The Maine State Archives has launched its first-ever catalogue of its holdings, via the online ArchivesSpace portal.
For the first time in the Maine State Archives’ 56-year history, researchers can now search through the bureau’s listing of collections online to see if the archives is the right resource for their purposes, before contacting an archivist to access the actual documents.
“This is a first step, for the public to have an awareness of what we hold, and we will be building it into a public resource that will eventually link up with the actual digital copies of items such as documents and maps that we have posted to DigitalMaine,” said Katherine McBrien, Deputy Secretary for Archives.
The launch of the Maine State Archives ArchivesSpace portal is the product of five years of work.
“Maine State Archives is a treasure trove of information about our state’s history, and we are excited to take this first step toward making this information more widely available online,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. “Imagine students being able to access remarkable primary source documents from the classroom or their living rooms for research and learning. Our vision is that future generations will be able to access these precious documents from the comfort of their homes, schools or work.”
The Maine State Archives maintains approximately 100 million pages of official state records considered to be permanently valuable, such as bills introduced in the Legislature, Governor’s Executive Council Reports, election returns, deeds, maps, and military records through World War I.
