News & Events

Registration Now Open: MDL 6th Annual Meeting

The Minnesota Digital Library Coalition will hold its 6th Annual Meeting on Monday, June 9, 2008, at the Gorecki Dining & Conference Center at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN. There will be a $20 registration fee, which includes lunch and all breaks.

This conference is targeted for people and organizations interested in:

  • The development of the Minnesota Digital Library.
  • Learning to use Minnesota Digital Library resources.
  • Contributing to the Minnesota Digital Library.
  • The work of the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition.

New Teachers Resources

The MDLC presents two new interactive curriculum resources for educators to use with students. These curriculum resources were developed by Sandbox Studio in coordination with K-12 teachers with funding from the MDLC through LSTA grant administered by the Minnesota Department of Education.

    A Foot in Two Worlds: Indian Boarding Schools in Minnesota.
    This unit pairs images of Minnesota's Indian schools with the words of students and policy-makers around the country to paint a picture of a mixture of experiences at Indian schools and beyond. The unit includes a student worksheet and a bibliography of additional resources.

    History Mysteries
    This unit of 5 "history mystery" modules teaches students how to examine photographs to uncover the story behind the image. The unit includes a student worksheet.

Phase 4 Project Proposals (Revised 5 Sept 2007)

The MDLC is pleased to announce receipt of an IMLS grant to support expansion of "Minnesota Reflections." During Phase 4 the MDLC proposes to digitize for participants approximately 5,000 images, 2,000 text documents, and 1,000 maps. We will also accept images, documents and maps scanned by participants for inclusion in "Minnesota Reflections." We have expanded the timeline to include images, documents and maps created through the present.

A complete Call for Project Proposals for Phase 4, with application deadlines, criteria for participation, and other valuable information is available in Word and PDF.

To participate, complete and submit a "Minnesota Reflections" Phase 4 Application (Word document) or "Minnesota Reflections" Phase 4 Application (PDF file). Both documents were revised and posted to this site on 5 September 2007; they contain project requirements, copyright guidelines, and additional information about participation.

We will begin accepting and processing applications for projects immediately. If you have questions about your project, please contact Marian Rengel, MDL Outreach Coordinator, at 320-308-5625 or email to mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu.

MDL Fifth Annual Meeting (2007)

Registration Now Open

The Minnesota Digital Library Coalition will hold its Fifth Annual Meeting on Monday, 11 June 2007, at the Haehn Campus Center at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN. There will be a $15 registration fee to cover a portion of costs, including lunch and parking. Thanks to MINITEX and St. Cloud State University, registration fees are minimal.

Conference Agenda of Presentations

MDLC receives AASLH Award of Merit

The Minnesota Digital Library Coalition received a National Leadership in History Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History at that organization's annual meeting on 16 September in Phoenix, AZ. Ben Leonard, director of the Nicollet County Historical Society and a member of the MDLC steering committee, accepted the award, which recognized the MDLC for "broadening access to historic images through "Minnesota Reflections."

The AASLH selection committee chose the MDLC for this award because of its "ability to collaborate with so many institutions to improve public access to historic images using the highest digital standards."

Resources for Educators

The MDLC is pleased to release three resources to support educational use of "Minnesota Reflections." All three resources take a look into a theme identified previously, "Immigrants in Minnesota," and use selected historic photographs and documents drawn from the collections in "Minnesota Reflections." Each resource is intended to show how digital resources can be integrated into the curriculum through student-centered projects through Teacher Guide, a PowerPoint presentation, and a Pachyderm presentation. Pachyderm is a new multimedia authoring tool developed through a partnership led by the New Media Consortium and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and funded by a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The MDLC is interested in expanding opportunities for using digital resources in learning and instruction; we invite your comment.

Each of the following resources may be downloaded for use on a school computer without connecting to the Internet. For convenience, we have included zip files for the PowerPoint and Pachyderm presentations.

Teacher Guide

PowerPoint presentation:

Pachyderm presentation:

The three resources were authored by Kris Wetterlund and Scott Sayre of Sandbox Studios under a contract with the MDL. We thank them for their continuing interest in and support for the efforts of the MDL.

Manuscript transcription standards adopted

At its June meeting, the MDL Steering Committee adopted Grace Lee Nute's "Transcribing Manuscripts: Rules Worked Out by the Minnesota Historical Society" to guide transcription of handwritten documents that are digitized by the MDL. Nute's original pamphlet was published in 1935 and adopted by Lydia Lucas in 2004. During the current documents digitization project, the MDL will address areas where the guideline needs to be revised to accommodate the online environment and retain a truthful representation of the original; a revision to meet MDL standards will be published later.

An Update on the MDL from Bill DeJohn

In Minnesota Digital Library -- An Update, Bill DeJohn, Director of the MINITEX Library Information Network discusses the administrative changes for the Minnesota Digital Library. The changes will take affect on 1 July 2006, the start of the next LSTA grant.

MDLC News Archive

MDLC news older than the most recent 12 months can be seen on the MDLC News Archive page.