About the Collection

The La Jolla Historical Society collects materials in a wide range of formats and media, including books, newspapers, magazines, maps, printed ephemera, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and architectural drawings. Of particular importance are the Society’s visual collections, which include over 10,000 photographic prints. The majority of the collection is currently housed in a 1909 cottage, with plans to move into a new facility by late 2008. This move will allow not only increased access to the collection but also will allow for improved collection storage and more controlled, preservation-friendly environment.

Currently, there are a number of collection management initiatives underway that will ensure a smooth transition into the new facility. Part of the process necessary to move the collection into the new spaces will be a massive re-housing effort which includes digitizing, cataloging and re-housing the photographic print collection, reformatting finding aids, reducing redundancies and duplicates, and making long-lasting preservation photocopies to replace damaged and deteriorating documents and printed materials. These tasks have both a material cost and labor cost associated with them but they will greatly improve current arrangement, display and interpretation, and preservation of the collection.