07.02.08
YCCC Library partners with the Seashore Trolley Museum
YCCC Library and the Seashore Trolley Museum of Kennebunkport are getting busy this summer with a digitization project of the Museum’s postcard collection.
Close-up image at the Maine Memory Network
Several community service volunteers from local high schools are hard at work scanning and cataloging the Streetcar Postcards Collection which contains over 1000 postcards from the 1900’s to the present, most of them featuring trolley cars from around the nation.
Katie Sullivan scanning cards
Postcards with images from the state of Maine are being uploaded into the Maine Memory Network, an online museum of digital images. These flimsy bits of cardboard can be a surprisingly valuable primary source to students and researchers because they capture not only a graphic image in time, but, very often, interesting correspondence on the flip side that gives a sense of life more than half a century ago.
Maddy Bunker and Cheyenne Bastille examining and describing cards
Our volunteers spend time examining each card, using a magnifying glass if necessary, to identify elements in the pictures, including buildings, shops, and streets. They then gather additional information on any features that may be interesting to researchers. This information is included in the descriptive cataloging for each card. Our goal for the summer is to get the entire collection digitized, cataloged, protected with archival sleeves, and uploaded online for the world to enjoy.
