Conserving and Creating Digital Access to Rare Botanical Volumes Dating from the 16th to the 20th Century

FAIN: PW-50915-11

Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, IL 60022-1168)
Leora Siegel (Project Director: July 2010 to August 2015)

The digitization and selective conservation treatment of 45 rare and unique botanical volumes dating from the late sixteenth to the twentieth century, to be made publicly accessible via the Illinois Digital Archives.

The Chicago Botanic Garden seeks support for a three year project to digitally preserve and, where needed, conserve 45 rare botanical volumes formerly held by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The project will fill gaps in the nation's collection of digital volumes in the humanities by adding openly accessible rare volumes of scholarly value and public interest that are nowhere else digitized and cannot be digitized without disbinding. As part of the collection of a living museum that is open freely to the public 365 days a year, the originals will become available for rare book exhibitions, children's and adult education classes, and viewing in the rare book room. The project will promote the MHS collection as a whole when it disseminates news of the digitized volumes and narrates the history of the collection on the Chicago Botanic Garden's website and in its publications, at academic conferences, and through professional and academic listservs.