Overview: VIA & OLIVIA

Visual Information Access (VIA) is a public union catalog of visual materials at Harvard. VIA contains descriptive records and images representing paintings, sculpture, photography, drawings, prints, architecture, decorative arts, trade cards, rubbings, theater designs, maps and plans.VIA serves as a central resource where researchers can discover the wealth of visual materials available across the university and learn where at Harvard they can go for access to the materials themselves or for more detailed information about them. VIA does not replace any existing local system for management of visual and museum collections; these systems will always contain richer information and provide capabilities tailored to local needs.

Repositories that contribute to VIA include archives, museums, libraries, and other collections throughout Harvard University. A list of participating repositories is available within the VIA interface. To learn more about the scope of VIA holdings, consult VIA Scope.

Records in VIA are contributed to the system from OLIVIA (a centrally supported cataloging system for visual materials), and from several local cataloging systems at participating libraries, archives, and museums. See the OLIVIA Cataloging System section for more information about OLIVIA and to download the cataloging client. See the OLIVIA Liaisons List for a list of contributing repositories.

Repositories interested in contributing to VIA should consult How to Participate for instructions.