Colleagues: I wanted to share our good news with you ! Mary Graham
August 8, 2003
STATE MUSEUM LIBRARY'S COLLECTION GOES WORLDWIDE
Newly Installed Web-Based System Improves Patron Access, Relevance Searching
(University of Arizona, Tucson) Arizona State Museum's Library and Archives
have installed a new information management system that will make their
highly prized collections accessible worldwide. Created by Endeavor
Information Systems of Des Plaines, IL, the Voyager automated system is
designed specifically for the needs of academic and research libraries like
ASM's. Voyager provides relevance ranked keyword searching, parallel
searching across other libraries' databases, access to electronic journals,
and URL links.
At ASM, the system has been dubbed LARC (Library, Archives, Archaeological
Records Collections), and replaces a card catalog system from the 1950s.
"Yes, that's right, we were still operating with an old fashioned,
cards-in-a-drawer, card catalog. Now, after years of data input and
conversion, our extensive collection and other data resources from other
areas of the museum will be accessible for searching on a worldwide basis
via the Internet. Before, you had to be physically in the building to
conduct a search," says Head Librarian Mary Graham. "Having this collection
more readily accessible is particularly relevant for students in the field
of Southwest anthropology. Ours is the premier collection for that
discipline. Every year, researchers, scholars, and students visit from all
over the world just to conduct research here because it can be conducted
nowhere else in the world."
The non-circulating research library specializes in the ethnological and
archaeological histories and cultures of the American Southwest and northern
Mexico. Its comprehensive collection consists of more than 30,000 volumes,
more than 1,500 periodical titles, and hundreds of specialized files of
ephemera. The library also holds book collections bequeathed by the
illustrious archaeologist and former ASM director Emil W. Haury, and
renowned Spanish Colonial art historian Pál Kelemen, to name only two. Also
included in the LARC catalog are other ASM resources such as archaeological
surveys, site reports, and archaeological citations from throughout the
state.
"Even though the actual books and materials will remain non-circulating,
their contents will be more accessible," says Graham. "If someone from New
York, for example, is searching on the system and sees that we have the one
and only copy of a needed book (which is quite often the case), we will be
happy to research the request and get the information to him."
The resources will be accessible at larc.asmua.arizona.edu by August 25.
This project was supported with funds granted by the Arizona State Library,
Archives and Public Records Agency under the Library Services and Technology
Act, which is administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
______________________________
Endeavor Information Systems was founded in 1994. Over 1,100 academic and
research libraries of every size have chosen Endeavor's high performance
Voyager integrated library system. Endeavor offers a complete line of
library solutions for traditional and digital collections. Visit Endeavor at
www.endinfosys.com <http://www.endinfosys.com> for more information about
Voyager.
Arizona State Museum is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the
Southwest (est. 1893) and is the official repository for the state's
cultural materials and objects, and archaeological data. ASM is an affiliate
of the Smithsonian Institution.
For more information on Endeavor, contact Penny Emke at (847) 296-2200.
For more information on the ASM Library, contact Mary Graham at (520)
621-4695 or [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>.
Mary Graham
Librarian
Arizona State Museum
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0026
520/621-4695
520/621-2976 fax
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu
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