With some generous donations, the Champaign County History Museum has begun to digitize it’s 20,000-object collection. Right now there are more than 500 digital object files (complete with descriptions and donor information); more are being added weekly.
Search the collection here, and read the full press release below.
The Champaign County History Museum is today launching “Champaign County History Online.” This new online tool will allow our visitors to expand their knowledge by peering deeper into our museum’s expansive collection. Our museum holds more than 20,000 unique objects in our permanent collection and our mission is “To discover, collect, preserve, exhibit, study and interpret objects relating to the history of Champaign County, and to provide educational programs about the County’s heritage and the Museum’s collections.” Today, that mission takes a huge step forward with the release of this new online portal.
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY HISTORY ONLINE: https://champaigncountyhistory.catalogaccess.com/
Visitors will find the ability to search or browse over 500 objects, with new objects being added weekly. In addition, guests will view images of those objects along with donor and description information. Over time, our team of volunteers hopes to make the entire 20,000+ object collection fully accessible to the public. Researchers can now browse more than 675 books, 350 subject files, and 180 photo files in our library collection. Those files may then be viewed by scheduling a time in our newly revitalized research library. The museum also offers researchers access to our large format scanner and a new computer workstation.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the generous contributions of Adele Suslick and grants from the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois and the Rotary Club of Champaign. In addition, the site was developed in partnership with our collections management provider PastPerfect, the world’s leader in museum collection management. For more information on the Champaign County History Museum, visit www.champaigncountyhistory.org. The Champaign County History Museum is a member-funded 501c3 not-for-profit organization located in the historic Cattle Bank at the corner of First Street and University Avenue in Champaign.
Top image: Curtis Morris, Ink Drawing of Church Street between Neil Street and Randolph Street. Image from Champaign County History Museum online archive.
