Presented to the University of Pennsylvania's McNeil Center for Early American Studies to make fellows aware of newly available archival collections in their fields of study
2. What is PACSCL?
Philadelphia Area Consor5um of Special Collec5ons Libraries
– Coopera5ve group of special collec5ons libraries with shared goals for their
collec5ons
– Founded in 1985 with 16 member libraries
– Today, PACSCL is composed of 35 member libraries
• 4,000,000 rare books
• 260,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archival materials
• 9,000,000 photographs, maps, architectural drawings, and works of art on paper
• BUT, PACSCL itself, does not own collec5ons
– Long history of consor5al work
www.pacscl.org
4. What are hidden collec5ons?
• Hidden collec5ons:
– Unprocessed or under‐processed collec5ons
– NOT research ready
– NOT adver5sed to the researching public
– 1000s of hidden collec5ons in Philadelphia
5. Why are they
NOT research ready?
• Not physically or
intellectually accessible
• Have been on the shelf for
a long 5me
– Repository staff does know
what’s in them
7. How PACSCL is dealing
with Hidden Collec*ons
• Follow‐up to PACSCL survey project,
2006‐2008
• Processing / making accessible 200
hidden collec*ons
• Processing:
• The act of arranging an archival
collec5on,
• Providing archival quality housing,
and
• Describing the collec5on, or wri5ng a
finding aid
• Finding aid: a catalog of the collec5on, which communicates to
archivists and researchers what is in the collec5on and how to access
the materials quickly and easily
8. Experimenta5on, archivally speaking
• Using “MPLP”
– Processing at a less intensive rate
– Collec5ons range from the 17th to the 21st centuries
• Use student labor
• Use the Archivists’ Toolkit database
• Create a model to eliminate processing BACK
LOGs
9. …Making collec5ons
research ready…
Before archival processing AVer archival processing
10. …And easier to find
• Created a central online finding aid site
– Developed by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries
– Finding aids from all 23 repositories in one place
– We are adding new finding aids all the 5me
– We are NOT digi5zing collec5ons
findingaids.pacscl.org
• Related collec5ons all over Philadelphia
– i.e. the Wister family, women’s history, hor5cultural collec5ons,
etc.
• Collec5ons and informa5on in unexpected places
– Word War II photos at the Academy of Natural Sciences
14. Upcoming processing work
• Another 60 collec5ons to go
Temple University – Special
Collec5ons
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Presbyterian Historical Society
Philadelphia Museum of Art
University of Delaware
Na5onal Archives
Rosenbach Museum and Library
This is just the 5p of the iceberg
15. What are we processing?
• The American Revolu5on
• The Arts: Fine Arts, Music, Performing
Arts, and Wri5ng
• Business and Commerce
• Colonial History
• Educa5on
• Family Histories and Genealogy
Just about anything! • History of Philadelphia Cultural
All with a HIGH research value Ins5tu5ons
• Law, Poli5cs and Government
• Mari5me History
clir.pacscl.org • Medicine
• Military History
• Race and Ethnic History
• Religion
• Science
• Travel and Tourism
• Women’s History
• Wri5ng, Publishing and Bookselling
16. Collec5ons by Topic
clir.pacscl.org
Pre‐1850s Strengths
• American Revolu5on
• Colonial history
• Medicine
• Quaker families
• Women’s history
21. Minimal Processing
• Designed for late 20th century records…
– So smaller representa5on of pre‐1850 material
• Extensive holdings NOT necessarily
represented:
– Chester County Historical Society
– College of Physicians of Philadelphia
– Free Library of Philadelphia
– German Society of Pennsylvania
– Haverford College
– Historical Society of Pennsylvania
– Independence Seaport Museum
– Library Company of Philadelphia
– Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
– Presbyterian Historical Society
– Rosenbach Museum and Library
– University of Delaware
– University of Pennsylvania
– Wagner Free Ins5tute of Science
24. How to find us…
…and the collec5ons
clir.pacscl.org
findingaids.pacscl.org
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
www.pacsclsurvey.org/
www.pacscl.org
www.clir.org/hiddencollec5ons/