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The Olive Tree |
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The Olive Tree |
In Part I of this article, we discussed Fogler Library’s efforts to collect
records of Maine’s fishing industry, a major sector of the state’s economy but
one that is not was well documented as agriculture or logging.
In addition to collecting original archival materials, Fogler Library has been
working to digitize and make available online a large body of unique
fishing-related documentation that is held by various Maine repositories. The
primary purpose of this project is to facilitate historical research on fish
populations in the Gulf of Maine. For this reason, the project has focused on
digitizing logs of fishing vessels, catch and landing records, and records of
fish sales, as they provide data that can be used for this kind of research.
Thus far, we have digitized several thousand pages of materials from the
Boothbay Historical Society, the Castine Historical Society, Machiasport
Historical Society, Old Berwick Historical Society, Monhegan Museum, Maine State
Archives, Maine Maritime Museum, Penobscot Marine Museum and Fogler Library.
These can be searched and viewed at the University of Maine System’s Digital
Collection site:
http://libraries.maine.edu/gateway/advsearch.aspx
In the next few months we will be adding to this online collection, relevant
publications that are in the public domain and some additional archival
materials from Fogler Library and other repositories.
We will be seeking outside funding to expand the collection by scanning
materials in archives in Canada, Europe, and Massachusetts and by including
materials relating to freshwater fisheries in tributaries to the Gulf of Maine.
On an ongoing basis, we will be seeking to acquire or digitize relevant unique
materials that remain in private hands.
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