CSUN WILL COVER VALLEY SECESSION IN ONLINE ARCHIVE.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - A new grant will enable California State University, Northridge, to expand an online archive to include the San Fernando Valley secession movement and other local political and social events, officials said Wednesday.

CSUN's Oviatt Library, which operates the San Fernando Valley History Digital Library, has received a $137,000 state library grant to expand its online archive, said Robert Marshall, head archivist and project manager for the grant.

The digital library, at digital-library.csun.edu, gives the public access to local historical papers, photographs and other items online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With the new grant, the library hopes to include more information on issues such as the secession movement, restrictive covenants, housing patterns and school busing.

``Cal State Northridge is deeply committed to the preservation of the Valley's history,'' said Susan Curzon, dean of the university library. ``This project tells the story of the people who live here, their histories, hopes and dreams. The additional money will help ensure that the story is a complete one.''

The digital library opened last year with the help of a $157,000 state library grant and receives more than 2,000 search requests each month. Marshall said the library will begin the second phase of the project in November.

The library particularly wants to work with minority groups and families who may not have their photographs and papers in other area archives and collections. Marshall said the library is interested in street scenes and other community photographs that illustrate how Valley residents lived and worked over the years.

``What we've tried to do is develop a collection with global access to the history of the San Fernando Valley,'' Marshall said. ``It's based on not just the collections at the university, but the small, less-visible historical society private collections that document our history in one voice or another.''

The collection incorporates such collections as those from the Burbank, Calabasas, Campo de Cahuenga, Canoga-Owensmouth, Chatsworth and Topanga historical societies as well as the Little Landers Historical Society, Bolton Hall Museum and the Los Encinos State Historical Park.

``We're so community-driven here in the Valley - Chatsworth has its own historical society that tells the history of Chatsworth, Canoga-Owensmouth has its own collection, and they're only (a few) miles away,'' Marshall said. ``What we're trying to do is tie all the collections together.''

The database also includes items from the CSUN Center for Photojournalism and Visual History, the Geography Department Map Library and the university's special collections.

For more information on the project or to contribute items, call [phone].