CDS Project
Project Status: Complete
The New York Crystal Palace exposition was America's first world's fair. Exhibitors from around the world showed off their latest machinery, consumer products, and raw materials. The catalog of the 1853 New York Crystal Palace listed most of the items on display and indicated where they might be found.
The Crystal Palace project takes the catalog and presents it as a facet-based browser. The web-based tool allows users to list the items on display based on country of origin and item type (called a "class" in the catalog). The matching items are listed in a table and located on a floor plan of the exhibit space. The project was initiated and overseen by Prof. Steve Lubar, who worked with Brian Croxall to plan the project. Patrick Rashleigh and Emily Esten entered and cleaned the data, and Steffani Gomez coded the initial prototype, with additional coding and design by Patrick Rashleigh. Steve Lubar wrote an article on the project.
The 1853 New York Crystal Palace is a project of the Center for Digital Scholarship.
Contributors to this project include: Brian Croxall, Emily Esten, Steffani Gomez, Steven Lubar (Prof. of American Studies, History of Art and Architecture and History), and Patrick Rashleigh