posted April 07, 2008 09:28 PM               

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San Diego Air and Space Museum Announces New Online Catalog

The San Diego Air & Space Museum now offers a way for the public to search the contents of its Library & Archives' extensive collection of items related to aviation, space history and technology. AeroCat, the Museum's new online catalog, offers immediate Internet access to thousands of items and can be searched through the Museum's website.

"We're excited about sharing these invaluable resources. We have now made available the Museum's collection 24-hours a day and this will be especially gratifying for international inquiries," said the Museum's head archivist, Katrina Pescador. "The Library & Archives will come alive for researchers and aviation enthusiasts around the world."

Recognized nationally and internationally by researchers, media and students alike, the San Diego Air & Space Museum's Library and Archives is the third largest aerospace library in the nation and holds many unique, rare and one-of-a-kind items. The collection also holds the depth and breadth of San Diego's rich aviation heritage, consisting of books, periodicals, films and videotapes, more than two million photographs, aircraft manuals and drawings, and along with other archival materials. Although only the book collection is currently searchable online, other types of materials will be added throughout the year.

The cataloging software developed by EOS International is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. EOS, with more than 3,000 clients worldwide, is a leader in library automation software for specialized libraries such as the Museum's.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum, located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and accredited by the American Association of Museums. It opened in San Diego's Balboa Park in the early 1960s, but lost its entire collection of aircraft, artifacts, and library and archival materials in a devastating fire in 1978. It has been rebuilding its collections since reopening in the Park's historic Ford Building in 1980 and is now able to offer world class aerospace exhibits, an extensive library and archives, and a nationally acclaimed aircraft restoration and preservation program.

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