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Research : Activities : ArchiveGrid

ArchiveGrid

OCLC Research is developing a new, freely available discovery system for ArchiveGrid® to replace the current subscription service by June 2012.

Background

ArchiveGrid is a discovery service that provides access to detailed archival collection descriptions, making information available about historical documents, personal papers, family histories and other archival materials held in archives throughout the world. It includes over a million descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide and enables researchers to learn about the contents of these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit to examine materials or order copies—all from one simple, intuitive search.

Anyone seeking historical collections can use ArchiveGrid’s powerful search engine and user-friendly interface to retrieve results that include the title of the collection, holding institution, brief description and a link to an extended description. Primary sources can be hard to find on the Web, but they are found quickly and easily in ArchiveGrid, along with contact information for the archives and repositories where these materials are held.

Although ArchiveGrid is currently available as a subscription service at http://www.archivegrid.org, it will eventually become a free discovery system. To facilitate this transition, OCLC Research is developing a new ArchiveGrid discovery interface that is now freely available. To try it out, go to http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/.

Many opportunities are available for OCLC Research Library Partners to participate in the ArchiveGrid project and test the new interface throughout this transition. If you'd like to include your collection descriptions in ArchiveGrid and expose them to researchers worldwide, go to http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collections/.

For more information about additional opportunities, contact Bruce Washburn.

Impact

The new ArchiveGrid discovery Interface will provide free, comprehensive access to an increasing number of archival collections to scholars and researchers everywhere.

Outputs

Team Members

  • Ellen Ast



Last update: 10 October 2011.