A Web site that Claire Eager (MSIS '03) and Kevin Cherry, a SILS doctoral student, helped design and build received an Outstanding Library Programs Award from the Southeastern Library Network Inc. (SOLINET). The award was presented at SOLINET's annual meeting May 7.

Cherry, who earned a MSLS in 1995 from SILS, and Eager worked as consultants to help create Port City Architecture On-Line, a Web site for the New Hanover County Public Library about historic buildings in Wilmington . The site, located at http://www.nhcgov.com/LIB/PortCityArch/, allows visitors to research their historic home, view research on other buildings and download an application for a plaque from the Historic Wilmington Foundation.

Beverly Tetterton, New Hanover's special collections librarian and plaque committee chair, initiated the project after winning a digitization grant from North Carolina Exploring Cultural Heritage Online. As part of the grant, 385 photographs and 1,900 pages of research reports related to buildings that have been granted historic plaques were digitized under the leadership of Joseph Shepperd, a library staff member. The library also worked in conjunction with the Historic Wilmington Foundation to add links to maps and information about past residents of the historic houses.

In 2000, SOLINET established the Outstanding Library Programs Awards to recognize library accomplishments that illustrate the benefits of library collaboration, serve as models of effectiveness and/or advance the development of innovative programs.

The Web site won SOLINET's award in the category of preservation and electronic information.

SOLINET is a not-for-profit library cooperative providing resource sharing for the educational, cultural and economic advancement of the southeastern United States and the Caribbean. It is the largest regional library network in the United States.