The South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL) has received a fifth year of funding to support the preservation of cultural heritage materials.
Columbia, SC - The South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL) has received a fifth year of funding to support the preservation of cultural heritage materials. The SCDL (http://www.scmemory.org/) is a freely available, searchable, online collection of South Carolina’s rare documents and artifacts. PASCAL (Partnership for South Carolina Academic Libraries) coordinates the project with funding from a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. LSTA funds are administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the South Carolina State Library. To date, the project has received a total of $169,053 in federal funds.
“Thanks to continued commitment from PASCAL, the State Library, and IMLS, South Carolina has an exceptional and robust statewide digital library that continues to grow daily,” said Kate Boyd, Digital Collections Librarian at the University of South Carolina and SCDL Coordinator.
This year the LSTA grant, in the amount of $42,080, will be used to purchase scanning equipment for a fourth Scanning Center at Coastal Carolina University and to hire part time staff for each of the centers. In addition, the libraries of Clemson University, University of South Carolina, and College of Charleston have established regional Scanning Centers; each library is contributing staff time and space to digitize their own rare materials and add them to the SCDL. Staff from these four institutions will assist other libraries with scanning and cataloging items and loading them to the SCDL database, either onsite or remotely. Regional meetings will be scheduled to inform potential institutions about participating in the project.
Within the last year, almost 14,000 items, including photographs, maps, manuscripts, books, sound recordings, and objects, all representing the history of South Carolina, have been added. Over 55 collections from 10 different institutions can be searched on the project web site, including Clemson, College of Charleston, USC Columbia, USC Aiken, USC Lancaster, and USC Beaufort. Four public libraries, including Richland, Beaufort, Greenville, and Georgetown county libraries have added collections as well.
The latest additions to the SCDL include collections from the Beaufort County Public Library, USC Beaufort Library, and the Greenville County Library System. Beaufort County Public Library’s collection is titled Phosphate, Farms, & Family: The Donner Collection and includes over 500 photographs from two family albums created by Conrad Munro Donner (1844 – 1916). The bulk of the images reflect Mr. Donner’s experience of Low Country rural life in Beaufort County near the turn of the 20th century. USC Beaufort Library’s collection, Collected Civil War Papers of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Eshleman , displays the mementos of a former commander of the Washington Artillery battalion’s scrapbook. The collection portrays a civil war colonel's dedication to preserving the memory of his unit along with a larger more important purpose of memorializing the era of the confederate soldier. Greenville County Library System’s new additions include South Carolina Postcards and 1794 Alexander McBeth store ledger. The handmade ledger belonged to Alexander McBeth & Company which began operations in Greenville County in the early 1790s. The postcard collection contains picture postcards from the early part of the twentieth century that depict scenes across South Carolina.
Paul Lewis of the USC Aiken library believes that the project is playing a significant role in enhancing access to information about our state's culture and history. “The USC Aiken Library is pleased to join with other institutions across the state in contributing to this noble effort. We expect that our participation in the SCDL will significantly increase awareness of local archives within our state and beyond. We look forward to adding other digital collections in the near future.”
To access the items in the collections, students and researchers can search or browse by collection, institution, county, region, name, time line, or format, such as photos, manuscripts or maps.
SCDL continues to see an annual increase in participation. The program will continue adding collections and expand the web site to include more browsing options and more collections from museums and archives across the state.
According to Kate Boyd, the digital collection offers a unique new window on South Carolina history. Boyd hopes that “everyone will visit the site to learn more about the history of our state, and spend time studying, reading, or just looking at original documents” from South Carolina’s colorful history – now made available as never before.
“Thanks to continued commitment from PASCAL, the State Library, and IMLS, South Carolina has an exceptional and robust statewide digital library that continues to grow daily,” said Kate Boyd, Digital Collections Librarian at the University of South Carolina and SCDL Coordinator.
This year the LSTA grant, in the amount of $42,080, will be used to purchase scanning equipment for a fourth Scanning Center at Coastal Carolina University and to hire part time staff for each of the centers. In addition, the libraries of Clemson University, University of South Carolina, and College of Charleston have established regional Scanning Centers; each library is contributing staff time and space to digitize their own rare materials and add them to the SCDL. Staff from these four institutions will assist other libraries with scanning and cataloging items and loading them to the SCDL database, either onsite or remotely. Regional meetings will be scheduled to inform potential institutions about participating in the project.
Within the last year, almost 14,000 items, including photographs, maps, manuscripts, books, sound recordings, and objects, all representing the history of South Carolina, have been added. Over 55 collections from 10 different institutions can be searched on the project web site, including Clemson, College of Charleston, USC Columbia, USC Aiken, USC Lancaster, and USC Beaufort. Four public libraries, including Richland, Beaufort, Greenville, and Georgetown county libraries have added collections as well.
The latest additions to the SCDL include collections from the Beaufort County Public Library, USC Beaufort Library, and the Greenville County Library System. Beaufort County Public Library’s collection is titled Phosphate, Farms, & Family: The Donner Collection and includes over 500 photographs from two family albums created by Conrad Munro Donner (1844 – 1916). The bulk of the images reflect Mr. Donner’s experience of Low Country rural life in Beaufort County near the turn of the 20th century. USC Beaufort Library’s collection, Collected Civil War Papers of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Eshleman , displays the mementos of a former commander of the Washington Artillery battalion’s scrapbook. The collection portrays a civil war colonel's dedication to preserving the memory of his unit along with a larger more important purpose of memorializing the era of the confederate soldier. Greenville County Library System’s new additions include South Carolina Postcards and 1794 Alexander McBeth store ledger. The handmade ledger belonged to Alexander McBeth & Company which began operations in Greenville County in the early 1790s. The postcard collection contains picture postcards from the early part of the twentieth century that depict scenes across South Carolina.
Paul Lewis of the USC Aiken library believes that the project is playing a significant role in enhancing access to information about our state's culture and history. “The USC Aiken Library is pleased to join with other institutions across the state in contributing to this noble effort. We expect that our participation in the SCDL will significantly increase awareness of local archives within our state and beyond. We look forward to adding other digital collections in the near future.”
To access the items in the collections, students and researchers can search or browse by collection, institution, county, region, name, time line, or format, such as photos, manuscripts or maps.
SCDL continues to see an annual increase in participation. The program will continue adding collections and expand the web site to include more browsing options and more collections from museums and archives across the state.
According to Kate Boyd, the digital collection offers a unique new window on South Carolina history. Boyd hopes that “everyone will visit the site to learn more about the history of our state, and spend time studying, reading, or just looking at original documents” from South Carolina’s colorful history – now made available as never before.
For more information about the SCDL, visit http://www.scmemory.org/about/index.php.
