PACSCL CSI goes public
Haverford Special Collections was a participant in the Consortial Survey Initiative (CSI) undertaken by the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) — of which Haverford is a member. The purpose of the survey was to make public information about manuscript collections in the member libraries that had either not yet been processed or had been processed minimally. The project brought on site two manuscripts specialists, Jenny Barr and John Armstrong, along with project director, Christine Di Bella, at 22 of PACSCL’s 33 member institutions. For Haverford, the team was able to survey 60 collections, a number somewhat in the lower middle for all the participants.
The surveyed collections at Haverford relate primarily to Quaker families, individuals and organizations, span the 18th to 21st centuries, and include materials such as correspondence, diaries, photographs, minutes and financial reports. The surveyors’ notes revealed the creators’ emphases on improvement of society as well as on their personal lives and interests. In addition, the surveyors provided biographical and scope of collection information.
In August 2007, the public version of PACSCL CSI’s database was made available online at: www.pacsclsurvey.org/search.html.
As a result, scholars will be able to get a better look at manuscript resources relating to their field of study which are located in the Philadelphia area. Haverford Special Collections is glad to receive inquiries relating to our manuscript collections in the CSI database.
Tags: PACSCL