Chester County History Center

Purpose: Sustaining Cultural Heritage The Chester County Historical Society will expand and enhance staff and public access to its entire permanent collection (museum, library, photo archives, and county archives) by improving technology used in the Collections Department for (1) upgrading its computer network; (2) cataloging unprocessed collections; and (3) migrating existing card- and paper-based catalog records to one electronic in-house catalog system. This project, which is integral to the mission of the Chester County Historical Society, was developed from the core objectives identified in the Society's long-range plan. It is a direct outcome of the long-range goal of qualitative growth of the Society's mission and is specifically related to the goals and objectives in technology, collections care and access, and collections use. The project, which is phase 1 of the long-range plan, will result in a comprehensive, permanent electronic database. Collections staff, interns, and volunteers will focus collections management efforts on specific segments of the Society's holdings that are currently not accessible or not electronically accessible, creating the foundation for a publicly available linked institutional cataloging system for one of the country's premier county history collections.