The Lincoln Legal Papers and the new age of documentary editing

Abstract

New technologies have had a transforming effect on documentary editing. The Lincoln Legal Papers uses computer technology extensively to organize and maintain control over 100,000 documents from some 5,000 cases associated with Abraham Lincoln's legal career. The project chose to publish the Complete Documentary Edition on CD-ROM because of the increased flexibility of CD-ROM technology over traditional microfilm. CD-ROM publications deliver easily accessible, quality images at an affordable cost. Microfilm excels only as a durable preservation medium, but electronic media are striving to reach archival standards for long-term preservation. The images of documents from Lincoln's legal career are organized around a relational database which contains information about each document and the case to which it pertains. Users of the multi-disc CD-ROM edition will access this information through an interface that permits both simple and complex searches, provides background and reference materials, and offers extensive help for novices. The Lincoln Legal Papers, alone and as part of the Model Editions Partnership, continues to be a pioneer in the use of computer technology for organizing, indexing, and publishing documentary editions.