Perhaps I may be able to lead you in the right direction. As far as virtual access to the collection there are many options. At the recent NEMA Annual Conference in Portland, Maine, Paul O'Pecko and others from Mystic Seaport presented information about their digitizing project funded in part by the Library of Congress and by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. An important part of their successful grant application for the Mellon foundation was that the project would have to show that, once completed, the digital database could generate its own funding. You would have to ask Mr. O'Pecko what he said exactly, or you could use my suggestions: To generate funding from a digital collections database: Use the New England Historic Genealogical Society and Stratford Hall Plantation (the Home of Robert E. Lee) as examples. The NEHGS charges a fee to members to access their databases of genealogical records and other local histories. Stratford Hall (since aboout Sept 1996) has been placing a single digitized document (possibly with a transcription) on its website each month. I would suggest that you "tease" an audience by adopting a plan like that at Stratford Hall, and then charge website visitors to more fully search your private collection. Just a suggestion. My best, Laura L.W.S. Petznick, Ph.D. [log in to unmask] 615-824-7371 SEEKING EMPLOYMENT ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).