 2016. Our goals for the second grant include representing every region of Maryland in Chronicling America.

List of Maryland newspapers digitized through Chronicling America

Edit-a-thon Details

Intro to Wikipedia Editing (slides)

The Archives will provide wireless access. A limited number of laptops and desktops will be available, so participants are encouraged to bring their own.

While a user name is not required to edit Wikipedia, there are some advantages to registering for a Wikipedia account. Please see this tutorial for how to do so. We encourage those who would like to register for accounts to do so ahead of time.

Getting there

The Maryland State Archives are located at 350 Rowe Blvd, Annapolis, MD. Visitor parking is available in a lot adjacent to to the Archives. Enter via Rowe Blvd.

The Archives are within one block southeast of Rowe Blvd & Taylor Ave, the first Annapolis stop of the eastbound 921 Young Transportation Services commuter bus from New Carrollton Metro station. Complete schedule and fare information are here.

Schedule

Introduction to the Maryland State Archives
Introduction to Chronicling America
Wikipedia editing tutorial and Q&A
Free editing time
Wrap-up and group discussion
Tours of MSA will be available throughout the afternoon.

Goals

The main objective of the edit-a-thon is to create and/or expand articles related to newspapers digitized by the Historic Maryland Newspapers Project. A secondary objective is adding public domain images from Chronicling America to Wikimedia Commons, for use in newspaper-related articles and others. Articles that specifically need improvement and updating are listed below.

Please place a ✔ next to an article to indicate that edits have been made. The mark does not mean that all suggested work for an article has been completed.

Newspapers

The American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper
Civilian & Telegraph ✔
Der Deutsche Correspondent ✔
The Daily Exchange ✔
The Pilot and Transcript ✔
Baltimore Morning Herald ✔
Baltimore Jewish Times
The American Mercury
Baltimore News-American ✔
Baltimore Afro-American ✔
Hagerstown Herald-Mail ✔
Baltimore World
Baltimore Commercial Journal and Lyford's Price-Current ✔
Catoctin Clarion ✔
Maryland Free Press ✔
Saint Mary’s Beacon
Maryland Gazette ✔
Allegany Freeman ✔

Newspaper editors

Additional edits

Use this space to note any other edits made during the edit-a-thon.

Anne Catherine Hoof Green ✔
John H. Murphy, Sr. ✔

Resources

Wikipedia basics

Free databases

Maryland State Archives online databases
Archive.org (Internet Archive)
Chronicling America - Default search includes digitized newspapers only. Use the U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present to search all titles and their metadata, whether or not they have been digitized.
Whilbr: Western Maryland's Historical Library
Digital Public Library of America
Hathi Trust - books digitized by a large collective of research libraries

Paid databases accessible to public library cardholders

Certain paid databases are available to members of local library systems. Click on your library system below to see a list of databases accessible to cardholders.

Enoch Pratt Free Library - All Maryland residents are eligible to apply for EPFL membership.
Prince George's County Memorial Library System
Montgomery County Public Library
Howard County Library System
Anne Arundel County
Calvert Library
Baltimore County Public Library
DC Public Library

Books online

Baltimore: Its History and Its People. Vol. 3, Biography. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912.
Green, Duff. Facts and Suggestions, Biographical, Financial, and Political, Addressed to the People of the United States. New York: C. S. Westcott & Co.’s Union Printing Office, 1866.
Leigh, William, Jr. "The Press of Baltimore." In Baltimore: Its History and Its People, edited by Clayton Colman Hall, 702-14. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1912.
Lowdermilk, William Harrison. History of Cumberland, Md. Washington, D.C.: James Anglim, 1878.
Scharf, John Thomas. History of Baltimore City and County, from the Earliest Period to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of their Representative Men. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1881.
Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland. Annual report. 1887.
Van Arsdale & Company. The Strangers Guide to the City of Baltimore. Baltimore: J. D. Ehlers & Co., 1875.
Williams, Thomas J. C. The History of Washington County, Maryland, From the Earliest Settlements to the Present Time, Including a History of Hagerstown. Baltimore: Regional Pub. Co, 1968.