[MassHistPres] Update on MHC’s Scanning Project

[Peter STOTT]

As long-time readers of this Listserve will recall, since 2008 the
Massachusetts Historical Commission has been scanning the roughly
160,000 Inventory records and 4200 National Register nominations for
properties in Massachusetts.

Yesterday MHC completed the latest modifications to the MACRIS online
database, with new icons and revised explanatory help pages. Three new
icons should better display the availability of scanned Inventory and
National Register nomination files.  A new icon indicates if the NR
file refers to a Multiple Property Submission (MPS) document.

Additional modifications are planned for the near future, but this is
an opportune moment to update users of the progress in MHC’s scanning
project since it began in 2008.  As of completion of the current
scanning contract at the beginning of May 2012, MHC will have scanned
two thirds (66%) of the Inventory records in its files – representing
all towns between Hadley and Yarmouth.  Every record is represented by
a multi-page PDF file as well as a separate JPG image of the primary
photograph attached to each inventory form.  Each PDF file is
optically character recognized, making possible word searches across
each document, and ultimately (although not yet) across the entire
body of inventory records.

Prior to scanning, we have also worked with historical commissions to
update street addresses, where towns may have assigned or revised
house numbers since the original town inventories were undertaken. In
some cases, we have also been able to bring local commissions’
inventory files into sync with MHC’s copies.  While we are happy to
supply historical commissions with CDs of the scanned files, we also
encourage towns to link to MACRIS, from MHC’s own web page.   The West
Tisbury Historical Commission recently made this link, and also posted
on YouTube an informative video on using the MACRIS database (see
http://www.westtisbury-ma.gov/Boards/loc-hist-comm.html).

As of the beginning of April, MHC has also scanned and made available
on line roughly 2200 National Register nominations, including
accompanying maps and photographs. This represents all nominations
prepared since the year 2000 and many from earlier years.


Peter Stott
Preservation Planner
Massachusetts Historical Commission
pstott at sec.state.ma.us