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Fogler to utilize new media database

By Justin M. Wozniski

Posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2005, 12:00 am

megan marsanskis

DIGITAL HELP - Research librarian Nancy Lewis demonstrates how to find research materials online.

The University of Maine System Libraries have developed a searchable database of digital media for education, research and entertainment. The recently unveiled Gateway to Digital Media and is open for public use through the Raymond H. Fogler Library Web site.

The database began as a pilot project to compile an electronic collection of theses and dissertations and was expanded to include all types of digital media.

“We have created a system that harnesses collections,” Director of Library Information Technology Marilyn Lutz said. “The principle thing it is doing is providing access to unique resources at the University of Maine.”

Funding for the database’s creation was granted through a bond to the UMS’s libraries by the Institute of Museums and Libraries in Washington, D.C. All of its contents are from the collections of UMS Libraries and other institutions throughout the state.

The Institute of Museums and Libraries will be holding a conference this week where Lutz will present the Maine Music Box, an interactive multimedia digital music library. Laura Gallucci, assistant manager of URSUS, will accompany Lutz to the conference, providing performances with the Maine Music Box’s digital database features.

The Maine Music Box is just one feature of the new digital system, offering users the ability to view lyrics and images of cover sheets and music scores. Audio presentations feature playback and allow users to manipulate the music by changing various components of the pieces, such as instrumentation.

The Maine Music Box consists of approximately 22,000 pieces of music from 1865 to 1990, with an emphasis on music published between 1920 and 1990. The database browsing and search features are capable by title, collection, music subjects and cover art. Each selection includes biographical information on the music collection, including copyright and publisher information. Most of the music collection is from the Bagaduce Music Lending Library.

“We’re working with all kinds of media, not just words,” Lutz said. “We will eventually be able to create more specialized searches.”

The Gateway also includes access to dissertations and theses in full-text versions. The database indexes doctoral dissertations and master’s theses from UMaine graduate student research. Some authors of the collections have allowed limited access of the documentation to faculty and staff.

Joyce Rumery, dean of Fogler Library, said the Electronic Theses and Dissertations database provides a very strong resource for students to broaden their ability and research by seeing what others have done.

“We have a responsibility to provide this information and make it widely used,” Rumery said. “Fogler is, from the strategic plan, the research library of the state.”

Fogler Library is also the largest in the state of Maine.

Additional features include links to the William S. Cohen Papers, with access to electronic versions of the documents and images. The Cohen Papers are records that were created by Cohen and his staff as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and his terms as a U.S. Senator. The documentation includes photographs, correspondence, press releases, reports and voting records. The Cohen Papers are from the Special Collections Department at Fogler Library.

The Robert Venn Carr, Jr. Collection is also searchable through the Gateway. The Carr Collection features art exhibits from the University of Maine Museum of Art, which contains over 6,000 largely different contemporary art pieces. The collection was gifted by Robert Venn Carr, Jr., Class of 1944.

UMaine’s NetLibrary collection provides over 7,000 e-books, which are full-text versions of reference, literature and fiction books.

The database also contains searches within Maine government documents and publications of the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit.

The Hudson-Palmer Collection is soon to arrive on The Gateway. The collection will provide a database search featuring art exhibits located in the Hudson Museum. The arrival date of this collection has not been released.

Rumery said that UMS Libraries are currently pursuing the possibility of linking The Gateway to other libraries, in accordance with the research mission of Fogler Library, making the database more accessible for the public.

“Library collaboration began with Interlibrary Loans, now we’re moving into digital,” Rumery said. “Right now it’s just for UMS, with the possibility of linking it into state and local libraries.”