@MHS the electronic newsletter of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Adams Papers Announces Digitization of Control File

Digitizing the Control File: The Adams Papers Catalog

Over the next two years, with a completion date of January 2011, the Adams Papers and the Library Collections Services departments will work jointly to convert over 100,000 paper catalog records into an XML database with links to the various digital archives available at the MHS website, such as the Founding Families Digital Edition,The Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive, and The Diaries of John Quincy Adams: A Digital Collection.

The project to digitize the control file has been designed to meet the needs of several very different audiences. As a straightforward electronic replacement of the paper file, it will provide the Adams Papers editors access to the extensive data, allowing them to easily update and add to the information. For the MHS library, the complete database will provide an item-level finding aid to the microfilm edition. This level of detail will be a boon for librarians, not just at the MHS but for all libraries that own the 608-reel Adams Papers microfilm edition. Lastly, the online Adams catalog-representing all known Adams materials and available free of charge on the MHS website—will have untold benefits for researchers of all ages and disciplines.

Creation of the Control File

The Adams Papers control file is a unique resource that describes not only every document in the Adams Family Papers, owned by the MHS, but also every known document or letter exchanged with the Adams family, held by hundreds of other repositories and private owners. These additional documents number over 35,000. Created initially as an in-house tool for the Adams Papers editors to plan the published volumes, the control file consists of over 100,000 four-by-six inch slips of paper, color-coded to represent their format and location. While it may appear to be a humble inventory of letters, the control file is an invaluable resource without which the work of publishing the Adams Papers would not be possible.

Adams Family Papers

The Adams Family Papers, the most significant manuscript collection owned by the MHS comprises the personal and public papers of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, diplomat Charles Francis Adams, and four generations of Adams family members. Dating from 1639 to 1889, the collection includes nearly 100,000 documents (or over a quarter of a million manuscript pages) of correspondence, letterbooks, diaries, literary manuscripts, speeches, and legal and business papers. To learn more about the collection, visit the MHS Library's Collection page.

Adams Papers Editorial Project

The MHS has housed the Adams Family Papers since 1902 when the Adams family of Massachusetts transferred their family archive from the Stone Library at the family's estate in Quincy to the newly built home of the Massachusetts Historical Society at 1154 Boylston Street. In 1954, a new generation of Adamses donated the massive collection as a gift to the MHS and that same year the Society established the Adams Papers editorial project. Over the past 55 years, the editorial project has published 42 volumes in four series: diaries, family correspondence, public papers, and portraits. To learn more about the editorial project, visit: http://www.masshist.org/adams_editorial/

The Adams Papers Catalog Blog: Track the Project

In addition to creating an invaluable electronic resource for Adams scholars, the project is also designed as a model for converting old item-level paper catalogs into electronic databases. Over the next two years, project staff will provide comprehensive technical documentation and project directives for use by other institutions to guide them in their own conversion projects. This information will be uploaded on a regular basis to the project blog, the Adams Papers Catalog Blog, and will allow all interested users to track the progress of the project as well as offer feedback and suggestions.