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The
American Memory
Historical Collection (http://memory.loc.gov/) is an example
of the type of innovative program that results from such a
collaboration. Dubbed "The Library of Congress on a Disk,"
the American Memory project was first proposed by Billington
in 1988 as a means of distributing electronic access to portions
of the Library's collections to libraries throughout the country.
Library of Congress Facts
(1997)
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Welcomed
1.8 million users and visitors.
-
Held 113,026,742 items, including:
- 17,402,100
books in the classified collections.
- 9,308,101
books in large type and raised characters, incunabula,
monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers,
pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed
material.
- 86,316,541
items in the non-classified collection. These included:
- 2,390,167
audio materials, such as discs, tapes, and other
recorded formats
- 49,147,855
total manuscripts
- 4,451,790
maps
- 11,767,481
microforms
- 13,156,713
visual materials, including 772,104 moving images;
11,908,937 photographs; 82,628 posters; 393,044
prints and drawings.
- Registered
569,226 claims to copyright. Answered 421,150 inquiries
through the Copyright office.
Completed 530,000 research assignments for the Congress
through the Congressional Research Service.
- Conducted
public tours for 65,717 general visitors.
- Circulated
23,150,000 million disc, cassette, and Braille items
to more than 78,000 blind and physically handicapped
patrons.
- Held
more than 40 million records in computer databases,
and the newly opened Digital Library Visitors Center
hosted almost 6,200 visitors.
- Employed
a staff of 4,070 employees.
- Operated
with a 1996 fiscal appropriation of $361,896,000.
Source:
Library of Congress,
1998
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The idea was to use computers, video discs, compact discs,
and other advanced technologies to provide a multimedia approach
to the collections, which often include recorded sound, film,
and photographs as well as written text. This way, students
could not only search the full text of manuscripts and other
documents, they could also hear folk music or jazz riffs,
see a film of President McKinley making his way through his
inaugural parade, or listen to Theodore Roosevelt's mother
discussing her son's presidency.
More
about the:
NEED | SOLUTION
| SPECIFICS | FUTURE
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