Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 16, 2002--Two University of Nebraska faculty members, Ken Price and Katherine Walter, have received a research and demonstration project grant of $245,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a two-year project, "A Virtual Archive of Whitman's Manuscripts."
Price is Hillegass chair in 19th century American literature in the department of English. Walter is special collections and preservation chair in University Libraries.
UNL, in partnership with the University of Virginia, will direct an effort to create a finding aid to an estimated 70,000 Walt Whitman manuscripts found in more than 60 institutions.
The project, which begins Nov. 1, will provide access to digital images of approximately 4,300 poetry drafts. It will also fund the creation of a search interface, the establishment of best practices for Encoded Archival Description implementation across collections, and the development of a model for scholar-archivist collaboration.
The project will make it possible to visit via a Web browser all libraries at which the manuscripts reside, Price said.
A prototype of the project can be seen online by clicking "Finding Aids" at www.whitmanarchive.org/m anuscripts. This project benefits from the work of Brian Pytlik-Zillig, digital initiatives librarian in University Libraries, and Mary Ellen Ducey, the university archivist at Love Library. In addition, graduate assistant Andy Jewell contributes at all levels, from encoding finding aids to addressing the larger intellectual, technical and social challenges raised by the project, Price said.
Contacts: Ken Price, Professor, English, (402) 472-0293 (kprice2@unl.edu) and
Katherine Walter, Professor, Libraries, (402) 472-3939 (kwalter1@unl.edu)
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825