November 16, 1998

Contact:
Guy Lamolinara, Library of Congress (202) 707-9217
Kitty Borah, Shell Oil Company (713) 241-4544

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Shell Oil Foundation Donates $500,000 To Library To Put Historic American Engineering Record On-Line

WHAT: Shell Oil Company Foundation will donate $500,000 to Library of Congress to digitize the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). Original materials will be on display, and there will be an on-line demonstration of the HAER collection.

WHO: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress J.N. Doherty, Senior Vice President, Shell Oil Company Foundation

WHEN: 12-2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 19

WHERE: Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Room LJ-119

BACKGROUND

The Shell Oil Company Foundation is donating $500,000 for the digitization of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which documents historic architecture of national or regional significance. The materials will be available from the American Memory Collections of the Library of Congress at www.loc.gov/.

HAER, a program of the National Park Service and founded in 1969, conducts surveys and provides detailed documentation of America's historic industrial, engineering and transportation resources as well as the working and living conditions of the people associated with them. HAER, and its companion collection, the Historic American Buildings Survey, are transferred to the Library for public service and preservation. The collections are among the largest and most heavily used in the Library of Congress.

Note: This event will include lunch.

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PR 98-186
11/16/98
ISSN 0731-3527