gave the project its critical thrust forward. By the end of the first year, there were more than 500 submitted entries, and nearly as many were received the second year. That level of patron response has fueled the growth to the point today in which the database features a few thousand entries, titles, and updates. The content has grown beyond individual biographies to include all aspects of the African American experience in relation to Kentucky, covering everything from accounting to zoology. And in 2009, the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database won the RUSA/Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services, which is administered by the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.

Although it can still take three to six months ofresearch to complete an entry, online access to historical African American newspapers has been one of the major factors behind the rapid growth of new entries, sources and updates. Such access ranges from a few titles within a few small databases to the 270 titles available within African American Newspapers, 1827-1998.

Newspapers contain a lot more information about lesser-known African Americans in and from Kentucky than do published monographs and periodicals. As early as 1842 when The Colored Kentuckian was established by Philip H. Murry and J. P. Sampson, newspapers were a major source of information for African Americans in Kentucky. Also, newspaper editors from Kentucky were leaders within national organizations such as the National Colored Press Association, which was formed in 1881.

An example of the wealth of information