Substantial progress has been made in the last few months in the implementation of two parallel grants received in June 2006: an award of almost $300,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the organization and development of the School's information resources; and a $700,000 grant for the digitization of archival materials, received from the Greek Ministry of Culture under the Information Society program of the European Union. The purpose of the Mellon Foundation grant is threefold: to develop a prototype digital library capable of storing and presenting archaeological as well as historical/textual materials; to redesign the School's website; and to create a 'coordinated service model' for the Blegen and Gennadius Libraries in which collection development and technical services work in an efficient and complementary way. There has been progress since January in all three areas.
From March 12 to 16, Thornton Staples, Director of Digital Library Research and Development at the University of Virginia, facilitated the second of three workshops to develop a prototype digital library to store and present the School's growing collection of electronic resources. Working with Thorny were members of the Information Architecture Team (IAT): Tarek Elemam, the School's Information Systems and Technology Manager; Bruce Hartzler from the Agora; James Herbst from Corinth; and Carol Stein from the Publications Office. The main goal of the March workshop was to harmonize data. This required the preparation of a master 'data dictionary' to which descriptive fields in existing databases (including Corinth and Agora archaeological data systems) could be mapped, and with which the new records for digital images and texts to be created with the EU grant can be kept in order.
Such forward thinking will allow sophisticated searching of the School's electronic resources, which will, by the end of 2007, include digitized versions of over 150,000 archival photographs (most from Corinth), at least 3,000 letters and other documents (especially from the 19th- and early-20th-century Dragoumis archives), all the Corinth archaeological notebooks, and a sample of the contents of John Gennadius's scrapbooks; an amazing source for the cultural and social history of Greece.
On March 15, Thorny Staples and the IAT met with representatives of Lambrakis Press, the company that will be scanning ASCSA materials with money from the EU grant. Content and metadata specifications were shared and a timetable mapped out. Nicolaos Gouraros, Business Development Director for Lambrakis Press and project manager for the grant, has a background in archaeology from the University of Southampton, and showed a clear understanding of the Mellon team's work and sympathy with the aims of the ASCSA. Scanning started in May.
The creation and dissemination of electronic information not only presents technical challenges but also involves an expanded understanding by all staff involved in the project of copyright and related legal matters. On March 16 and 17, the IAT and other staff members met with Andrew Bridges, partner at the San Francisco law firm of Winston and Strawn. Mr. Bridges was a member of the School and is now a Trustee, as well as being one of North America's top experts in how intellectual property law impacts the digital environment. His 'master class' was an extremely useful primer in some of the legal issues the School will face in the digital realm, and how to reduce the risk of problems.
After three rounds of comments from many constituent groups, face-to-face discussions between staff, and conference calls between Athens and Princeton, a final version (3.0) of the strategy document "Evolving the ASCSA Online" was agreed with MStoner, the web consultant hired by the School to redesign the ASCSA website. This document presents an overview of the structure of the site and its components and represents the conclusion of the planning phase started in September 2006. Patrick diMichele, MStoner's lead designer, is now filling out the structures with colors and text to create an attractive 'look and feel' for the School's website. Rather than being static, the website will constantly be fed with new information by a wide range of staff using a 'content management system.' The database software chosen, Expression Engine, will enable the site to be constantly refreshed with news stories, information about events, and 'special interest features' ("Spiffs") showcasing the richness and variety of ASCSA research and learning opportunities. Two workshops were held for staff in Athens (on March 23) and Princeton (April 5) to describe this structure and provide instruction about best practices in writing for the web.
To assist other ASCSA staff in updating the website and to ensure that this important communication vehicle features fresh and authoritative content, the School appointed in May a part-time Web Managing Editor, Mary Jane Gavenda. Ms. Gavenda will be a great asset. She has been associated with the ASCSA as a design consultant since 1999 and has extensive experience in the online as well as print world.
Two consultants have been appointed to advise the School on collection development, including the proper care of special collections, and on technical services and IT workflow, including the organization and training of staff. Don Skemer, the collection development consultant, is Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Books, and Special Collections at Princeton University. He spent two weeks at the Gennadius Library in 1996 and is thoroughly familiar with the School. Dilys Morris, the workflow consultant, was Assistant Director for Technical Services at Iowa State University for almost 20 years before setting up her own consultancy company. Between 2003 and 2006 she worked with Notre Dame and Vanderbilt Universities to conduct time and cost analyses of their libraries. Both consultants will be visiting Athens later this year.