IMLS-Funded Grant
for Improving Access
to Archives and Special Collections is Underway
EXTERNAL PARTNER RELEASE
March 126 2012
For Immediate Release – please
distribute broadly
Last fall,
the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded a National
Leadership Grant to the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah
on behalf of three consortia: (a) Utah Academic Library Consortium’s Mountain
West Digital Library, (b) Orbis Cascade Alliance’s Northwest Digital Archives, and
(c) Rocky Mountain Online Archive, hosted by the University of New Mexico.
Objective
This
collaborative planning grant is a one-year project Planning for a Western Archival Network: Administrative, Technical, and
End User Concerns. The three consortia on the grant are currently exploring
ways to improve user access to Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids
describing the archival materials in our three Western regions, possibly via a
central “Western EAD search portal.” Fifteen staff members representing the
three consortia met in Albuquerque in January to examine ways to create better
user experiences and realize cost efficiencies through shared standards,
technology and administration. Follow up meetings are planned in Salt Lake
City, UT in April and Portland, OR in September.
Impact
This
project will have national impact for both end users, and the EAD community at
large. Once the planning is completed and the methods implemented, end users
will have easier and quicker access to both a greater volume and diversity of
archival materials. The intent is to provide a model that other organizations
can implement so that consortia across the country benefit from reduced costs
and increased access to collections.
Dr.
Gregory Thompson, Associate Dean for Special Collections at the Marriott
Library, and principal investigator on the grant states: “We are extremely
excited about how this grant will open the doors to incredible collections
across the west… In the long-term, citizens everywhere will encounter easier
and faster online access to historical photographs, manuscripts, oral
histories, and many other rare and historic materials.”
Outcomes
Based
on the grant activities, final recommendations and a report will be released in
October 2012. The three consortia hope to pursue additional collaborative
funding for the implementation phase of the project.
Contact Information
Questions
and comments about the grant may be directed to:
·
University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott Library:
Gregory Thompson, Associate Dean for Special Collections, and Principal
Investigator for the grant (801) 581-3421,
greg.c.thompson@utah.edu
· Northwest
Digital Archives:
Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Program Manager, (406) 829-6528, jodiab@uoregon.edu
· Rocky
Mountain Online Archive:
Kathlene Ferris, Digital Programs Manager, (505) 277-7172
, kferris@unm.edu
###
Background on the
Consortia
Three
consortia of EAD partners are working together on this project:
· The
Utah Academic Library Consortium (
http://ualc.net) is a 40-year-old consortium of 14
academic libraries in Utah, along with the Utah State Library and affiliate
member libraries in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. UALC partners cooperate in
continually improving the availability and delivery of library and information
services to the higher education community and to the State of Utah, through
fostering research, developing and implementing cooperative library programs;
providing a means for the exchange of information on cooperative library
ventures; maximizing limited resources by improving library methods and
avoiding expensive duplicate purchases; maximizing information delivery through
shared use of technology and human resources; and acting as an advocate for
excellence in library resources and services. One of the flagship programs of
the UALC is the
Mountain West Digital
Library (
http://mwdl.org), a free search
portal to 350 digital collections containing over 650,000 resources about the
Mountain West region from 62 partnering libraries, archives, and other cultural
heritage institutions. Eight partners of the MWDL maintain EAD files, and
several more are involved in creating new EAD collections.
· The
Orbis Cascade Alliance (
http://www.orbiscascade.org) is a
consortium of 36 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Alliance member
libraries work together to provide outstanding services to students and
faculty, share information resources and expertise, develop library staff, and
help members allocate financial and human resources to serve the unique needs
of each member. To this end, the Alliance considers the combined collections of
member institutions as one collection. The Alliance supports a number of
services that support this vision, including Summit, a system that allows
students, faculty and staff to easily search and request library materials
owned by member libraries; courier service offering delivery of library
materials in Oregon, Washington and Idaho; the
Northwest Digital Archives (
http://nwda.orbiscascade.org),
which offers enhanced access to primary sources in the Northwest U.S.;
cooperative purchasing for databases, ebooks and ejournals; and other digital
library services.
· The
University of New Mexico University Libraries (
http://elibrary.unm.edu) provides the
infrastructure for the 30 contributing institutions in New Mexico, Colorado and
Wyoming of the
Rocky Mountain Online
Archive (
http://rmoa.unm.edu ). UNM
supports and maintains RMOA as a service to libraries, museums and archives in
the three states with the goal of improving access to manuscript and archival
collections. Initiated with a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities in 2004, continuing support comes from the UNM University Libraries
and the Center for Regional Studies.
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