Notes from IHA
The Illinois Heritage Association website you are viewing represents a complete redesigning and updating of our original website, with many new features that demonstrate IHA services. The new website contains the entire bibliography of more than two thousand publications from the IHA circulating library, which is one of the principal resources available to members. The website also lists technical inserts that accompany the IHA’s bimonthly printed newsletters. The IHA is well known for the inserts, which address topics relevant to nonprofit operation. To purchase inserts individually, just consult the list and let us know which ones you would like to have.
There are FAQs on the website that address timely issues confronted by museums and cultural heritage organizations. The IHA board and staff share their family heritage through stories and images. A special segment of the website is “Meet an IHA Member,” which periodically highlights either a longtime or new institutional member, so you can get to know them better. The McHenry County Historical Society is currently featured. The new website lists not only IHA programs but also useful online resources, links to job sources, and news of current history-related issues. The sales section includes information about purchasing archival supplies, books published by IHA, and heritage books. Please tell others about the new IHA website at http://illinoisheritage.org. The website is a work in progress and will be updated periodically as new projects, new additions to the library, new highlighted members, new FAQs, and new technical inserts are added. If the URL does not work, it means we’re working on the website, so please try back later. The website has been designed to serve you better. We invite your comments.
You may wonder how we were able to accomplish this feat. Thanks to the recommendation of Sally Duchow, our board secretary, we were extremely lucky to encounter Kristina Williams, a fabulous web designer who took on our project as a volunteer. Because of Ms. Williams’s generosity and expertise, our new website is a rich and valuable resource. In addition to being a talented web designer, Ms. Williams is an expert in audio editing, news design, radio broadcasting, community outreach, and nonprofit project development. She is currently a producer at Media Matters, a syndicated call-in show devoted to discussion of the media and democracy, hosted by Robert W. McChesney on WILL radio at the University of Illinois. Ms. Williams holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Communications, and Media from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
We feel fortunate to be able to provide something that will help the Illinois Heritage Association meet its service goals. Having a knowledgeable volunteer assist and guide us is similar to the way our members often achieve seemingly impossible tasks through voluntarism. We all know and appreciate how willing hands can accomplish gigantic tasks. The development of our new website has entailed technological assistance and artistic skills that we could not otherwise have acquired. We deeply appreciate this priceless gift of time and talent.
PLM