Supporting Databases, Part 2

A project as large and complicated as the Adams Papers slip file conversion requires vast amounts of documentation to run smoothly. On January 10, Peter Steinberg wrote about the People and Places databases--two of the supporting databases we've used to ensure our data is consistent, to reproduce the information currently available to Adams Papers editors, and to enhance the finished product. In addition to the People and Places databases, we've built Institutions and Accessions databases to track the physical locations of individual items in the catalog.

The Institutions database lists all institutions known to hold Adams family manuscripts. As you can imagine, it's a very diverse group of libraries, historical societies, archives, museums, and other institutions. In addition to the MHS, Adams family papers can be found at the Adams National Historic Park, the Boston Athenaeum, Harvard University, Yale University, the American Philosophical Society, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Public Record Office of the UK National Archives, the Nationaal Archief in the Hague, and many, many other places. Some institutions hold a large number of Adams-related manuscripts, others only a few.

I spent some time recently adding links in the database to each institution's website, which turned out to be both more challenging and more interesting that I expected. Many institutions have changed names and/or locations since the Adams Papers editorial project began decades ago, so finding the right URL sometimes took a little digging. Some of these changes are well known: for example, the British Library split from the British Museum in the 1970s. But did you know that the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, De., used to be called the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library? Mystic Seaport (Mystic, Conn.) was founded as the Marine Historical Association; the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., was the Columbia Historical Society; the New Bedford Whaling Museum was the Kendall Whaling Museum; and the Cincinnati Historical Society was the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio.

The Adamses were a well-traveled family, so many international institutions hold Adams-related documents, including the Archives du Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres (Paris), Koninklijk Huisarchief (the Hague), Arkhiv vneshnei politiki Rossii (Moscow), and Kungliga Biblioteket (Stockholm). Obviously, these names were even trickier!

This URL search gave me a chance to look at the wide variety of websites institutions use to showcase their collections. Many universities, of course, have excellent sites, but other institutions surprised me. I found the British Library website confusing and difficult to use, but some small organizations, like the Connecticut Historical Society and the Oklahoma Historical Society, have very attractive and user-friendly websites.

The Accessions database complements the Institutions database by allowing Adams editors to search for the locations of specific items by accession code and item number, rather than by institution. One of our goals with these supporting databases has been to combine all the editors' documentation (now housed in several separate binders in the Adams Papers offices) into a more efficient one-stop shop. Links to online resources provide some added value that has been missing from the traditional paper file.