The Disability History/Archives Consortium: A Portal to Disability History Collections

FAIN: PW-234683-16

University of Texas, Arlington (Arlington, TX 76019-9800)
Brenda S. McClurkin (Project Director: July 2015 to July 2018)

A planning project to develop an online portal to primary sources on the social, political, and medical history of disability, which would provide links to digitized sources and archival collections held throughout the United States.

This project will develop strategic plans for building an online reference to be known as the Disability History Portal. The DH/AC will embark on a year-long strategic planning process, beginning with a face-to-face meeting in Texas attended by over two dozen founding institutional members and academic advisors, followed by subcommittee work in succeeding quarters, as well as two GO TO Meeting quarterly conferences. The meetings and committee work will set the long-range objectives of the DH/AC, determine the technology infrastructure and phasing required to build the Portal, identify outreach strategies for state and specialized archives, and establish a sustainable governance and business structure. The group will develop a formal white paper to guide the Portal's development, including integrating the cataloging/metadata across member institutions, and assist in framing subsequent grant proposals to support its development and enhancement over time.