Atlanta, Ga., January 7, 2025: Equinox Open Library Initiative, a trusted leader in open source technology development and support for libraries, is pleased to announce its collaboration with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) to provide technical consulting for HSP’s implementation of the open source discovery layer, VuFind®.
Equinox worked with HSP to update their two VuFind® systems: Discover (https://discover.hsp.org) and Encounters (https://encounters.hsp.org). These systems bring together metadata from their library catalog, encoded archival description (EAD) records from Archivists’ Toolkit, records from the Orphan Society of Philadelphia, and digital records from the HSP Digital Library and the Philadelphia Record Photograph Morgue.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania was established in 1824 and preserves a collection of over 21 million manuscripts, books, and images. Through educator workshops, research opportunities, and public programs the Historical Society of Pennsylvania seeks to make history relevant and exhilarating for all.
HSP developed a mini-ILS to maintain their library records, but later partnered with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to host HSP’s catalog. At the time, HSP’s Discover system could not integrate content from the Penn catalog. Equinox worked with HSP and Penn staff to establish a data feed to retrieve records from the catalog and make them visible in VuFind®. Equinox also upgraded HSP’s Discover system from VuFind® 5 to version 9.1.
“Equinox’s mission includes providing IT support and services for special collections and archives seeking to expand discoverability and access to collections using open source technologies,” said Felicia Beaudry, Business Development Manager at Equinox. “We were pleased to work with HSP to update their VuFind® systems and help them complete the work they started with the University of Pennsylvania.”
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For more information:
Laura Barry
Communications Coordinator
Equinox Open Library Initiative
EquinoxOLI.org
laura.barry@equinoxOLI.org
877.OPEN.ILS (877.673.6457)
About Equinox Open Library Initiative
Equinox Open Library Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the successor to Equinox Software, Inc. Equinox’s mission as a nonprofit is to promote and support a thriving ecosystem for open source library communities in order to provide libraries worldwide with innovative open source solutions. Equinox is devoted to reducing barriers to library technology and services, expanding library access to open source software, and providing high quality technology, consulting, and support services. To learn more, please visit https://www.equinoxOLI.org.
About VuFindⓇ
VuFindⓇ is an open source discovery product for libraries and archives developed and maintained by Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library. VuFindⓇ enables library users to discover the entirety of libraries’ collections, including catalog records, journals, digital items, and more. VuFindⓇ is open source and customizable—the interface may be configured to best meet users’ needs. For more information on VuFindⓇ: https://www.equinoxoli.org/products/vufind/.