THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

A periodic report from

THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1997 • NO. 14

Library of Congress: A “Best Web Site of 1996”

Time Magazine rates the Web Sites

The American Memory historical collections,

available from the Library, are among “the best

Web sites of 1996,” according to Time magazine in its Dec. 23 issue.

Calling the site a “treasure trove of memorabilia converted into easily downloadable recordings, images and

text,” the magazine made special mention of the Mathew

Brady Civil War photographs, the Houdini Collection and

Walt Whitman’s notebooks.

“The Library is honored to be recognized as a major

contributor to the intellectual content of this electronic

era,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “We

are firmly committed to making universally accessible our

rich holdings to help revitalize education and literacy

nationwide.”

The Library also has been cited for its Web site’s excellence by the Great American Web Site, which bills itself

as “a citizen’s guide to the treasures of the U.S. government on the World Wide Web.”

The Library was recognized in the “Best Agency or

Department Web Sites” category along with the sites of

the Departments of State, Commerce and Defense, the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the

Smithsonian Institution.

In the “Ten Best Individual Web Sites” category, the

American Memory collections were called “the most

wonderful of the Library’s efforts, in a plan to digitize

the greatest storehouse of knowledge in the world.”

American Memory took top honors in the “Best Sites to

Explore U.S. History” category.

ample, the Library’s Web site was among the six finalists in the “Education” category of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) Awards Program, one of the

leading forums for the recognition of “extraordinary

achievement” on the Internet.

American Memory, one of 60 finalists in 10 categories, was chosen from a field of nearly 1,000 nominees.

The NII Awards Program recognizes work in 10 categories that “touch on all areas of America’s work, play and

community life.”

American Memory (http://www.loc.gov/) is a

project that aims to make freely available on the Internet

millions of rare and unique Library of Congress items

relating to American history. Current on-line collections

include selected Civil War photographs of Mathew

Brady; papers and photographs donated by Harry

Houdini; daguerreotype photographs; documents relating to slavery, the civil rights movement and women’s

suffrage; sound recordings of political leaders; and early

motion pictures of vaudeville acts, the San Francisco

earthquake of 1906 and other subjects.

“The finalist award to American Memory is an outstanding achievement and a real acknowledgment of the

Library of Congress’s creativity in using electronic communications to create new possibilities,” said James

Hake, Chairman of the NII Awards Program. “The Library serves as an example of the kind of leadership and

dedication that are critical to our continued development

as an information-era society.”

The NII Awards are supported by more than 70 sponsors. More information about the NII Awards is available at http://www.gii-awards.com.

These citations are only among the most recent to be

garnered by the Library for its electronic efforts. For ex-
THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

2 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1997

Winners of the

Library/

Ameritech

competition will

have their

collections

placed in the

American

Memory collection, a popular

Web site.

The 1996 Library of Congress/Ameritech

National Digital Library Competition generated more than 75 eligible applications,

which are currently being evaluated by a blueribbon panel.

“We are gratified that the response to the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital

Library Competition has been so positive, judging by the number of applications and the variety of institutions that have proposed projects

for digitization,” said Librarian of Congress

James H. Billington.

The two groups designated in the competition—institutions that belong to the Association

of Research Libraries (ARL) and those that do

not—are well represented among the applications. Thirty-two applications, or approximately

42 percent, are from ARL members, and 44 applications, approximately 58 percent, are from

non-ARL institutions. The applications come

from institutions in 31 states.

For the first year of the competition, preference is being given to collections from the period 1850–1920.

“We are delighted that so many libraries have

caught the vision of this important movement,”

said Lana Porter, President and CEO of

Ameritech Library Services. “And we are proud

that the Ameritech Foundation has elected to

sponsor this gift of information to the world.”

 While the Library of Congress has taken responsibility for administering the review process

for the competition, Library staff will not be

members of the panels evaluating the applications. The applications will be reviewed by a

series of three independent panels that will make

the assessments, leading to the announcement

of the final winners at the end of March 1997.

The first panel will assess the historical significance and the breadth of interest of the proposals; a second panel will review the technical

viability of the proposals for digitization. Evaluators from these first two panels will be convened by the director of the Division of Preservation and Access at the National Endowment

for the Humanities. A third panel, to be convened by the president of the Council on Library Resources and the Commission on Preservation and Access, will select the final winners from those proposals recommended most

highly by the two prior panels.

The Library of Congress has thus ensured

that experienced historians, teachers and librarians from a variety of institutions—who will

be among the ultimate users of these digital

materials—will make the judgments concerning significance and utility.

Eight to 10 awards of up to $75,000 will be

announced this spring, for projects that complement or augment the digitized collections already available from the National Digital Library

Program at http://www.loc.gov/. Awards will

also be made in 1998 and 1999, based on applications submitted in 1997 and 1998.

The Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition is made

possible by a $2 million gift from Ameritech

to the Library. The competition is open to any

U.S. institution (except federal institutions)

wanting to digitize and place on the Internet

collections relating to American history and

culture.

Library/Ameritech NDL

Competition Progresses

Competition attracts more than 75 applications
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1997 3

In five reading

rooms and the

Computer

Catalog Center,

the Library

now provides

unlimited

access to the

Internet for all

those permitted

to do research

in the Library.

The Library of Congress has increased

the number of public access terminals

in its reading rooms that provide free

access to the Internet.

In five reading rooms and the Computer

Catalog Center, the Library now provides

unlimited access to the Internet for all those

permitted to do research in the Library.

“I am very proud of this new, expanded

service at the Library of Congress,” said Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston

Tabb. “We have been such a world leader in

the development of digital library content that

it is only appropriate for us to be expanding

access to digital resources in our own library.”

These initial 10 stations in six locations represent the first phase of this effort. The reading rooms are Prints and Photographs in the

Madison Building; Hispanic, Local History

and Genealogy and Main Reading Room in

the Jefferson Building; and Science in the

Adams Building. The Computer Catalog Center is in the Jefferson Building.

These have been added to augment the

public access workstation made available in

the Madison Building’s Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room in 1993.

Researchers now have access to a wide

range of Internet functions and media. Said

Diane Kresh, acting Director for Public Service Collections, “We are delighted that we

are able to expand reading room service to our

users. There is a powerful advantage for researchers being in both the digital and the artifactual library at the same time. Resource

possibilities become limitless, and public service improves exponentially.”

The Library has had a direct Internet connection for more than six years and has been

providing Internet services for more than four

years to researchers outside the institution: In

1992 an anonymous FTP site was established,

Library Expands Public Access to

Internet in its Reading Rooms

and several e-mail discussion groups were created.

In 1993 the Library created a Gopher service called

LC MARVEL. That year also marked the release

of LOCIS over the Internet. LOCIS (Library of

Congress Information System) has been widely

available on site for research since 1977; it comprises the complete on-line catalog and many

other files, including files for copyright information, federal legislation, science bibliographies,

records for materials for those unable to read standard print, and selected legal citations and articles

from some foreign countries. In 1994 the Library

began its National Digital Library Program, whose

initiatives are available on the World Wide Web

at http://www.loc.gov/. Among its offerings are

the American Memory historical collections and

THOMAS, a congressional information service.

Although LOCIS has been available for many

years to researchers in the Library’s reading

rooms, technical and other constraints, such as

legal issues, prevented the provision of widespread access to the Library’s other electronic services.

LC MARVEL, LC Web and the anonymous FTP

site provide not only access to a wealth of information about the Library of Congress and its activities, but also to digital collections, various ways

to search the Library’s on-line catalog and links

to numerous sites elsewhere on the Internet.

These services can also be reached through the

main home page at http://www.loc.gov/.

Addresses for other on-line initiatives are:

LOCIS:

telnet://locis.loc.gov or tn3270://locis.loc.gov

LC MARVEL:

gopher://marvel.loc.gov

Anonymous FTP:

ftp://ftp.loc.gov
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

A PERIODIC REPORT FROM

THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

Reports will be published about 12 times a

year, using gift funds. Comments and

suggestions are welcome.

Editorial Direction

Laura Campbell, Director

National Digital Library Program

202/707-3300; LCAM@LOC.GOV

Editor-in-Chief

Guy Lamolinara

202/707-9217; GLAM@LOC.GOV

Managing Editor

Virginia D. Sorkin

202/707-3307; VSOR@LOC.GOV

* World Wide Web Access

URL: http://lcweb.loc.gov/ndl/per.html

ISSN 1083-3978

FIRST CLASS MAIL

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

PERMIT No. G-103

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20540-5250

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

Printed on recycled paper. ■ 60 percent reclaimed products. Produced by Nancy Brooks Publishing Services ■

Printed by Insty-Prints of Merrifield, VA

THIS REPORT IS ON THE WEB*

4 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1997

THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

A new home page from the Library of

Congress provides links to state libraries, library agencies and commissions in

all 50 states. The State Libraries page is accessible from the Library’s main home page, available at http://www.loc.gov/. The new page is

a cooperative initiative of the Library of Congress (LC) and the American Library Association (ALA) in an effort to strengthen LC’s ties

to the library community as well as its largest

association, ALA.

“The Library of Congress is eager to simplify

access to the major state libraries, library agencies and commissions with its new home page,”

said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

“Now, users have a set of links that quickly connects them to the resources of their home state

and those of other states.”

The Library of Congress also received cooperation from the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) in designing the page and determining appropriate sites for links.

“The input of ALA and COSLA was essential

to the implementation of the State Libraries home

page,” said Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston Tabb. “This new page provides tangible, as well as virtual, links between the Library

of Congress and the nation’s libraries.”

The information from state libraries supplements other state information offered by the Library of Congress home pages of the Newspaper

and Current Periodicals Reading Room

(http:lcweb.loc.gov/global/ncp/ncp.html/) and

the Center for the Book (http://lcweb.loc.gov/

loc/cfbook/).

New Site Links Library of Congress to 50 States

TIME

MAGAZINE

NAMES NDL

SITE AS A

“BEST WEB

SITE OF 1996”

. . . . . PAGE 1

INSIDE

LIBRARY

EXPANDS

PUBLIC

ACCESS TO

INTERNET IN

READING

ROOMS

. . . . .PAGE 3

“State Libraries” Home Page Established