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Carrousel Chat: 'Paperless Archives: Preserving the Past through Digital Collections'

by jmaloni
Tue, Oct 2nd 2012 04:35 pm

As part of the Society of American Archivists' 2012 American Archives Month, the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum has announced its final installment of its "Carrousel Chat" lecture series for the year.

On Thursday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m., Stacy Person, project development specialist in the digital collections group of the University at Buffalo's libraries, will be at the museum to discuss the emerging importance of digital archival collections. Person will explore the many uses, benefits, and challenges of digitizing archives, and highlight some of the treasures of UB's holdings.

As part of the program, attendees will also learn about the museum's own efforts to digitize its archives, including work done this year as part of a grant from the Western New York Library Resources Council.

Person holds a B.S. in psychology from York College of Pennsylvania and earned her Master of Library Science from the University at Buffalo's School of Information and Library Studies in 1995. She has held a number of positions within the university's libraries, technology and management departments since that time, and has served as the director of digital library collections since 2007.

October is American Archives Month, a time to focus on the importance of records of enduring value and to enhance public recognition for the people and programs that are responsible for maintaining this communities' vital historical records. In the course of daily life, individuals, organizations and governments create and keep information about their activities. Archivists are professionals who help collect, organize, preserve and provide access to the portions of this information, which has lasting value.

American Archives Month is a collaborative effort by professional organizations and repositories around the nation to highlight the importance of archives and archivists. The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum's archival holdings include multiple collections that document the amusement ride industry's history in North Tonawanda. Collection materials include photographs, marketing materials, slides, negatives, motion picture film, correspondence, blueprints, mechanical sketches, notes, customer orders and catalogs from multiple Herschell-owned companies dating from the late-19th through mid-20th centuries.

The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum is housed in the historic Allan Herschell Company Factory building at 180 Thompson St., North Tonawanda. For directions and further information about special events, programs or group tours, visit www.carrouselmuseum.org, call 716-693-1885 or email [email protected]

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