Livingston Masonic Library |
The Empire State Mason Magazine |
The following article appeared in The Empire State Mason Magazine, an official publication of The Grand Lodge of the State of New York. To subscribe to the magazine, or to read more articles of Masonic interest, visit the ESM web site.
The Empire State Mason - Summer 2005 (p. 38)
by RW Richard A. Vang, Trustee
Whenever we work hard on activities like building a house, preparing for degree work, or setting up a new computer, there’s always that moment we anticipate when we will finally “flip the switch” to see if all our plans and sweat will spring to life as we had hoped. A few years ago, the Library and Museum Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Library, under the leadership of Committee Chairman and Board President RW Richard Eberle, embarked upon an ambitious Five-Year Strategic Plan that focused on digital technology to expand access to the collections and present Masonic history to the world. Finally, after two years’ worth of concerted efforts between the Trustees, staff, volunteers, and other Grand Lodge Boards and Committees, I’m proud to report that the Library has “flipped the switch” and fulfilled some long awaited goals.
On-line Book Collection
When the Livingston Library converted its card catalog to electronic database format, the cards were packed up and sent to data entry operators who typed the information from 16,000 titles into the Athena database. The cards themselves were prepared over the course of 150 years by a wide range of librarians, volunteers and Grand Lodge committeemen, and the data they contain reflect a diverse range of librarian experience. Our current cataloging Librarian, Georgia Hershfeld, has worked tirelessly over the past ten years to bring the shelflist and the database entries up to standards of professionalism and accuracy. The electronic database was a major step toward the future, but patrons have been limited to using the system at the Manhattan branch.
Now the Library has made the Athena Catalogue available on-line. Using the link from the Library’s web site, anyone in the world can now look at books and other print materials we have in our library collections. This is not only a great boon to the Brothers around the state, but to the public as well. Users can now go to the on-line catalog and use keywords to search books by title, author, and subject, and get the results delivered in seconds to their PC’s web browser. Scholars can search the holdings before making a visit to the Library, which saves time for them and an already busy Library staff. Roseanne Huschle, the Library Receptionist, works hard to keep the circulation records up-to-date, and through the Athena interface, Brothers with borrowing privileges can find a title of interest, and if it is a circulating item, request to borrow the book to read at home.
Library policies and instructions to use the Athena Catalogue are available on the web site. More books are added on a regular basis, so each search will prove to be a new experience. To access the book catalog on-line, go to http://www.nymasoniclibrary.org/collections/collections.htm.
Virtual Museum
Another exciting addition is the on-line database of the Library’s artifact collection. Similar to the book catalog, site visitors now can access our Masonic heritage through a link on the Library’s web site. Curator Catherine Walter has entered numerous items into OCLC’s ContentDM database, with many more to come. By using keywords to search, anyone in the world can view an interactive photograph of an artifact, some of which can be manipulated and studied from several angles. Detailed data and descriptions of the item are included, providing valuable information to Brothers and researchers alike.
Brothers, this is, to my knowledge, one of only a few on-line collections of Masonic artifacts in the world, and will soon prove to be the best. In addition to its academic and historic value, the on-line artifact collection may open the eyes of many, and should serve as a mechanism to create a better understanding of Freemasonry. With the combination of the “gee whiz” technology with the “gee whiz” items contained in the collection, we hope that it will also create an awareness of the Livingston Library as a resource, and bring new interest into the Craft. The Fifth Manhattan Masonic District Association Endowment Fund was instrumental in making this happen, as they donated a hefty $7,000 to cover the cost of the Library’s contract with OCLC. Such support is what will help make our on-line collection stand out above all others.
While currently the on-line collection only contains items from the archives in Manhattan, soon we will begin to add artifacts from the Utica Branch as well, providing the full scope of the treasures preserved in our Library facilities. To access the artifact collection on-line, go to http://www.nymasoniclibrary.org/collections/collections.htm.
Technology Initiatives
These on-line catalogs are a great leap forward for the library, but they were not put in place without very generous donations, hard work, and technical know-how:
Without the cooperation and concerted efforts of the Technology Committee and the support of the Trustees of the Hall and Home, we would not have the networking environment that we now have, and none of this would have happened.
Finally, we should all thank the key figure in all of this technological advancement. VW Tom Savini, as Director of the Livingston Library, often goes beyond length of his cable-tow to not only handle the very busy day-to-day operations of the Library facilities, but to coordinate all these people and their efforts as well. Tom makes sure the job gets done, and Brothers we are lucky to have him. The next time you see Tom, or any of the others involved with the Library, be sure to say thanks for helping all of us find the switch.
If you would like to help the Livingston Library, please contact RW Tom Savini at (212) 337-6620, or through the web site at www.nymasoniclibrary.org. As always, remember that your donation to the Livingston Masonic Library is tax deductible.
©2005, The Empire State Mason Magazine.