Across the Director's Desk
In late July the library received a donation of the papers of former Orange County author and reporter, Mildred Parker Seese. We are grateful to her niece, Barbara Rivette, for the donation, and the staff is in the process of determining how best to preserve and catalog the materials.In the spring, we purchases a software program which has enabled us to begin indexing the Independent Republican. This work has begun, although we are still refining the process. It will be some time before the database will be available to researchers. The software allows us to develop additional indices, so we have determined to create a Local History Index for our documents. This will enable a researcher to search all of our files in one index. Our Sharts Room files include the Seese papers, the Merritt papers, the archival collection (largely Wisner papers), as well as general Orange County, Goshen and Family files.
Building these indices is labor intensive. We are seeking volunteers to help with data entry. If you have an interest in seeing your local history made accessible, are a competent typist, and have some time to donate, please contact me at 294-6606.