Laying a Foundation for Digital Collections at the Property Information Resource Center
Over a decade ago, the Harvard University Property Information Resource Center (PIRC) began digitizing its entire collection of more than a hundred thousand architectural drawings documenting the construction of the oldest university in the United States. Challenges and successes materialized throughout the project relating to the PIRC's mission, service level, and collection dependencies. Continuing to meet users' demanding needs while learning and revising best practices was ambitious yet ultimately achievable. In addition to producing high-quality images for digital preservation, secondary positive outcomes of the project were the conservation of drawings, improvements to the reference process, and the ability to expand these services beyond the traditional user group. To achieve the project goals, staff created a flexible workflow that ameliorated the condition of physical drawings in the collection while allowing them to uphold an established user service level agreement.ABSTRACT
Detail of dormitory slated for renovation, Property Information Resource Center, Rear elevation, Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott PIRC Number 922_0018, July 18, 1930.
PIRC on-campus storage space. Property Information Resource Center, May 14, 2019.
Drawing damaged due to lack of interleaving. Property Information Resource Center, West Elevation Cruft Laboratory, Harvard University Department of Grounds & Buildings, PIRC number 312_0013, July 1, 1914.
Damaged drawing of Memorial Hall showing the use of color. Property Information Resource Center, Ware and Van Brunt Architects, PIRC number 105_1001, circa 1870.
Cleaning surface dirt from drawing on drafting cloth. Property Information Resource Center, 2020.
Heavily creased drawing on tracing paper. Property Information Resource Center, Lowell House Library Plan Coolidge Shepley, Bulfinch and Abbot, PIRC number 947_0322, February 14, 1930.
Drawing measuring over 16 feet tall. Property Information Resource Center. Full scale detail of lower portion of bays of wing, PIRC number 578_0038 (1906).
Example of weight casting shadows on drawing. Property Information Resource Center, Section Through Toilet—Section 14, architect unkown, PIRC number 859_0231, May 9, 1931.
A typical contemporary drawing set rolled around tube with custom box and interleaving. Property Information Resource Center, 2019.
The number of drawings delivered to PIRC users annually between 2010 and 2019
Contributor Notes
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Alison Anderson is the senior processing archivist at the Property Information Resource Center at Harvard University. She is a certified archivist and holds a master's degree in library and information science with a concentration in archives management from Simmons University. She currently serves as senior cochair of the Design Records Section, is a member of the Digital Design Records Taskforce, and is founder of a local Boston architectural records group with fellow archivists to network and discuss the myriad issues surrounding design records.
Kristin Bjork is an archivist with more than fifteen years of experience working with many types of materials including three-dimensional museum objects, design records, oversized visual materials, and more traditional library and archival collections, both analog and digital. Bjork has a master's degree in library and information science from Simmons University along with a graduate certificate in museum studies from Harvard Extension School.
Kyle DeCicco-Carey served as senior reference archivist at the Property Information Resource Center at Harvard University for eight years. He holds a master's degree in library and information science from Simmons University, a digital archives specialist certification from the Society of American Archivists, and certifications from the Academy of Certified Archivists and the Harvard Extension School in nonprofit management. He has over twenty years of archives, library, and museum experience and is currently the director of the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Sylvia Welsh is the lead archivist at the Property Information Resource Center at Harvard University. She is a certified archivist and holds a master's degree in library and information science with a concentration in archives management from Simmons University. She has more than fifteen years of experience working exclusively with architectural records. Welsh participates in the SAA Preservation Section Steering Committee where she is the cochair for Communications.