 |
the World Wide Web |
|
|
the World Wide Web |
| Traditionally, the
holdings of archives and special collections have been locked away from
public view available to only a few lucky scholars or those with the financial
means to travel to archives across the globe. Now anyone with access
to the Internet can log on to the Web and view an ever increasing number
of historical documents, manuscripts and images. Archivists and special
collections librarians have embraced the Internet as a way to make their
collections available to the general public. This democratization of archival
collections has only been possible through the digital revolution.
As well as reaching a larger, broader audience, digitization also aids in materials preservation. Each time an item is removed from archival storage, there is a chance it could be damaged from handling or from exposure to the pollutants in the atmosphere. At the very worst, an item could be lost or stolen. By producing a high quality digital reproduction of an item, archivists can keep the original safely locked away while the researcher views the digital version either in the archives or from a remote location. Copies can be easily and cheaply made from a digital file, leaving the original undisturbed. One of the best examples of special collections on the Web is the American Memory site sponsored by the Library of Congress. Here you can access more than five million historical items, including photographs, rare documents, maps, video and sound recordings, presented in over 80 thematic collections. The collection can be searched by keyword, time period, type of material or by broad subjects headings. To give you an idea of the scope of the collection, try one of the following:
As more and more archival documents appear on the Web, there has been a growing awareness of the need for standards regarding the digitization of materials. These standards, like the technologies they are based on, are still evolving. Various institutions such as the National Archives and digital consortiums such as the Colorado Digital Alliance have developed guidelines regarding scanning procedures, file formats, metadata, encoding and digital storage. For those interested, a very thorough tutorial on the digitization of archival materials can be found at Cornell University.The Digital Initiative at the Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections
To generate a greater awareness of our holdings, we have begun to digitize our finding aids, the paper guides to our more than 230 archival collections. Finding aids are the main tools of archival description, providing a detailed account of the contents of an archival collection from the overall scope down to the titles of the folders in every box. Many of our finding aids are over 100 pages long, and the Web has facilitated both the searching and distribution of the guides. Now a researcher can browse our guides without making a trip to the archives and can make appointments to view the records with the confidence that the archives has the material needed. Another key to our long-term "access" efforts is the Virtual Exhibits page located on the Library home page. For years Special Collections has mounted exhibits around campus and in the Library. We have decided to expand our exhibits and reach a wider audience by replicating them online. One of the many advantages to having Virtual Exhibits is that an online exhibit can remain in cyberspace long after its companion exhibit in the real world has been removed to make way for a new installation. The most popular exhibit so far has been the letters of Captain James Pettit, a soldier during the American Civil War. Viewers can follow Captain Petitt's experiences from enlistment to the battle of Gettysburg. Our current exhibition, the Boylan Hall Cornerstone capsule, can be seen both online and in the lobby of SUBO. Watch for our next exhibit on the noted writer and BC alumnus William Alfred.
In the fall of 2000, Special Collections received a $165,000 grant from the Documentary Heritage Program to conduct a records survey of the Jamaican and Trinidadian communities in Brooklyn. As part of this project we will create a Web site devoted to the dissemination of information regarding the project to an international audience. Our survey instrument will be posted and each stage of our project will be fully documented online. Archivists can follow along, post questions and share information. This site will also contain an annotated bibliography of both primary and secondary Caribbean resources. For archives and special collections, the potential of the Internet seems limitless. Our daily activities have been transformed and our mission re-invigorated. We hope that in the future, the Brooklyn College community will be as familiar with the archives as with the other areas of the Library. Each new e-mail we receive or visitor that stops by is a hopeful sign that our future will be a busy one indeed. If you have any questions regarding any
of our collections or activities, please contact Marianne LaBatto in Special
Collections which is located in the Field Library.
And for more information about Special Collections
in general don't forget to visit our home page: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/speccoll/index.html
|
