ATLANTA (July 18, 2019) — The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library was awarded a one-year grant totaling $16,190 from the LYRASIS Catalyst Fund to support its project “Using Linked Open Data for Georgia’s Natural, Cultural and Historic Organizations’ Disaster Response.” The Library is one of only five institutions to receive this award in 2019 for the purpose of fostering innovation leading to new services and programs among members and knowledge communities worldwide.

The grant begins this month and will be used to create a publicly editable directory of Georgia’s Natural, Cultural and Historical Organizations (NCHs), allowing for quick retrieval of location and contact information for disaster response.

This centralized website will provide first responders with an easy-to-use interface to search by city or county for cultural heritage organizations in affected areas. The Library will also create datasets and document workflows, in an effort to allow other states to reuse and adapt the project’s processes.

Directory information will be compiled, updated, and uploaded with geolocation information to Wikidata, the linked open database from the Wikimedia Foundation. The information will then be delivered via a website that will display embedded subsets of the directory, allowing emergency responders to quickly search for NCHs in disaster areas.

Partners on this project include Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC), Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS), Georgia HomePLACE (A project of the Georgia Public Library Service), Heritage Emergency Response Alliance (HERA), Georgia Library Learning Online), and GAMG (Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries), with additional partner organizations to join in the future.

The website will launch in June 2020. Click here for more information on the LYRASIS Catalyst Fund.

About the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library serves the nation’s largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities, which includes Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College. As the intellectual center of this prestigious academic community, the Library’s mission is to provide the highest level of information resources and services in support of student and faculty success and the cultural preservation of the Atlanta University Center. In addition to the aesthetic benefits of this state-of-the-art facility, the Library has evolved into a model repository of information resources and a front-runner in the innovative delivery of digital resources. The AUC Woodruff Library is the winner of the 2016 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award in the university category from the Association of Collegiate and Research Libraries (ACRL). Library CEO Loretta Parham was named the ACRL 2017 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. Additional information about the AUC Woodruff Library is available here.

About LYRASIS

LYRASIS (www.lyrasis.org), a technology and services membership 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting enduring access to our shared academic, scientific and cultural heritage through leadership in open technologies, content services, digital solutions and collaboration with archives, libraries, museums and knowledge communities worldwide. With 1,700+ institutions supporting LYRASIS’s 10 Community Supported Programs and another 200 institutions that use its hosting and migration services, members enjoy the economies of scale and the shared benefit coming from the effect of networks.