News Release
October 1999
Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania has awarded a $71,670
federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) NETShare to Reeves
Library, Moravian College and the Bethlehem Area Public Library for
a joint project to provide easy access to a wealth of information about
Bethlehem's first one hundred years and its Moravian heritage. The Commonwealth
Libraries of Pennsylvania, which has funded the Project, administer
this federal LSTA NETShare grant.
Appropriately titled, "Bethlehem Digital History
Project" this venture will ultimately feature relevant but currently
inaccessible material owned by several institutions. The project will
focus on the contributions of the Moravians during the early years of
the city's history. It will be available on the project’s new
web page and provide access to information concerning the industrial,
social and economic contributions of the Moravians as revealed through
primary sources.
The first phase of this ambitious project will be the
formation of a team to develop the web page. A project director will
work with Vernon H. Nelson, Archivist of the Moravian Archives, faculty
from the Moravian College History Department, faculty of the Moravian
Theological Seminary, and information and cataloging librarians from
both Reeves Library and Bethlehem Area Public Library. Key materials
will be selected to tell about Bethlehem's early years and develop the
means to provide digital access to the interested public.
The "Bethlehem Digital History Project" will
lay the foundation for an ongoing effort that will continue well beyond
the grant year. The recipient libraries will be able to add digital
images of materials indefinitely. They will also be able to develop
related material to make the information both interesting and entertaining
to the general public, local school children as well as the serious
researcher.
While the federal grant covers all monetary outlays of
the project, Moravian students and other volunteers will contribute
time to the project. Additionally, Moravian College is donating the
Internet domain name as well as the Internet and telephone connections.
Reeves Library will house the team during the grant year.
