Date: 11/13/26 9:07 am From: Michael Zerr via sd-birds <zerrmick...> Subject: [sd-birds] files
Folks, questions about our material in storage at the Center for Western
Studies were raised at the Yankton meeting. The answers from CWS
referring to that are in this forward.
Mick Zerr
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Elizabeth Cisar <elizabeth.cisar...>
Date: Fri, Nov 13, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Subject: Re: files
To: Michael Zerr <zerrmick...>
Good morning, Mick,
These are all great questions. I will tackle them in order.
*1. Do SDOU members pay a fee to use the material? *
We ask organizations to maintain a $100 annual membership with CWS to
support the management of their archives. In exchange, we do not charge
the per visit research fee when members come to work on official
organization business.
SDOU has not provided annual support to the archives, so the per visit
research fee of $30 would apply.
*2. If a SDOU member is also a CWS member, is there a fee? *
It depends on the member's level. Individual members at the Explorer
($100) level and above receive a free research visit each year (referred to
as "complimentary research assistance" in membership materials).
*3. If we wish to digitize our material, what would the process be? *
This is a very large question. The process and cost of any digitization
project depends on your goals and the scope. What (and how much) material
would be included? Are you digitizing to create open (public) access, or
members only access? This would determine the level of descriptive
information to be generated for each file (the most time-consuming part of
the work).
We could do a small-scale project at CWS, publishing the materials on
our digital
collections website <http://np3.augie.edu>. We do not have the staffing to
conduct a large project, so that would require fundraising to either hire
project-specific staff, or to pay an outside vendor. For example,
Augustana used St. Cloud-based ArcaSearch <https://www.arcasearch.com/> to
scan the university's yearbooks, student newspapers, and promotional
publications. A large project would also require significant server space,
so we'd have to discuss our capacities and whether a third-party host would
be necessary.
I'd be happy to have a meeting to discuss these options and the project you
have in mind.
*4. Can additional records be added to our collection?*
Yes, additional records can be added (and are expected). We are still
primarily a physical archive, and do not have the infrastructure for
managing born-digital/electronic records at scale. So physical copies of
meeting minutes, etc., are best.
Thanks for reaching out! Let me know if you have any further questions.
~Liz Cisar '06
Collections Associate
Center for Western Studies
Check out Northern Plains Peoples and Places (np3) <http://np3.augie.edu>,
Augustana University's institutional repository (and home of the CWS
digital collections)
On Wed, Nov 11, 2026 at 12:39 PM Michael Zerr <zerrmick...> wrote:
> Elizabeth, at the state meeting of the South Dakota Ornithologists Union,
> some members indicated interest in doing research utilizing the
> archived papers we have at Western Studies.
> Here are the questions they had: 1. Do SDOU members pay a fee to use the
> material? 2. If a SDOU member is also a CWS member, is there a fee? 3. If
> we wish to digitize our material, what would the process be? 4. Can
> additional records be added to our collection?
>
> Thanks
> Mick Zerr
> Librarian, SDOU
>
>
>
