local history online

[Robert Sullivan]

>Are there any libraries out there who provide online, searchable access to
>local history resources (eg. photos, oral histories)?
>If so, could you please post the url of your site?

Our local history material is far and away the most popular section of our
online offerings.  I spun it off last year on to its own domain:

<http://www.schenectadyhistory.org>

>How do you provide access to the resources?  For example, are you using your
>library web catalogue to enable online access, or do you have a separate
>database?

When I put something online which is in our catalog, our technical services
department adds an 856 field link to the URL.

I have a number of databases (created using Visual FoxPro) for the usual items
- obituaries, census records, etc. - but also for certain books which are in a
regular format, such as the local first settlers.  I generate Web pages from
those databases and use one of the free search services for keyword searching.

>Who is responsible for maintaining and adding to the online local history
>collection? 

I am.  I have a few volunteer typists for those items which can't be scanned,
and another volunteer scanning naturalization records in the basement of the
county clerk's office.

>Does the collection belong to the library or a local historical society?

Most of the resources belong to the library; a few are from my personal
collection.

Bob Sullivan                               scp_sulli at sals.edu
Schenectady County Public Library (NY)     http://www.scpl.org
Schenectady Digital History Archive        http://www.schenectadyhistory.org