Digital library launched
Collaboration brings area archives online
By Diane Knich
Want to see passes that slaves carried to travel the streets of Charleston, a firsthand account of the earthquake of 1886 or a world map from the late 1600s?
A new online library launched this month at the College of Charleston will show you.
The Post and Courier
The Lowcountry Digital Library is an effort to bring online more than 50,000 items from public and private archives in the Lowcountry, said project director John White (center), who explained the system Wednesday with Chris Vinson (left) and Angela Flenner. Vinson's laptop displays the digital version of an atlas that was compiled between 1682 and 1695 - the actual atlas sits on the table.
The Lowcountry Digital Library is a collaborative effort to bring online more than 50,000 items from public and private archives in the Lowcountry, said project director John White, an archivist and historian at the college's Addlestone Library. The digital library will contain items "about or housed in the Lowcountry," White said.
Other partners in the project are the Medical University of South Carolina, The Citadel, Gibbes Museum of Art, Historic Charleston Foundation, Beaufort County Library and the Charleston County Public Library.
Charleston doesn't have a central archive for historic material, White said. But it has several small and medium-sized collections of historical documents.
"It's difficult to do research here because you have to go to 20 places around town," White said.
But he thinks the digital library will change that. About 7,500 items already are available online, he said.
And many of those items provide an intimate look into Lowcountry life.
For instance, he said, the library will include a diary with stories about a family's trip from Charleston to Key West, Fla., in the years before the Civil War. It contains accounts of family members' discussions about the inevitability of the war, and others about "loose women."
Another diary from the 1820s includes a man's account of dealing with tuberculosis, White said.
The Post and Courier
A page from the Frank Fisher Notes, 1882-1902, which is a part of the College of Charleston's collection and now part of the Lowcountry Digital Library. To browse the collections of the Lowcountry Digital Library, go to the <a href="http://lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/"><strong>C of C Lowcountry Digital library</strong></a> web site.
The library also includes a few "slave passes," which were notes from owners that slaves had to carry to move about Charleston. The passes were tucked inside a Book of Common Prayer that was donated to the college in 1934.
The Heyward and Ferguson family papers, about 1,500 documents in all, soon will be available online, White said. The documents include a great deal of correspondence between members of two families with deep Lowcountry roots.
Angela Flenner, project coordinator for the digital library, said she grew to know family members as she read their letters while scanning them for the library. In one case, a young man wrote a lot about preparing to get married. She was devastated to learn from a letter that his wife had died, she said.
White said many of the documents in the collection are fragile and couldn't withstand regular handling. But many people can see them online with no damage to the original documents.
In the past, few children could look at or learn from the fragile items, he said. "It's not a good idea for third-graders to handle 18th-century documents." But the online versions will be available to everyone. He hopes to eventually include lesson plans for teachers of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, he said.
The digital library received a $305,000 grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, which will enable it to grow from its current 7,500 images to 50,000 over the next three years.
White said the grant will finance the infrastructure for the project, which will grow larger, and bring in more partners, over time.
People at all partner institutions are being trained to add to the library, he said.
The project won't stop growing when the Donnelley Foundation grant runs out, he said. It will continue making "wholly unique items" available to people in the Lowcountry and around the world.
Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.
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GAL2000 (anonymous) says...
Link is not working...anyone else having problems trying to log on.
July 9, 2009 at 5:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
I can't get it to work
July 9, 2009 at 6:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LocalHero (anonymous) says...
It works if you remove the www and just type in:
lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/
July 9, 2009 at 7:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Local
Thanks - rather than type it out, I just did a cut and paste into Yahoo.
Added to my favorites and will go over it later - looks interesting.
July 9, 2009 at 7:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatmorecollards (anonymous) says...
Thank you C of C and all others concerned.
July 9, 2009 at 8:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
Interesting. Does anybody wish that the same amnount of effort would be put into educating students properly about comtemporary and therefore far more imprtant concerns?
July 9, 2009 at 8:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Post
A hell of a lot more effort and money has been spent on ed, and some times I think the problem is the student who does not take advantage of the ed being offered.. This is history and I think this small project is a good thing.
July 9, 2009 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Z
I am just a duffer, and placing this link in the favorites, eliminates one icon from the desk top - what do you suggest.
July 9, 2009 at 11:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ltgrunt (anonymous) says...
Your claim that contemporary concerns are fare more important than history borders on insane. Recognizing the significance and impact of historic events on contemporary developments is key to understanding them. It's arguably impossible to truly understand current events without understanding the historic events which preceded and influenced them.
Personally, I think this is a fantastic project, not just for the educational opportunities it affords but also for the amazing opportunity it presents to preserve the culture and history of the Lowcountry.
July 9, 2009 at 11:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
Itgrunt, I am not insane. If the focus of this history was to equip us to deal with modern challenges, fine. It's focus is to inculcate us with the left wing political ideology. Slave passes and antiquated maps are useless unless one is focused just on a history of slavery or cartography!!! If the purpose here was to educate, great. The purpose is to indoctrinate Nd if you had a grain of sense you would realize that this is an example of the left winger performing the primary left wing functions--twisting, distorting, warping, and perverting.
This is also redundant. We already have the tool to find out anything about history. It's called the Internet. This "library" will direct people to topics that left wingers want them to study and then teach them the left wing viewpoint only. Why is this so difficult for you to understand?
July 9, 2009 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
postman01 (anonymous) says...
It, we are inundated by lowcountry history. Only the insensate haven't noticed. Have you ever heard of bring bored by constant repetition?
July 9, 2009 at 5:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beefsaver (anonymous) says...
Well it just wouldn't be the internet without malcontents, now would it? Sorry to tell you, Il Postino, this was a private grant and, believe it or not, it is the Republican model for people to support causes through philanthropy that THEY want. So your liberal nonsense of dictating charitable donations has no place in this discussion.
How in the world can someone get so upset by an academic institution taking technology in-hand to preserve and share knowledge? Oh, because some radio talking-head told him to, I forget sometimes.
July 9, 2009 at 7:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatmorecollards (anonymous) says...
Well it don't matter no how. I only look at the pitchers.
July 9, 2009 at 7:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
GAL2000 (anonymous) says...
Ah, the link now works! Looks like the P&C corrected the web-site...thanks
July 10, 2009 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
completecurriculum (anonymous) says...
Wow Thank you so much for this valuable sources! I'm a homeschooling mother and I really need to look out lot of more of books to fulfill my children educational needs! what I really need is a quality k12 lesson plan and a Digital Library allow the enrichment of my homeschooling guide, but also a curriculum website like http://www.completecurriculum.com
July 11, 2009 at 2:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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