PACSCL
Projects
PACSCL
projects currently in process or recently completed include the
following:
- PACSCL
Catalogs Online: an upgraded online public access catalog
for several members, in addition to "one click"
search capability, using the Z39.50 interface, that will allow
users to search the special collections portions of all members'
online catalogs at one time (in process, funded by a grant from
The William Penn Foundation)
- The
PACSCL Consortial Survey Initiative to assess and provide
information on approximately 35,000 linear feet of manuscripts
and archival material in member collections (in process, funded
by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) [view project website]
- The
Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network, a project that
will allow users to explore the Greater Philadelphia area through
time and place by entering a street address or other information,
based on the City of Philadelphia's landmark Geographic Information
System (funded by a planning grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation)
- Finding
Aids Online: For special collections not appropriate for traditional
cataloging, such as archives, photo collections, etc., the Internet
offers the potential to make specialized finding aids available.
Funded by a grant from The Delmas Foundation, staff from
PACSCL libraries were trained in the new technologies that make
this possible. An additional project, also funded
by the Delmas Foundation, made it possible for fifteen of its member
libraries to place existing finding aids in the Research Library
Group's data base and to create new finding aids using Encoded
Archival Description.
- Philadelphia
Area Illuminated Manuscripts Enterprise (PRIME): Philadelphia
libraries hold exceptionally rich resources of illuminated manuscripts
from the middle ages and the Renaissance -- codices, leaves, and
cuttings. Many of these are of great artistic or scholarly significance;
many have never been cataloged or described. This project combines
an overview of materials in member library holdings, together
with an in-depth description of the most significant, with an
exhibition of 80 of the finest examples. Entitled Leaves
of Gold: Treasures of Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia
Collections, the exhibition was on display at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art March 10-May 13, 2001 and the Frist Gallery, Nashville,
TN, September 27, 2001-January 6, 2002. The exhibition is complemented
with an extensive web site, educational programs, full-color catalogue,
and CD-ROM. [about the project]
[online exhibition]
Future projects:
PACSCL has planned a set of linked initiatives, including the online
catalog, consortial survey, and geohistory network projects listed
above, that together form The
Greater Philadelphia Research Collections Network. The Greater
Philadelphia Research Collections Network will expose hitherto hidden
collections through an assessment project and develop shared online
access to information about and selections from member libraries'
holdings. It will do so to serve members' constituencies, the international
research community, educators, regional heritage developers and
interpreters, life-long learners, and others in the general public.
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