The Easton Library Company (ELC) database project began in Fall 2010 with conversations among Prof. Chris Phillips of Lafayette College and numerous library staff at the Easton Area Public Library (EAPL) and Lafayette’s Skillman Library. Through generous contributions of materials and time, the loan ledgers now held at EAPL have been scanned into hi-resolution images and the ELC’s 1855 catalog has been transcribed and corrected.
During Summer 2012, our team will be focusing on transcribing the ELC’s loan records (covering the years 1811-1862) using a database interface developed by Eric Luhrs and James Griffin. We will also be working with library staff at EAPL and the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society to identify names and relationships between ELC shareholders and borrowers, since every book checked out had to be recorded on a shareholder’s account. Read more about the history and organization of the ELC.
Our goal is to complete the transcription process in 2012 and launch the public database in 2013.
COVERAGE OF THE PROJECT
KEY COLLABORATORS
Chris Phillips, Assistant Professor of English, Lafayette College
Gavin Jones ’14, EXCEL Scholar, Lafayette College
Diane Windham Shaw, Special Collections Librarian and College Archivist, Skillman Library
Eric Luhrs, Head of Digital Scholarship Services, Skillman Library
Paul Miller, Digital Production Manager, Skillman Library
James Griffin, Digital Library Developer, Skillman Library
Jennifer Stocker, Director, Easton Area Public Library
Barbara Wiemann, Senior Coordinator for Local History, Easton Area Public Library