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First Posted: 3/11/2012 
Time travel is a favorite theme of science fiction novels and a dream of those who have any interest in local history. 
Wouldn't you like to go back to Dec. 21, 1916 and attend a Scranton Symphony Orchestra concert? It would be incredible to see how Scranton Lace was manufactured in the early years of the 20th century. 
While physicists may tell you that time travel is impossible, a new collection in the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, "From Lace Makers to Coal Miners: Life in the Lackawanna Valley 1866-1920," is the next best thing. 
The LVDA was first unveiled by the Scranton Public Library in Nov. 2011 and contains high quality images of photographs, books, maps, and other items pertaining to the history of the Lackawanna Valley and surrounding areas. 
"From Lace-Makers to Coal Miners" was funded by a grant from the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority. The collection contains 40 items all from the Scranton Public Library. 
"These items are really hidden treasures that most visitors to the library never get to see. This collection gives you a great snapshot of Scranton when it was at its peak," said Martina Soden, the library's assistant head of reference and LVDA collection/metadata manager, 
The grant also funded scanning equipment which will enable the library to scan historical items in-house instead of sending them away to an outside scanning center. 
"We have reached the next phase where we can take on new projects at a lesser cost because we don't have to worry about shipping as many items to someone outside of the area," said Scott Thomas, the library's head of information technologies and LVDA project coordinator, adding adds that some outsourcing may still be required for fragile or very large items.
"We are excited to assist with such an innovative project," says Dan Perry, LHVA's director of operations. "The history of the Lackawanna Valley is the history of American immigration during the heyday of the nation's industrial preeminence. The Scranton Public Library's digital archives will make that history accessible to a world-wide audience. It is a pleasure to play a small role in making this possible."
According to Thomas, the library's main goal for the LVDA is to make sure that it is continually changing and growing. With this in mind, visitors to the site will see several changes. In addition to the new collection, LVDA's web site and blog have been enhanced thanks to funds from the LHVA grant. 
"I think visitors will like the way the front end looks, and the blog will allow for greater participation from the community," Soden said.
Additional collections are being developed and will debut later in the year. The first will include videos of famous poets, including 2010-11 U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin, who read their work in Scranton from the 1970s through the 1990s. The second will focus on Hurricane Diane which ravaged the area in 1955. This will be a multi-media collection featuring TV footage, photographs, and video interviews with witnesses of the disaster.

Digital archives allow type of time travel 500 VINE