The Fashion Institute of Technology Library’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) is excited to formally announce SPARC Connect, our online discovery platform using Access to Memory (AtoM) that allows users to search across our collections. AtoM is “a web-based, open source application for standards-based archival description and access in a multilingual, multi-repository environment.”

SPARC Connect supports the discovery and use of the rare and unique materials held in the collection. Collection level descriptions and downloadable finding aids of SPARC’s holdings have always been available through FIT Library’s catalogue, Stylecat. The beauty of SPARC Connect is having finding aids available to be searched in their entirety, at the series, folder, and item level. Users are able to see search results across collections and narrow down using faceted fields such as subject, name, or collection.

Under the leadership of Karen Trivette SPARC has worked to provide the greatest possible access to our collections. SPARC started using AtoM in 2014. Since that time SPARC has undergone a $4 million renovation and moved twice.

In an effort to make as many of our 385+ collections available through SPARC Connect, new finding aids are added weekly. Highlights include:

·         Lucile, Ltd. Records, 1910-1925

·         International costume carte-de-visite photographs, 1860-1880

·         Hattie Carnegie sketches, 1940-1955

·         Eric de Juan sketch collection, 1927-1989

·         Museum at FIT records, 1948-2015

·         Eleanor Lambert collection, 1943-2003

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