Rome Wasn't Digitized in a Day - Council on Library and Information ...

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Greek keyboard), metal and diameter). The user can also select from a list of cities or features on the
obverse or reverse design of the co<strong>in</strong>. The second specialized type is an iconographic search that
exam<strong>in</strong>es the type of imagery used on co<strong>in</strong>s, the user must first choose a design group (animals,
architecture, deities, games, heroes, imperial family, object), then choose from a list of relevant
options, and f<strong>in</strong>ally choose to search all prov<strong>in</strong>ces or an <strong>in</strong>dividual one (e.g., animals—chimera—
Achaea). 431 The third type of specialized search is an advanced search that <strong>in</strong>cludes m<strong>in</strong>t location,
date, magistrate, design and <strong>in</strong>scriptions, physical characteristics, and co<strong>in</strong> reference. Rather than
records of <strong>in</strong>dividual co<strong>in</strong>s, this database conta<strong>in</strong>s records for <strong>in</strong>dividual co<strong>in</strong> types, with both
thumbnail and high-resolution images and a full description. Geographic access is also provided to the
collection through a Flash map 432 where users can either browse a map and choose a city or pick from
a list of cities where select<strong>in</strong>g a city will take them to a list of match<strong>in</strong>g co<strong>in</strong> types. This database
provides numerous means of access<strong>in</strong>g its collections and is unique <strong>in</strong> that it supports search<strong>in</strong>g of
Greek <strong>in</strong>scriptions found on co<strong>in</strong>s.
The Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (SNG) 433 is one of the larger Greek numismatics databases
available onl<strong>in</strong>e. This website is a British Academy Research Project and has the major purpose of
publish<strong>in</strong>g “illustrated catalogs of Greek co<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> public and private collections <strong>in</strong> the British Isles.”
SNG has reta<strong>in</strong>ed a traditional broad def<strong>in</strong>ition of Greek “to <strong>in</strong>clude the co<strong>in</strong>s produced by all ancient
civilisations of the Mediterranean and neighbour<strong>in</strong>g regions except <strong>Rome</strong>, though it does <strong>in</strong>clude the
Roman Prov<strong>in</strong>cial series often known as 'Greek Imperials'.” While the SNG had traditionally focused
on pr<strong>in</strong>t publication, it has <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly utilized electronic publication and has developed a relational
database for this website that <strong>in</strong>cludes 25,000 co<strong>in</strong>s from the SNG volumes. This database can be
searched by a variety of fields, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g collection, state, m<strong>in</strong>t, material, ruler, period, denom<strong>in</strong>ation,
hoard, and obverse or reverse co<strong>in</strong> description, among others. Records for <strong>in</strong>dividual co<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong>clude
thumbnail images and full descriptive <strong>in</strong>formation. 434
Another large onl<strong>in</strong>e collection is the Numismatische Bilddatenbank Eichstätt, 435 which provides
various means of access to a virtual library of co<strong>in</strong>s from several German universities and museums,
but particularly from the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt. While the <strong>in</strong>terface is available
only <strong>in</strong> German, this database <strong>in</strong>cludes more than 5,600 objects and there are various ways of
access<strong>in</strong>g the co<strong>in</strong>s. A user can conduct a full-text search of all the database fields, browse a list of all
words found <strong>in</strong> the co<strong>in</strong> legends, or choose a controlled keyword from the thesaurus. In addition, a
number of <strong>in</strong>dexes to the collection can be browsed, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g personal names, m<strong>in</strong>t locations, dates,
and collection. There are also a variety of ways to browse the entire collection, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a short list
with images, a standard list of images and descriptions, a picture gallery, or a simple list of pictures.
Individual co<strong>in</strong> records <strong>in</strong>clude high-resolution images, the name of the person on the co<strong>in</strong>, the date of
the co<strong>in</strong>, and the collection it is from.
Universities and colleges often hold small numismatic collections as well. 436 The University of
Virg<strong>in</strong>ia Art Museum has recently digitized a collection of nearly 600 Greek and Roman co<strong>in</strong>s. 437
Interest<strong>in</strong>gly, this entire collection was described us<strong>in</strong>g Encoded Archival Description (EAD), 438 a
431 http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/icono/prov<strong>in</strong>ces=sel&prov<strong>in</strong>ce-1=Achaea&stype=icono&design_group=4&design-0=114&step=3&next=F<strong>in</strong>ish
432 http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/maps/flash/
433 http://www.sylloge-nummorum-graecorum.org/
434 http://www.s110120695.websitehome.co.uk/SNG/sng_reply2a.phpverb=SNGuk_0300_3363
435 http://www.ifaust.de/nbe/
436 For example, see the Pr<strong>in</strong>ceton University Numismatic Collection (http://www.pr<strong>in</strong>ceton.edu/~rbsc/department/numismatics/)
437 http://co<strong>in</strong>s.lib.virg<strong>in</strong>ia.edu/
438 http://www.loc.gov/ead/