Physics History Finding Aids Web Site (PHFAWS) project

The Physics History Finding Aids Website (PHFAWS) was implemented in 1999 with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Originally a small consortium of archives, it currently has finding aids from almost 200 insitutions worldwide, and we add more regularly. All the finding aids are cross-indexed, which means that researchers can find all related resources for each individual physicist at the particular institution.

At the Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting in Denver in August, 2000, we sponsored a session entitled "Everything But Encoding: Costs and Benefits of EAD Consortia" that described the creation of PHFAWS. Papers were given by:

Caroline Moseley, Bowdoin College, Session Chair (Introductory and Closing Remarks)

Katy Hayes, AIP, ("Nine-Tenths Planning, One-Tenth Tagging: The Physics History EAD Consortium")

Clay Redding, AIP, ("How Much Does it Cost?: A Comparative Cost Analysis"; later published as: Redding, Clay. 2001. "The economics of a cooperative EAD project." Library Hi Tech, 19(4), pp. 400-407.)

Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, MIT, ("What's In It for Me?: The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Joining a Consortium").