The Library of Congress National Digital Library Program has released four new collections. (This message is being widely posted) **************************************** The first release with more to follow -- Railroad Maps, 1828-1900 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrhome.html The maps presented are a selection from the Geography and Map Divisions holdings, based on the popular cartobibliography, Railroad maps of the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Original 19th-century Maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, Additional railroad maps from this bibliography will be added throughout 1998. The digital images were created by staff in the Geography and Map Division by scanning the original map on a large-format (24 x 34 inches) flatbed scanner using RGB (red- green-blue) color separation. The TIFF files were compressed, using a wavelet-based image compressing software called Multi-Resolution Seamless Image Database, or MrSID. This software integrates multiple resolutions of an image in a single file which enables Internet users to zoom in, getting more and more detail. *********************************************** The FSA/OWI photo collection -- From the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced. Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In the early years, the project emphasized rural life and the impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II. The core of the collection consists of about 164,000 black-and-white photographs. This release provides access to nearly 45,000 of these images; future additions will expand the black-and-white offering. The FSA-OWI photographers also produced about 1600 color photographs during the latter days of the project. ******************************************* Buckaroos in Paradise: Cattle Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945-1982 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ncrhtml/crhome.html The Buckaroos in Paradise collection presents documentation of a Nevada cattle-ranching community created by the Paradise Valley Folklife Project, with a focus on the family-run Ninety-Six Ranch. This initial release includes 42 motion pictures and 28 sound recordings that document the work and life of the Ninety-Six Ranch and its cowboys, known in the region as buckaroos. In the next release, an archive of about 2,400 still photographs will portray the people, sites, and traditions in the larger community of Paradise Valley, home to persons of Northern Paiute Indian, Anglo-American,Italian, German, Basque, Swiss, and Chinese heritage. Most of the collection was created by the folklife research project,undertaken by the American Folklife Center from 1978 to 1982 *********************************************** The first release with video to follow later this year -- An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490- 1920 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/dihome.html An American Ballroom Companion presents a collection of over two hundred social dance manuals at the Library of Congress. Along with dance instruction manuals, this online presentation also includes a significant number of histories, treatises on etiquette, and items from other conceptual categories. Many of the manuals also provide historical information on theatrical dance. All illuminate the manner in which people have joyfully expressed themselves as they dance for and with one another. Library of Congress staff selected this set of materials relating to ballroom dance from various divisions and collections in the Library. Selections came from the General Collections, the Music Division, and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. _________________________________________________________ Elizabeth L. Brown, M.L.S. National Digital Library Program, LIBN/NDL/VC(1300) Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540-1300 [log in to unmask] telephone: 202/707-2235 Library of Congress American Memory Home Page: http://memory.loc.gov/ _________________________________________________________