Joyner Library Encoded Archival Description Project, 2002-2003 Grant uri icon

abstract

  • This project will complete an Encoded Archival Description (EAD) demonstration project partially funded and successfully completed in 2001-2002 by NC ECHO (North Carolina Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) and the State Library of North Carolina. It will build upon the accomplishments of the 2001-2002 grant project and encode approximately 4,000 additional pages of finding aids to over 1,000 manuscript collections held in the Special Collections Department of Joyner Library. The finding aids to be encoded describe holdings of great significance to North Carolina's political, economic, social and cultural history from the 17th to the 21st century. They include holdings of national and even international significance. The collections include the papers, documents, and records of individuals, families, and organizations, including businesses, churches, schools, civic bodies, clubs, and political organizations, to name but a few. Currently, most of the finding aids to these collections are available only in paper form and are usable only by in-house researchers. This encoding project will allow Joyner Library to make these finding aids available and searchable online through the Library's web page for the first time. The project will use encoding standards promulgated by NC ECHO and the State Library of North Carolina. This will allow libraries, archives, museums, schools, historic sites, and other cultural repositories -- statewide, nationally, and internationally -- to access the Special Collections Department's finding aids and to search them for specific subjects of research interest. Library staff will serve as supervisors / trainers; temporary employees will prepare the finding aids for encoding and will perform quality control checks. EAD will be outsourced to Apex, Inc. or an appropriate alternate vendor (in the same manner as the 2001-2002 grant was outsourced). Library staff will also receive advanced training to publish EAD finding aids and will provide access and indexing for the EAD finding aids. They will work to test the user interface, develop instructional materials, publicize the project, and link EAD finding aids to the Library's online catalog.

date/time interval

  • August 2002 - June 2003