ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries June 1991 / 375 Something to rem em b er us by: The A m erican M em ory p ro g ram Vernacular expressions o f culture” are vital to scholars research. A prototype of an ambitious project to pro­vide nationwide access to the collections of the Library of Congress will be tested libraries during the second half o f 1991. Users of American Memory will have access to primary materials such as Documents of the Con­ tinental Congress and Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789; Paper Print Films of New York City, 1897-1906; Early Sound Recordings from Amer­ ica’s Leaders, 1918-1920; African-American Pam­ phlets, 1820-1920; and Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865. Along with archival materials, Ameri­ can Memory will offer interpretive introductions to each collection, guides for users, and bibliogra­ phies for further research. Collections in various formats are planned for the program, including photographs, graphic arts, motion pictures, recorded sound, music, broad­ sides and manuscripts, books and pamphlets. Re­ productions of actual artifacts in all of these formats will be placed on compact disks and videodiscs. Whenever possible, American Memory collections will be presented in an integrated system, enabling users to conduct research within a variety of collec­ tions and formats. This multimedia resource will eventually be available online. During the pilot period, which is expected to last until 1995, the Library of Congress hopes to learn through testing prototypes what type o f material is most appealing and what kinds of audiences exist for the program. Also being evaluated are the adequacy and appropriateness of the cataloging and the user’s guides. Developers at the Library o f Congress envision researchers, students, and teachers visiting an American Memory workstation at a local library or school. Workstations might include an Apple atMa 30cinto sh or IBM compatible computer, a CD- ROM player, a videodisc player, and a television monitor. A searcher would be able to do research in a specific collection or within several different collections, view interactive exhibitions related to specific collections, or electronically copy data for further study. Electronic copying for personal use will not violate copyright restrictions. American Memory will respect copyright and other rights inherent in the materials it presents, and the per­ mission of owners will be sought before disseminat­ ing copyrighted materials. That there is a need for resources such as Ameri­ can Memory was brought out at a conference on research trends and library resources held at Har­ vard last year under a grant from the Council on Library Resources. Co-chaired by Stanley Katz, president of the American Council of Learned Societies, and Lawrence Dowler, Associate Librar­ ian for Public Services at Harvard College Library, the conference met to identify new or changing tendencies in research in the humanities and social sciences and the implications of such changes for research libraries. The discussion of sources of information reflected scholars’ increased use of different forms of research materials, including images, ephemera, artifacts, conference reports, popular literature, spatial data, etc. There were frequent references throughout the conference to the value of imagery and what James Ackerman called “vernacular expressions of culture.” It was generally agreed that libraries needed to acquire not only the traditional published sources but also 376 / C&RL News “nontraditional” research materials— images, in­ cluding photographs and motion picture film, popular literature, even advertising and other forms of ephemera, spatial data, personal papers and archives, raw economic and social data, and virtually anything else that might reflect the atti­ tudes, activities, and culture of society. On the other hand, there was general recogni­ tion that no library or repository could possibly collect everything. There was some discussion about the possibility of using core sampling tech- … what was needed f o r research was access to a broad variety o f cultural evidence, which might be fo u n d in a variety o f research institutions, and that they all ought to be linked by a common informational network. niques for some forms of research materials, and several scholars argued for event- or issue-oriented collecting, such as all types of evidence relating to the “cold fusion controversy,” in­ cluding commu­ n ications on BITN ET. There was virtual una­ nimity about the need for libraries to establish col­ lecting priorities. W hat was also n eed ed , many thought, was co­ operative collec­ tion d evelop­ ment, even re­ gional networks, among research libraries. Partici­ pants recognized that the need to collect nontradi- tional materials could not be borne by librar­ ies alone, and they concluded th at what was needed for re ­ search was ac­ cess to a broad variety of cultural evidence, which might be found in a variety of research institutions, and that they all ought to be linked by a common in­ formational network. Conference participants agreed that librarians ought to be able to provide access to research materials regardless of location or form of material. Several scholars at the confer­ ence seemed to be seeking local access to collec- tion-level descriptions of primary sources, includ­ ing material culture, archives, songs, ephemera, film, photographs, and other forms of imagery— in­ deed, the entire range of material documenting a culture. The desiderata articulated by the 1990 Confer­ ence on Research Trends and Library Resources raise complex issues of cost, cataloging, preserva­ tion, and responsibility. However, the Library of Congress’s efforts to make its collections accessible to all through the American Memory program seem to be a step in the direction mapped out by scholars in the humanities and social sciences as useful for their research. E d ito r’s notes: The inform ation about the Con­ fe r e n c e on R esearch Trends a n d L ibrary Resources w as su pplied by L aw rence Dowler, H arvard C ol­ lege. M ore inform ation abou t the A m erican Memory program can b e o b ta in ed fro m its coordin ator, C arl Fleischauer, at the L ib rary o f Congress. ■ ■ C E N E R A L J A C K S O N S L A Y 1 N C T H E MANY H E A D E D M O N S T E R . This satire by Henry R. Robinson, on A ndrew Ja c k s o n ’s cam paign to destroy the B ank o f the United States a n d its su pport among state banks is an exam ple o f the diversity o f m aterial a n d fo r m a ts in the Am erican M emory Project. An individual at a w orkstation cou ld printout a copy o f this cartoon.