Minnesota Digital Library News

The Minnesota Digital Library has launched a faster, mobile-friendly website for it's primary project, Minnesota Reflections. The new site was announced at the MDL Annual Meeting in St. Paul. Minnesota on May 31. Reflections is a database of 53,967 digitized original materials shared by 190 cultural heritage organizations located across Minnesota.

The Minnesota Digital Library has another addition to its Primary Source Set Collection, Traveling Library Services in Minnesota. Minnesota Reflections is rich with images and documents chronicling bookmobiles and other traveling library services in our state. The first remote access to library services was in the form of traveling libraries, collections of 25-50 books packed into a box and delivered to communities requesting them. Bookmobiles emerged in the early 20^th century and reached prominence by mid-century. Despite today’s prevalence of remote digital access to library services and resources, there are still hundreds of bookmobiles in operation across the United States. The Traveling Library Services Primary Source Set features images documenting the evolution of bookmobiles through the decades as well as book lists from the earliest traveling libraries.

Minnesota Digital Library staff members attended the Digital Public Library of America's DPLAfest held in Chicago, April 20-21. Greta Bahnemann, Metadata Librarian, presented as part of a panel session on metadata for digital collections along with staff from the Arizona Memory Project. Together they shared tips on dealing with common problems and provided updates on recent projects at each DPLA service hub. The session was also highlighted in American Libraries. Molly Huber, Outreach Coordinator, coordinated a panel session that was comprised of staff from the Digital Library of Georgia, Illinois Digital Heritage, University of Miami, Washington University in St. Louis, and Penn State.

The newest Primary Source Set focuses on the historical origins of the self-portrait, or "selfie."

We are so pleased to announce the addition of a new contributor to Minnesota Reflections, the Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely, Minnesota. These images provide a glimpse of Dorothy Molter's life as a wilderness woman and nurse on Knife Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Her family, friends, and her work running Knife Lake resort are documented in these images. The addition of these materials from Minnesota's Arrowhead country helps fill a gap in Minnesota Reflections.