VIVA, The Virtual Library of Virginia
PRESS RELEASE


VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia, is pleased to announce the
availability of  VIRGINIA HERITAGE (http://www.lib.virginia.edu/vhp/ ),
a database of guides,
or finding aids, describing archives and manuscripts in eleven
repositories in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The participating
institutions are:

University of Virginia,
College of William and Mary,
George Mason University,
Library of Virginia,
Old Dominion University,
Virginia Commonwealth University,
Virginia Historical Society,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Virginia Military Institute,
Virginia State University,
Washington and Lee University

At present, there are 1600 finding aids in the database. Records in the
database conform to the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) standard for
encoding archival finding aids. The full text of the finding aids is
searchable by keyword and by individual institution.

The University of Virginia, representing VIVA, was awarded $250,000 from
the National Endowment for the Humanities to implement the Virginia
Heritage project. This NEH grant will help to improve access to a rich
trove of primary source documents held by Virginia libraries. From the
settlement at Jamestown in 1607, through the Revolutionary and Civil
Wars and into the tumult of the 20th century, the Commonwealth of
Virginia has stood at the center of America's history. Many of the
priceless documents of American history, literature and political
thought reside in the special collections of Virginia's colleges,
universities, and other research libraries.

"We estimate that there are about 25,000 finding aids representing some
30 million manuscripts and 16 million archives, to convert," said Edward
Gaynor, project director at the University of Virginia Library. The
Virginia Heritage project established its EAD processing center at the
University of Virginia, which will provide the technological leadership
for the project. As the first phase of the project, the processing
center will encode and provide online access to approximately 15,000
pages of finding aids representing more than 500 collections on
African-American history and culture that are drawn from all eleven
participating institutions. In addition, the processing center will
encode 5,000 related pages drawn from the University of Virginia's
Virginiana collections, which are rich in resources that will help to
place the African-American materials in context.

"While 1600 out of 25,000 may not seem like much," commented Susan
Riggs, project director at the College of William and Mary, "for us, it
marks the end of a period of struggle to get this initial phase done,
and the beginning of a very exciting time. It is crucial that detailed
information about unique Virginia collections be easily available over
the Internet. More and more, students and faculty make the Web their
first research stop."

Added Jodi Koste, project director at Virginia Commonwealth University's
Tompkins-McCaw Library, "We hope that this project will not only provide
improved
access to collections, but will also provide the expertise to move
forward on conversion of all finding aids within Virginia. The
manuscript and archival collections in the Commonwealth of Virginia are
incredibly rich primary research resources, and those of us who care for
them want to make it easier for people to find what is here, and use
it."

VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia is the consortium of the libraries
of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities <at 52 campuses>
within the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition, 32 independent
<private, non-profit> institutions and The Library of Virginia
participate where possible. VIVA's mission is to provide, in an
equitable, cooperative, and cost-effective manner, enhanced access to
library and information resources for Virginia's academic libraries
serving the higher education community. VIVA is sponsored by the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
<http://www.schev.edu/ >

For more information about VIRGINIA HERITAGE, contact Edward Gaynor at
[log in to unmask] or at (434) 924-3025.

--
Jodi Koste
Archivist, MCV Campus
Virginia Commonwealth University
Tompkins-McCaw Library
Box 980582
Richmond, VA 23298-0582
[log in to unmask]
(804) 828-9898
FAX (804) 828-6089
http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/speccoll/

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