Jeremy Dibbell

Fri 4/3, 5-7pm, SALON - Series: The Once and Future Library, part 6: Massachusetts Historical Society librarian Jeremy Dibbell on The Libraries of Early America project. Using the online book-cataloging site LibraryThing.com, scholars and volunteers from around the country are creating digital catalogs of personal and institutional libraries from the colonial and early national periods, including those of America's first three presidents, Benjamin Franklin, Lady Jean Skipwith, and the Providence Athenaeum's own Founders' Collection. These digital catalogs allow users to efficiently compare libraries (what books did John Adams and Benjamin Franklin have in common?), and search collections that may not exist today in physical form or are spread across multiple institutions and private collections. Users can enter their personal libraries into LibraryThing and see what books they have in common with early American readers.

For more on Libraries of Early America, including links to the various collections now in place or in progress: www.librarything.com/groups/PLEA.

For our Founders' Collection: www.librarything.com/profile/ProvidenceAthenaeum.

For Athenaeum members and their guests. Series Sponsor: Dan Siegel, M&S Rare Books, msrarebooks.com