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Contents:
Archives 24/7
Langsdale Library’s Special Collections department has relatively limited hours of operation because of its small staff. To meet the increasing demands of researchers of the 21st century who expect access to archival holdings 24/7 on the Internet, the Special Collections Department has undertaken a project that will make the oral history collections (Baltimore Neighborhood Heritage Project, East Baltimore Oral History, Negro League Oral History, Penn-North; and Baltimore Voices Company) available to researchers online.
These collections were chosen because of the demand for access by researchers and because we hold the rights to the entire contents. The project entails scanning existing typed transcripts of oral histories collected in Baltimore in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as several supporting documents (biographical data on the interviewee and interviewer’s notes, photographs, etc.) and converting them into PDF files. Links are created between the file folder listing in our Collection Guide on our Web site and the PDF, thereby providing access to the documents 24/7.
A note to researchers is also included in each file stating that the material is for research/education purposes only and to use the materials for publication would require the payment of a use fee. This allows access and protects our rights to the materials.
Once completed, this pilot program will allow us to expand to other holdings in Special Collections. We have undertaken a limited expansion by placing photographs from the POE, UB and YMCA Collections online. Although not the complete holdings, these few photographs had been scanned previously for researchers. While we do not have the ability to scan all of our photographs at this time, we plan to continually add to our online collection as we have occasion to scan additional photos for use by researchers.
Archives 24/7 is just another way that the Special Collections Department is preserving the past for the future.
Click on the transcript image to read the entire PDF document.
