KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ) — The Kaukauna Public Library is hosting a local history open house and PastPerfect demonstration on Thursday, September 14 at 6:30 p.m.
PastPerfect is a museum-grade software program designed for collection management. Following a presentation, the Local History room will be open for browsing, and Gavin Schmitt, a local historian, will be on hand to answer questions.
Before releasing the online PastPerfect software to the public, the Kaukauna Public Library was storing its 15,000+ image photo collection online using a free platform. Patrons would need to scroll through thousands of photos page by page to locate a specific picture, as images couldn’t be cataloged and weren’t searchable.
With PastPerfect software, over 10,000 photos of Kaukauna and Fox Valley history are fully searchable from the library and at home.
“The library continues to have the goal of digitizing as much of the Local History room as possible in an effort to preserve Kaukauna’s long history for future generations,” said Library Director, Ashely Thiem-Menning. “We regularly receive requests from all over the country for information, so by offering this online platform through our website, we are streamlining access directly to users.”
The project to bring PastPerfect to the library has been ongoing for over three years, and volunteers have put in countless hours categorizing and labeling historical photos in preparation for this database to make searching for images easier.
The collection of photos in PastPerfect currently stands around 10,000 with plans to double that.
Currently, the database is operational and open to the public at www.kaukaunalibrary.org under the Local History resource tab, with other local history resources.
The Local History room is open during library business hours, Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Kaukauna Public Library. The library recommends making an appointment in advance if staff assistance will be necessary in the Local History room. Appointments can be made by calling the Library and asking for Gavin Schmitt, or by emailing him at gavins@kaukauna.gov.
