Cleveland Architecture Foundation

CAF Archive Initiative

One of the key concerns of the founders of the Cleveland Architecture Foundation is the uneven and dispersed nature of archive materials on Cleveland architects and their work.

While there are fragments of archive materials in many locations, the primary locations of archives on Cleveland architects and Cleveland architecture can be found at:


Not all materials at these locations are indexed to even know who has what, where, let alone condition. For example, The Western Reserve Historical Society has the entire archives of Walker & Weeks, Cleveland’s premier Beaux Arts architects responsible for many of the community’s finest buildings. But the W+W archive is not even index due to limited staff availability. In fact, all of these organizations have been forced to accept staff reductions in the past decade, which makes ‘keeping up’ challenging, which is an understatement.

For materials to be searchable, they must be digitized with metadata details attached. The American Library Association in 2018 announced new digital archive standards for all libraries when it was discovered that the common file formats being utilized - PDF and JPEG files, deteriorated over time. The ALA decreed that digital archives must be 300 DPI TIFF files to assure that their quality be sustainable.

While no libraries we know of were using that file format, we have learned that no one locally has the time and personnel to convert their existing materials to this format. We have begun digitizing the Robert Little FAIA 35mm slide archives in our care in the 300 dpi TIFF format with metadata details. The metadata identifies the date the project was completed, the project type and style (civic building, commercial, religious, etc.), its address, the name of the architect, the identity of the asset (photo, elevation drawing, plan, report, etc.) and other pertinent information so that that information can be searched and the project can appear as an element meeting the entered search description.

Cleveland has never attempted to develop or integrate a database on its architecture and/ or architects. Columbus, OH began this effort in 1973 and has only needed to periodically add to its inventory with new significant projects when they come online. While Chicago is six times the size of Cleveland, their database was developed 24 years ago with a staff of 22 for two years at a cost of $2.2 million. And Chicago has recently updated its database to include 13,341 properties.

CAF anticipates that our Archive Initiative will be a significant, lengthy task. We anticipate fundraising through donations and grants to enable us ton involved library science and architecture students from Kent State University to work on this initiative and receive compensation and academic credit for their efforts. At present, the Initiative is a ‘Start-Stop’ activity that relates to available human resources.

CAF is not and will not become a resource library. Physical assets given to us are digitized and the originals returned to the owners or offered to the existing library resources based on their strengths and interests. CAF requires written release forms for all assets so that the materials may be unutilized for scholarly research, presentation and publication without restriction or fee. CAF does not charge to digitize assets per see; however, a contribution to defer the costs involved in preparing archive materials is appropriate and appreciated.