Last week, the American Numismatic Society (ANS) announced the debut of its new website – numismatics.org/ – which features “improved navigation, search capability, and user interface to help numismatists explore, learn, shop, and conduct research with ease.”
The newly-launched website maintains the same domain name as the previous site and allows for all the same information to be accessed. In addition, this enhanced website puts the piloting of information in the hands of the user in a clear and organized manner. The ANS site enables access to the Digital Library, historical archives in the Archer database, the library catalogue under DONUM, and a link to the ANS collection in MANTIS, which is continually being uploaded with new images of currency. It also provides direct access to the Society’s individualized databases, including OCRE, CRRO, and PELLA to name a few.
“The new ANS website was an undertaking a long time in the making, and we are proud to have it live for our members, friends, and anyone with an interest in numismatics,” said Andrew Reinhard, ANS director of publications. “Our goal is for this enhanced site to be inviting for newcomers, amateur numismatists, seasoned academics and researchers, and everyone in between, and we hope visitors will return to enhance their knowledge, as we continually update the site with new information, links, images, and other items to aid in our advancement of numismatic exploration.”
Of particular note is the updated section on the ANS Magazine, which enables visitors to view the e-edition of a recent issue which contains enlargeable images and active links to the ANS collection on MANTIS in addition to live links to other sites mentioned in the articles. This serves as a preview of a benefit of membership – only those who are members of they ANS will have access to the e-versions of each current and recent issues. All magazine issues from 2002–2013 are now available as Open Access by clicking here. The ANS Store has also been given a new look, yet still allows users to browse by title of publication or subject matter. Online publication purchases will be shipped by Casemate Academic/Oxbow, book distributor for the ANS. Many older publications are also available for free as Open Access.