Brown University Library News

The Brown University Library has received a grant of $228,454 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create a statewide database, entitled the Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online (RIAMCO). Through the application of Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids, RIAMCO will collocate more than 300 dispersed but overlapping collections about the history of Rhode Island drawn from local public and university libraries across the state, fashioning a union web resource hosted and supported by Brown University. The material documented in RIAMCO represents the history of Rhode Island from the colonial period to the present day and provides valuable insight into a range of topics including business, the Civil War, slavery, literature, church history, politics, diplomatic history, art and architecture, military history, labor, health and medicine, state and local government, higher education, and Native Americans. The RIAMCO project has been designated by NEH as a “We the People Project” for “promoting knowledge and understanding of American history and culture.”
Funding for this two-year project will improve access to archival and manuscript collections throughout Rhode Island. Library staff will create a web site and search interface allowing users with Internet access to search across Rhode Island collections for particular people, places, or subjects. This database will pull together disparate collections housed at various institutions, allowing researchers to find collections relating to their research through one comprehensive site regardless of their physical location. In many cases the papers of individuals and families are physically split among participating institutions and will now be intellectually reunited for the first time as a result of the online finding aids and the application of sophisticated search technologies developed in this project. Examples of the reunited collections include the personal and business records of the Brown family, the papers of Rhode Island Congressman Thomas Jenckes, and the architectural drawings and personal papers of Thomas Tefft.
“This project will facilitate deeper study of Rhode Island’s cultural and political history,” said Harriette Hemmasi, Joukowsky Family University Librarian. “I am deeply grateful to the NEH for funding this project and to our devoted collaborators for agreeing to work together on this exciting undertaking. Despite its small size, Rhode Island has played a big role in many of the seminal events in our country’s history. From the advent of the industrial revolution to the constitutional crisis precipitated by the Dorr Rebellion, RIAMCO will be a unique and much-needed resource for researching the frequently tumultuous, but never less than fascinating history of this unique place and people.”
“The RIAMCO project will provide an opportunity for archivists and special collections librarians throughout Rhode Island to work together to create a resource that will highlight the treasures in the state’s archival repositories. We are pleased that the NEH has provided funding to embark on this worthwhile and important project that will not only be beneficial to the residents of Rhode Island but to all students and scholars of American history,” said Jay Gaidmore, Brown University Archivist and RIAMCO Project Director.
In addition, archivists and special collection librarians will be trained in implementing EAD. Project staff will also work to standardize descriptive practices across institutions using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), which outlines rules for describing archives and pre-scribes a minimum set of required fields for finding aids. By standardizing descriptive practices, RIAMCO will facilitate the contribution of its EAD files to regional, national, and international union databases.
Participating institutions include Brown University, John Carter Brown Library, Providence College, Rhode Island Historical Society, Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island State Archives, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, University of Rhode Island, and Westerly Public Library.