JFK's Legacy Informs and Inspires the World with Help from Sitecore and Velir
The John F. Kennedy Library Digitizes Museum's Archives; Hundreds of Thousands of Documents, Photographs and Recordings Now More Accessible and Useful for Education and Public Service
Sitecore and Velir (www.velir.com) today announced that the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library launched a new website with Sitecore's software to make the JFK Library's Digital Archives more accessible and useful worldwide. The website went live last week in preparation for today's 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inauguration as the 35th President of the United States.
JFKLibrary.org was designed to significantly improve access to 200,000 pages of text, 1,500 photos, 1,250 files of audio recordings and moving images and 340 phone conversations. The new website now connects the public to archival assets with an enhanced search function for easier and faster access.
"We wanted to ensure that we created a virtual experience that made it easy for people from around the world to discover and access educational and inspirational content that has the power to inspire all generations. “From a technology perspective, improved site navigation was a large focus of the website redesign. The website needed to be easy to navigate so that it properly showcased the newly available information. For example, the new search engine allows visitors to enter the word 'moon' and pull up virtually every document, tape, and speech related to JFK's mission to land men on the moon."
— John Hawley, Director of Web Development at JFK Presidential Library & Museum
Sitecore and partner, Velir, a full-service Web development agency, and a number of other contributing technology players collaborated to help the JFK Library staff move from the paper to digital era. Sitecore's Content Management System (CMS) provides flexibility to integrate with third party applications, and scalability to create extraordinary Web experiences. Velir leveraged this flexibility to customize the new JFKLibrary.org and integrated the Sitecore CMS solution to enable online video, faceted search, and digital asset management. Velir also modernized the look and feel of the new site to adhere to JFK Library's branding guidelines.
“This unprecedented project makes use of the latest advances in Web Content Management,” said Corey Caplette, director of development, Velir. “The JFK Library’s Digital Archives are influencing the manner in which libraries preserve history. Now visitors from all over the globe are only a click away from accessing historic information.”
The Web project called, “Access to a Legacy,” is the largest, most advanced digital archive created by a Presidential Library not “born digital.” Among the documents include a handwritten version of Kennedy's inaugural address and notes and tapes made during the Cuban missile crisis.
About The John F. Kennedy Library
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and is supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Kennedy Presidential Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.
About Sitecore
Sitecore redefines how organizations engage with their customers online, powering experiences that can sense and adapt to a customer's needs to increase revenue and customer lifetime value and satisfaction. Sitecore was the first Web Content Management system (WCM) to incorporate marketing automation, intranet portal, e-commerce, Web optimization, social media and campaign management technologies into a cohesive, integrated open platform. Sitecore's software makes it easy for businesses to identify, serve, engage and convert new customers online.