Digital Star Dust: The Hoagy Carmichael Collection at Indiana University

Funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Indiana University Digital Library Program and Archives of Traditional Music are completing a two-year project to preserve and digitize the university's extensive Hoagy Carmichael collections. When the Project ends in September 2000, the Project team will have preserved thousands of items, including sound recordings, photographs, sheet music, lyric sheets, and more, pertaining to the life and work of this master of the American popular song. Much of this content is already accessible to the public through a multimedia Web site. More digital content and improved search capabilities will be added in the coming months. While the Project builds upon previous experience and expertise, the complexity of the Project has presented numerous challenges. This paper describes some of these challenges and their resolution, along with a brief discussion of remaining issues