The Avian Archives of Iowa Online is Live!

In 2016, the Iowa State University Library received a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) through their Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives program supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant funded a two-year effort (May 2017-May 2019) to digitize and describe nearly 10,000 objects related to ornithology and bird study in Iowa from Iowa State University Special Collections and University Archives. The objects are available to the public through a newly created online database called the Archives of Iowa Online (avIAn).

Website visitors can view the included archival collections by searching nearly 10,000 documents and photographs; 2,000 Iowa bird watchers and conservationists; and 1,500 birding locations.

The digitized materials include a range of formats such as field journals, bird sighting notes, lantern slides, audio-visual recordings and rare bird documentations as well as materials documenting the history of bird clubs from across Iowa.

To access the site, visit: avian.lib.iastate.edu. For more information including finding aids and project documentation, visit the Iowa State University Library Digital Initiatives page. Questions can be emailed to birds@iastate.edu, and you can follow the project on Twitter @ISUAvian.

The avIAn Project was supported by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.