The Problem

The Monks at the Franciscan Monastery in Loretto have acquired a large quantity of photographs and other documents, which are of historical significance. The collection has gotten too large and has become difficult for the Monks to manage and to easily locate documents.

The Solution

REAL Controls, working with our partners at Interactive Media Systems, developed a computer database for managing the documents. Through interviews with the Monks, we were able to include narratives with each document that explain its historical significance. A graphical interface was developed, for entering new documents into the database, for searching through the database and for printing reports on each document.

The Result

Using an image scanner and the graphical interface of the database, the Monks can easily insert images of documents into the database along with narratives explaining the significance of the documents. Searches can be performed on the type of document, date, author, or even text within the document. By printing reports from the database, the original documents can be securely stored in the Monk’s library. In addition, the database is available on CD-ROM for distribution outside of the Monastery.