Information Update - Fall 2007

Digitalization Project Is Underway

With our participation in AccessPA, the resource-sharing project among all types of libraries across the Commonwealth, comes the opportunity to participate in sharing some of our unique visual resources as well. The Digital Repository, powered by ContentDM™ is a cooperative venture of 18 special and academic libraries to provide access to some of their photographs, historical and genealogical materials, and scholarly materials available previously only by personally visiting the owner library itself.
 
The Weinberg Memorial Library's project includes the Abe Plotkin papers, items from the University's photograph collection, our Senior Honors Theses and our Masters Degree theses. Abe Plotkin's pictures, letters, and other memorabilia will be of particular interest to Holocaust scholars throughout the Commonwealth and the nation. Mr. Plotkin served with the 284th Field Artillery, 3rd Army, in France and Germany during World War II and participated in the liberation of Dachau and Ohrdruf Concentration Camp. After the War, he spent his spare time helping survivors reunite with relatives, resettle the displaced, and became a locally and nationally known Holocaust educator.
 
The Photograph collection includes many photographs found in the University Archives. Some of these have appeared only in exhibits in the Heritage Room and have centered on University buildings, faculty, staff, sports activities, and other notable events. Barbara Kreidler at work on the digitalization project The theses are the works of our student scholars and represent their research in a wide variety of subjects: literary analysis and criticism, history, educational studies, works in mathematics, the biological sciences, the physical sciences and physical and occupational therapy. Staff members involved in scanning the items for the projects include members of the Technical Services Department of the Library: Rita Williams, Lori Gaccione, Mary Fran Galat, Sharon Finnerty, Mary Ann Kearns, and Barbara Kreidler. They have received training from Jennifer Maher, Evesning Systems Specialist. Donna Ramos is our metadata specialist. Mary Kovalcin, Library Systems Specialist assists with uploading of the materials to the ContentDM site. Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian, provides the descriptive notations for the items in the project. Our website design team is composed of Vincent Yanusauskas and Mary Kovalcin, both of the Library Systems department.
Margaret Craft
Pride, Passion, Promise: Experience Our Jesuit Tradition