Historian and writer Jodi Perras will give a presentation at 11 a.m. Aug. 12 at the Menominee County Public Library in Stephenson.

MENOMINEE — The Upper Peninsula Digital Network or UPLINK, will present a two-day public event hosted by the Menominee County Public Library in Stephenson from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12-13.

On Aug. 12, at 11 a.m., the event will feature local historian and writer, Jodi Perras. Perras will give a presentation on the importance of local history preservation using her great-grandmother’s 1904 diary written in northern Menominee County.

UPLINK staff will give a presentation about UPLINK and digitization of historical records on Aug. 12 at 10 a.m. UPLINK is a collaborative, regional digital preservation and access network funded by a National Historical Publications and Records implementation grant.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 12 and 13, UPLINK invites local community members to digitize their family memorabilia, photographs, and cassette audio recordings.

Event staff will also be available to digitally record community members’ stories and memories of life in the western U.P. Project staff will encourage participants to donate their digital surrogates for inclusion in UPLINK. The event will include two mobile digitization units, a morning workshop on digital preservation and the importance of community archiving, and two oral history recording booths. The event is made possible with a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council.

Numerous small heritage organizations, families, and individuals in the U.P. maintain primary source material that, taken together, offer important documentation of the region’s historical development. Unfortunately, these collections languish from disuse due to lack of access and deficient availability of resources, and frequently are in jeopardy due to poor storage conditions.

For the most part, volunteers in heritage organizations manage historical collections on shoestring budgets. Their commitment of time and energy, however, is a testament to their recognition of the historical value of their collections. Similarly, individuals and families take great pride in their local heritage, and their ancestors’ historical contributions to their communities.

As a result, UPLINK hopes that they will choose to donate the material to a professional institution for a digitization project that would preserve and provide online access to the digital material.