Strategic Planning. Established in 2001 and funded with an appropriation of $99.8 million from the U.S. Congress, the Library's Office of Strategic Initiatives continued planning for the development and implementation of a congressionally approved National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The goal of the NDIIPP is to encourage shared responsibility for digital content and to seek national solutions for the continuing collection, selection and organization of historically significant cultural materials regardless of evolving formats; the long-term storage, preservation and authentication of those collections; and rights-protected access for the public to the digital heritage of the American people.
Internet Resources. The Library continued to expand its electronic services to Congress and the nation through its award-winning Web site. A new online monthly magazine called "Wise Guide" was added to point newcomers to the many useful, educational resources on the site in a comprehensible and visually appealing way. During the year, more than 2 billion transactions were recorded on all of the Library's computer systems–a 50 percent increase over the previous year. The following are selected resources available on the Library's Web site.
Online Catalog. The Library continued to provide free global access to its online public catalog (OPAC). The site recorded more than 287 million transactions during the year–an average of more than 24 million transactions a month, up from 19 million a month the previous year.
Online Historical Collections Fiscal 2002 Additions
- Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887 *
- The Church in the Southern Black Community, 1780-1925 *
- Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry
- The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 *
- The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
- Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860
- Pioneer Trails: Overland to Utah and the Pacific *
- Reclaiming the Everglades: South Florida's Natural History, 1884-1934 *
- Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
- "Suffering Under a Great Injustice": Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar
- Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865
- Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890 *
- Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940-1950
- Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting
* LC/Ameritech Award winner
American Memory. At year's end, 7.8 million American historical items were available on the American Memory Web site. In 2002, 14 new multimedia historical collections were added to the American Memory Web site, bringing the total to 116. Nine existing collections were expanded with more than 380,000 digital items. Use of the American Memory online collections increased from 28.5 million transactions a month in 2001 to 38.8 million a month in 2002.
America's Library. Work continued to expand the content and features available on America's Library (www.americaslibrary.gov), an interactive Web site for children and families that draws upon the Library's vast online resources. The site has won numerous awards and is one of the most popular online offerings of the Library. America's Library logged more than 154 million transactions during the year, an average of nearly 13 million transactions a month.
THOMAS. The public legislative information system known as THOMAS continued to be a popular resource, with nearly 13 million transactions logged on average each month. Two new features, Presidential Nominations and Treaties, were added. The Status of Appropriations table, a frequently updated and heavily used resource, was redesigned.
Global Gateway. Global Gateway, a project to foster international collaboration for joint digitization efforts and provide access to the Library's unsurpassed global resources, was expanded during the year. The site now includes: (1) Meeting of Frontiers, a bilingual Russian-English Web site showcasing materials from the Library of Congress and partner libraries in Russia and Alaska; and (2) Spain, the United States and the American Frontier: Historias Paralelas, a bilingual Spanish-English Web site initially including the Library of Congress, the National Library of Spain, and the Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular of Seville. A third component of the site, The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands, is underway and will be released in July 2003. This third collaborative digital effort between the Library of Congress and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (the national library of the Netherlands) will focus on explorations by the Dutch in the Americas and Dutch influence on American culture.
Online Exhibitions. Seven new Library exhibitions were added to the Library's Web site in 2002, bringing the total to 41; three continuing exhibitions were updated. This feature allows users who are unable to visit the Library in person to view many of its past and current exhibitions online.
Online Exhibitions Added in Fiscal 2002
- Al Hirschfeld: Beyond Broadway
- Margaret Mead: Human Nature and the Power of Culture
- Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis and Clark and the Revealing of America
- Roger Stevens Presents: Stage for a Nation
- The Water-Babies: Illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith
- When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood
- Witness and Response: September 11 Acquisitions at the Library of Congress
