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NEW WEBSITE FOCUSES ON AMERICAN QUILTING TRADITIONS
Innovative use of technology allows access to images, surveys, and
documentation
EAST LANSING, Mich. – A new web site is putting historical and
contemporary American quilts at the fingertips of anyone with a computer
and Internet access.
The Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.com)
brings together the resources of four separate archives, including the
Michigan State University Museum, the University of Louisville Archives
and Records Center, the Illinois State Museum, and the Tennessee State
Library and Archives.
From a Civil War-era family graveyard quilt to variations on a hexagon
theme to an original contemporary design featuring Elvis Presley, the
Index provides central, searchable access to more than 1,000 quilts documented
in the four archives. Quilts can be viewed by archive as well as searched
across the collections for patterns, individual quilters, themes, techniques,
and many other characteristics.
The four participating archives contributed quilt images, surveys and
documentation from state and regional projects and public collections
to create the Index, which was conceived and developed by the Alliance
for American Quilts in partnership with Michigan State University Museum/Great
Lakes Quilt Center and MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts and Letters
Online at Michigan State University.
The advantage of a single comprehensive Quilt Index is enormous, project
architects say.
"The Index provides a rich, deep resource for students, teachers,
scholars, quilt makers and the general public," said Marsha MacDowell,
curator of folk arts at the MSU Museum and professor of art and art history.
"Quilts and quilting are made far more accessible than ever before."
Quilts are windows onto the lives of the diverse cultures of the United
States. Traditionally considered a women's art form, they have attracted
wide interest and respect among scholars for the past 30 years. Besides
providing aesthetic pleasure through their craftsmanship and beauty, quilts
can be read as documents of history—revealing the stories of their
makers and users, as well as the traditions of families, artists and communities.
"Access to this varied cultural material across institutions illuminates
patterns in the art's growth and transformation," said Justine Richardson,
Quilt Index project manager at MATRIX.
Shelly Zegart, co-founder of the Kentucky Quilt Project and the current
board president of the Alliance for American Quilts, says the Quilt Index
is the culmination of more than 20 years of effort to document and preserve
the nation’s quilt heritage.
"The Quilt Index has long been a dream of many who study quilts
and work to preserve their history," she said.
The innovative technology behind the Quilt Index
Establishing a pattern, gathering materials and patiently piecing is
what it takes to make a quilt. That same process—using bits and
bytes of electronic information instead of bits and bolts of fabric—was
required to create the Quilt Index, an elegant and complex resource that
is more than the sum of its many parts. Major advances in digital library
technology combined with years of quilt documentation and research made
the development of this comprehensive on-line Index possible.
The Quilt Index architecture and web site interface design were constructed
by MATRIX, a center devoted to the application of new technologies in
humanities and social science teaching and research. The technological
challenge was to create a sophisticated database structure for an integrative
index and a distributed, web-based posting and delivery system. Each archive
needed flexible and individualized access to manage records remotely and
to accommodate information unique to its region or quilt documentation
project.
"The synergy of our research in digital library preservation initiatives
has permitted this broad application for public humanities, art history,
folklore, and history," said Mark Kornbluh, director of MATRIX and
associate professor of history at MSU.
"This is a powerful example of humanities technology at work."
The Quilt Index also required a comprehensive, controlled vocabulary
and common descriptions and fields to promote meaningful searching and
sorting capabilities. The faculty and curatorial staff at the MSU Museum's
Great Lakes Quilt Center worked with experts in quilt research, collections
management, documentation, and interpretation to develop, define and test
the data fields.
Data preservation is a key component of the project. As the Index grows
in the coming months and years, the digital information it contains is
protected by redundant back-up systems, especially important as more collections
from around the country begin to be incorporated.
Planning and implementation of the Quilt Index was made possible by grants
from the National Endowment for the Humanities division of preservation
and access. Following the completion of quilt entry from each of the four
pilot sites, Michigan State University and the Alliance for American Quilts
will begin working with other groups around the country to add records
for the tens of thousands of quilts that have been documented by state
quilt projects and collecting institutions.
Quilt Index partners
The catalyst for the project was the Alliance for American Quilts, a
national non-profit organization headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky,
that promotes projects to document, preserve, and share the history and
stories of quilts and quilt makers. The Alliance brings together institutions
and individuals from the creative, scholarly and business worlds of quilting
to advance the recognition of quilts in American culture. For more information,
visit http://www.centerforthequilt.org.
Michigan State University Museum, the state's natural and cultural history
museum, is home of the Great Lakes Quilt Center. The museum has a long
history of engagement in research, education, exhibitions and service
projects related to quilts and holds a collection of more than 500 quilts,
quilt-related ephemera and documentation. For more information, visit
http://www.museum.msu.edu.
MATRIX is devoted to the application of new technologies in humanities
and social science teaching and research. It creates and maintains online
resources, provides training in computing and new teaching technologies
and creates forums for the exchange of ideas and expertise in new teaching
technologies. For more information, visit http://www.matrix.msu.edu.
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