Words and Deeds -- Acknowledgments

As Manuscript Division project director, Janice E. Ruth planned the content, designed the framework, and identified all internal links for Words and Deeds. During project implementation, she coordinated the creation of online finding aids with the Preparation Section and worked with National Digital Library staff concerning copyright clearances, document scanning, web design, and computer applications relating to screen displays, subject lists, and indexes. In addition to these activities, she also wrote much of the text and was responsible for overall editorial review.

As the National Digital Library Program's liaison to the Manuscript Division, Martha Anderson guided the production of Words and Deeds including the capture and quality review of digital images, technical design, and administrative coordination.

Both Ms. Ruth and Ms. Anderson would like to acknowledge the support of their supervisors James H. Hutson, Manuscript Division, and Nancy Eichacker, National Digital Library. They would also like to thank the various staff members mentioned below and any others whose names and contributions have been unintentionally omitted from this summary.

Long before this website was ever conceived, manuscript historian Marvin W. Kranz was instrumental in developing and assembling the Manuscript Division Core Collection, the group of ninety-two documents which form the basis of Words and Deeds. The "About the Selections" essay, to which Dr. Kranz contributed, describes the Core Collection project and its relationship to Words and Deeds. Automation liaison Karen A. Stuart was the first person to suggest digitizing the Core Collection, and she and archivist Mary A. Lacy provided invaluable early assistance in developing the framework and organization of the site. Ms. Lacy also assumed responsibility for preparing and mounting finding aids on the division's gopher site and provided good advice and support throughout the project.

Assistant chief David Wigdor and manuscript historians Alice L. Birney, Leonard C. Bruno, Adrienne Cannon, Gerard W. Gawalt, Debra Newman Ham, John E. Haynes, Marvin W. Kranz, John J. McDonough, and John R. Sellers researched and wrote document descriptions and drafted portions of the text used in the thematic essays. The project benefitted from their subject expertise and their knowledge of copyright issues in collections under their control.

Catalogers Margit Kerwin and Emily Zehmer thoroughly reviewed, revised, and updated catalog records for collections represented in Words and Deeds and offered useful recommendations for improving the subject terms assigned to each document. Mary M. Wolfskill, head of Reference and Reader Services, contributed to the document descriptions and brought a much-needed reference perspective to the project.

Numerous Preparation Section staff members were involved in preparing finding aids for online display. Initially, links to these finding aids appeared with the document descriptions; now they are accessible via the catalog record link included in each document description. Section head Paul Chestnut and assistant head Allan Teichroew coordinated all aspects of the finding aid work and reviewed draft versions of each guide before final release. Archivists who reprocessed collections or rekeyed, revised, or updated finding aids for online display in connection with Words and Deeds include Joseph Brooks, Connie Cartledge, Nan Ernst, Karen Linn Femia, Melinda Friend, Bradley Gernand, Harry Heiss, Margaret McAleer, Michael McElderry, Michael Spangler, Joseph Sullivan, and Michael Womack. Preparation Section assistant Sheila Day and Manuscript Division clerk Darlene Foster also both assisted in rekeying and revising older paper finding aids.

Even with the cooperation and involvement of so many permanent Manuscript Division staff, Words and Deeds could not have been mounted as quickly and efficiently as it was without the assistance of junior fellows Stephen Urgola and Nazera Wright. With skill and enthusiasm, they tackled a variety of tasks, including assisting with the scanning of materials and quality review of images, researching and writing document descriptions, rekeying and revising finding aids, verifying name authorities, proofreading text, and other tasks.

Words and Deeds became a digital reality due to the never flagging energies of the Digital Conversion staff of the National Digital Library Program. Credits go to Dominique Pickett for coordinating the web design and graphics, Dave Woodward for programming for the indexing and display of the documents, Andrea Greenwood for enhancing graphic elements of the web pages, Melissa Smith-Levine for coordinating copyright and permissions for the collection, Carl Fleischhauer for advising on image formats, Steve McCollum for coordinating image quality review, Jane Bossert for coordinating the implementation of z39.50 links to catalog records, Tracey Salley for coding of web pages and supporting graphics work, Karen Billett for gathering facts for copyright and permissions, Pat Gawronski for reviewing the links, and Tamara Swora-Gober for advising on microfilm scanning.

In addition to the Manuscript Division and National Digital Library staff noted above, Words and Deeds benefitted from the work and expertise of several other Library staff members, especially Helena Zinkham of the Prints and Photographs Division, who was a much-appreciated source of advice, knowledge, and encouragement. Others who should be acknowledged are Ardie Bausenbach and Belinda Urquiza of the Automation Planning and Liaison Office (APLO), Larry Dixson of the Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Myron Chace of the Photoduplication Service, Domenico Sergi of the Systems Development Group I of Information Technology Services, and Holly Krueger, Alan Haley, and Jasmeen Khan of the Conservation Office.

When Words and Deeds was first released in September 1997, one of the items, a Civil War photograph album compiled by John Hay and located in the division's James Wadsworth Family Papers, was set aside to undergo conservation treatment and scanning at a later date. This work was subsequently completed in 1998-99, under the direction of Words and Deeds project directors Janice E. Ruth of the Manuscript Division and Tamara Swora-Gober of the National Digital Library Program (NDLP), who had assumed Martha Anderson's role as liaison to the Manuscript Division. Ms. Ruth and Ms. Swora-Gober would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their work in bringing this important Civil War photograph album online.

Andrew Robb and Mary Wootton of the Library's Conservation Office treated the album, supervised its safe handling and scanning, and provided useful descriptive information about its construction. Prints and Photographs Division staff member Phil Michel coordinated the scanning of the album by Angela Bukowy and her staff at JJT, Inc. Also Mr. Michel and his colleagues Kit Arrington, Mary Ison, and Sarah Rouse shared their expertise about photographs, including the scanning, reviewing, and framing of such images for online presentations. Manuscript Division staff member Kathleen Feeney assisted with the scanning of the album and cartes and conducted quality review of all digital images, with initial guidance by NDLP staff member Margaret Alessi.

Jan Lancaster, also of the NDLP, expanded on the cataloging and descriptive work begun by Manuscript Division junior fellow Stephen Urgola. She identified an elusive sitter, verified name authorities, recorded information about photographers, and assigned reproduction numbers to the black & white negatives, which had been created with the assistance of Irene Schubert in the Preservation Reformatting Division and Kevin Flood and Jim Higgins in the Photoduplication Service. Elizabeth Madden of NDLP created the database structure for the descriptive information about each carte, and she loaded the digital files on the server.

Dave Woodward modified parts of his original Words and Deeds programming, and he and Marc Dudley, both of NDLP, created portions of new programming for indexing and display of the album and carte images. Manuscript staff member Jennifer Gunter conducted final checks of image and catalog record links. Other NDLP staff members whose expertise and advice contributed to this initiative include Martha Anderson, Beth Davis-Brown, Dominique Pickett, and John Pull.

am Dec-8-99