Library of Congress award winner

[P3D Adam L. Beckerman <adam@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Library of Congress is awarding libraries grants as part of 
its National Digital Library Initiative.  One of the winners is the 
New York Public Library to digitize:

Small Town America: Stereoscopic Views from the Dennis 
Collection, 1850-1910

This comes off the webpage located at 
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/nypl.html which has a 
sample on it that can be free-viewed, and there is also a link 
to more samples from the collection, but the link didn't work for 
me:

Contact person: Julia Van Haaften, (212) 930-0967, 
jvanhaaften@xxxxxxxx
Complements American Memory collections: Architecture and 
Interior Design, Conservation Movement, Daguerrotypes, Detroit 
Publishing Company, Farm Security Administration, Life Histories, 
Early Motion Pictures 

The 11,552 stereoscopic views selected from the Dennis Collection
document a geographical area that is under-represented in
photographic surveys of the United States, notably small towns and the
surrounding landscape in the Mid-Atlantic region. They contain subject
matter relating to the rise of industrialism, labor, local history, natural
events, urbanism, small town life, material culture, family life, and
scenic views. In general, stereo views are more journalistic than is
formal photography, and they feature subjects and interpretations not
readily available in other formats (local history, for instance). Their
popularity and mass production, their encyclopedic subject matter, and
their non-artiness make them important visual resources for individuals
of all ages. Stereo increases the informational value of an image by
sharpening the image, rendering the spatial organization of the scene
more accurately, and enhancing the readability of the content (e.g., text
on signboards, texture of materials). People will be able to look at the
photographs stereoscopically at their computer terminals with
inexpensive plastic viewers.

Adam


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