BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Industrial Archives & Library (IAL) announced today the launch of a new website for the organization. Central to the new comprehensive site is a unified search function that will streamline the research function and allow easier access to its library, archival and digital assets.
“We are very proud of our new website that places an emphasis on the ease of the search process. In addition, it will contain substantially more content, which is a major step forward in the evolution of our organization,” said IAL President & CEO, Stephen G. Donches. “Not only is it clean and visually dynamic, but it will greatly enhance the ability of researchers to more easily find the information and materials they are seeking, which is at the heart of our mission,” he said.
“Not only is [the new site] clean and visually dynamic, but it will greatly enhance the ability of researchers to more easily find the information and materials they are seeking, which is at the heart of our mission.”
Stephen G. Donches, President & CEO
The new site includes a main navigation bar with four drop-down menus: “Research” includes the unified search function and sub-pages describing its library, archival, digital assets and featured collections; “About IAL” describes all aspects of the organization, including its mission, history, collections, staff and Board of Trustees; “News” lists current IAL news and events that includes a listing of current IAL news releases; and, “Contact” describes all the ways that potential researchers, donors of archival and library materials and those seeking general information about the organization can contact the IAL.
Visitors unfamiliar to the site will find FAQ’s, research tips and instructional videos offering assistance on how to use the search function and access the IAL’s holdings. “The new site is designed so that everyone—from the very beginner to the expert—should be able to find resources easily,” said Missy Nerino, IAL’s Digital Archivist & Librarian, who coordinated the IAL’s new website development project. “Any researcher, regardless of skill level will have a positive experience when visiting our new site,” she added.
Launch of the site also coincides with the implementation of IAL’s digital asset management system which allows the organization to digitize and make available to researchers the IAL’s growing digital collections. “More and more, researchers want access to digital assets that they can actually see and work with remotely via the web,” said Nerino. “It’s the way the industry is going and with this new website, IAL can showcase its digital holdings like oral history interviews, photographs and other digitized documents and images.”
IAL developed the design and content with Lehigh Mining & Navigation, with creative assistance from Hammer Marketing. We invite you to visit it at www.industrialarchives.org
