HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2010-07-26 TBL online searches
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Alexandra Gressitt
Library Director
agressitt@leesburgva.gov
703-737-7196
Online Index to Thomas Balch Library’s Archives and
Collections Now Offers Keyword Searching
Leesburg, VA (July 26, 2010) – Leesburg’s Thomas Balch Library has completed a major
enhancement to the library’s online collections index. The new feature allows keyword
searches of over 100 collection guides and indices from the library’s website.
The Thomas Balch Library’s collections include thousands of letters, diaries, account books,
business records, community organization records, and other archival materials documenting
the life, culture and history of Leesburg and Loudoun County. Archives and Manuscript
Collection Guides describe these collections in detail, providing researchers with historical and
contextual information about the materials and their creators. Researchers are now able to
search these collection guides for specific words or phrases, allowing them to easily identify
resource materials relevant to their research topics.
“This new search capability greatly improves access to our collections,” explained Alexandra
Gressitt, director of the Thomas Balch Library. “Before, researchers had to scan each Collection
Guide individually. Now, they can search by Subject, Person or Place across all of our
collections at once.”
The website enhancement was completed in-house by staff from the Thomas Balch Library and
the Information Technology Department. Wendy Wickens, IT Director, estimates that doing the
work in-house, rather than outsourcing the work, saved the Town over $8,000.00.
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