We like to think that the Mountain West Digital Library is pretty user-friendly. Our portal can't read your mind like Google does, but all that lovely structured metadata allows users to search on exactly the information they are looking for like author, date, subject, location, etc.
Like all great resources, however, MWDL works best if the user knows how to use it. To help our users go from beginner searchers to expert MWDL researchers, we've created the "How to Search the MWDL and DPLA Tutorial." By watching this video, users learn how to make the most of our resource by navigating basic search, advanced search, collection search, and partner search. Because we also love DPLA, outr tutorial includes information on how to search DPLA by keyword, map, timeline, exhibition, and via the app library. Watch, enjoy, and learn!
"How to search MWDL and DPLA" can be accessed on our homepage or the University of Utah MediaSpace.
News and ideas for the hubs and partners of the Mountain West Digital Library
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
WebWise in Baltimore
Last week we were able to go to Webwise 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference is put on by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and is a great way to learn about innovative digital library ideas and programming. This was my first time going to WebWise, and I really enjoyed the conference. In terms of attendance, it was just the right size, as it was easy to run into people who you would recognize from program sessions or just from randomly sitting at their table during lunch! Since the conference also serves as a showcase for projects with recent IMLS funding, it was great to get news about current and upcoming projects. There were two keynote talks from Nick Poole and Mary Flanagan. Nick Poole talked about collaborative projects with a much more human scale, small community focus than I've seen before. Mary Flanagan is one of the project directors for Metadata Games, and while I've seen the functionality of the site before, it was really fascinating to get a better sense of the philosophy and larger principles behind it and tiltfactor.
I enjoyed the hybrid format of the conference, as traditional hour long workshops or panels were interspersed with WiseCamp Sessions proposed by the attendees and rapid fire demonstrations of IMLS funded projects. I went to sessions on Crowdsourcing in Libraries, Museum Content and Metadata Aggregation, Revenue for Digital Projects, Digital Preservation, Participating in the DPLA (from Emily Gore and our own Sandra McIntyre), and more!
The big theme for many public library and museum projects was Makerspaces, and many of the quick project demonstrations were centered around Makerspace collaborations and programming. I didn't know much about Makerspaces before attending the conference, but I left with a new appreciation for them, even if my own Makerspace is likely to only involve my living room couch, yarn, and knitting needles.
I tend to live tweet at conferences as my form of note taking, so if you want my own rapid reactions to the sessions I was in, you can view them at this combined search for my twitter account @annaneat and #webwise14 (twitter's advanced searching tools are very handy).
You can see the conversation for the whole WebWise conference on the #webwise14 twitter hashtag. Eat some crabcakes and read up about it and it will almost be like you were there!
I enjoyed the hybrid format of the conference, as traditional hour long workshops or panels were interspersed with WiseCamp Sessions proposed by the attendees and rapid fire demonstrations of IMLS funded projects. I went to sessions on Crowdsourcing in Libraries, Museum Content and Metadata Aggregation, Revenue for Digital Projects, Digital Preservation, Participating in the DPLA (from Emily Gore and our own Sandra McIntyre), and more!
 | |
| All the cool laptops have DPLA stickers at WebWise 2014! |
Sandra McIntyre
The big theme for many public library and museum projects was Makerspaces, and many of the quick project demonstrations were centered around Makerspace collaborations and programming. I didn't know much about Makerspaces before attending the conference, but I left with a new appreciation for them, even if my own Makerspace is likely to only involve my living room couch, yarn, and knitting needles.
I tend to live tweet at conferences as my form of note taking, so if you want my own rapid reactions to the sessions I was in, you can view them at this combined search for my twitter account @annaneat and #webwise14 (twitter's advanced searching tools are very handy).
You can see the conversation for the whole WebWise conference on the #webwise14 twitter hashtag. Eat some crabcakes and read up about it and it will almost be like you were there!
Friday, February 14, 2014
More hosting hubs, more partners, larger service area
Who exactly is the Mountain West Digital Library? Well, as we grow, it keeps changing! And, as we grow, our notions of participation, governance, and funding are evolving too. Now that we are sharing 560 collections from 130 partners, hosted on 17 repositories located in 6 western states, we are entering another stage of improving how we work together to provide services to memory institutions in the region.
As many of you know, MWDL had its start in 2001 as a program of the Utah Academic Library Consortium, started by Kenning Arlitsch at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. The first hosting hubs whose digital collections metadata were harvested into the MWDL portal were from Utah: Marriott Library, Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University, and Sherratt Library at Southern Utah University. The central search portal launched in 2002, and the UALC Digitization Committee has overseen the effort from the start, with governance and funding from the UALC Council of Directors and in-kind support from the Marriott Library.
By 2008, we had nine hosting hubs, including other hubs in Utah and two in Nevada, and a full-time director (lucky me!) was hired for the program. We coordinated our efforts through an MWDL Partnership Agreement and an MWDL Digitization Price List, and various task forces updated policies and standards for the network over the next few years. The map to the right shows the hosting hubs in 2008, all of whom participated in setting up those agreements and that structure (click to see larger map).
Since 2008, and accelerating after we announced our affiliation with the Digital Public Library of America in late 2012, we have expanded our collaborative to include new repositories and new collections partners from a broader geography of the Mountain West. See the map to the left for all the hosting hubs we are working with (click the map to see more detail). Some hosting centers have more than one repository -- for example, many academic libraries maintain separate servers for cultural heritage materials and scholarly publications.
We are pleased to welcome our newest colleagues and look forward to the changes ahead, as we explore new modes of collaboration and greater levels of service to memory institutions around the region. Thanks to all of our hosting hubs for the services you provide!
 |
| MWDL Hosting Hubs in 2008 |
By 2008, we had nine hosting hubs, including other hubs in Utah and two in Nevada, and a full-time director (lucky me!) was hired for the program. We coordinated our efforts through an MWDL Partnership Agreement and an MWDL Digitization Price List, and various task forces updated policies and standards for the network over the next few years. The map to the right shows the hosting hubs in 2008, all of whom participated in setting up those agreements and that structure (click to see larger map).
 |
| MWDL Hosting Hubs in Feb. 2014 |
We are pleased to welcome our newest colleagues and look forward to the changes ahead, as we explore new modes of collaboration and greater levels of service to memory institutions around the region. Thanks to all of our hosting hubs for the services you provide!
Happy Valentine's Day from MWDL!
Enjoy this lovey photo of two Guinea pigs hanging out near a Valentine from Delta City Library's Frank Beckwith Collection.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Top Ten MWDL Mustaches
- Photograph of Howard Hughes with a drawn-in mustache, October 11, 1956. - I'm not sure why someone would want to draw extra mustaches on Howard Hughes, but here is evidence of someone doing just that. Perhaps they wanted to make this photo more consistent with the photos where he has an actual mustache? This is from UNLV's excellent Welcome Home Howard collection.
- Walt McDonald and Man with Mustache - In this photo from BYU's World War II Photographs by J. Malan Heslop collection, Walt McDonald is touching an impressive mustache.
- Wilford Perry Store, Interior, shows that in 1900, you could buy your groceries from a man with a mustache. This is from the Provo City Public Library.
- A love of mustaches stretches across all cultures and peoples. Here is an international mustache from a portrait of General Joseph Joffre, with the caption "Frenchman with mustache." From the Delta City Library Frank Beckwith Collection.
- Mustaches also endure during multiple time periods. Here is a photo of Alan Dixon from 1984. From the University of Utah Photograph Archives, Rocky Mountain Power Collection at the University of Utah Marriott Library.
- Does a man with a mustache need any other accessories? I think not, but in the 1970s this fraternity member from UNR decided to accessorize with a foil knight's helmet. This is from the University of Nevada, Reno's Campus Images collection.
- Mustaches are prominent among barbershop quartets! Witness the mustache on this delightful western painting from Lon Megargee, held at the Arizona Capitol Museum, part of the Arizona Memory Project.
- Barbershop quartet mustache traditions endure into more modern times, as seen in this photo captioned "The Winners" from Westminster college. From the Westminster College Photo Collection. Those mustaches look very 1970s to me. Undoubtedly they are "the Winners" due to their mustaches AND snazzy hats.
- What are your feelings about fake mustaches? Examine this photo from the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library's Special Collections Multimedia Archives,
- Finally, there is no better mustache than the one worn by Groucho Marx. Is this the platonic ideal of mustaches? Please enjoy these excellent photos of the Marx Brothers lounging on a Ford, from the Utah State Historical Society's Clifford Bray Collection.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Top five MWDL Facebook posts of 2013!
Once a year, MWDL puts together its usage report from the previous year's statistics. I was curious to see how our social media sites are performing and to find out what content our faithful MWDL fans want to see on our Facebook page. I found the results rather humorous and thought you might too!
Here are the top five MWDL Facebook posts for 2013:
#1 - What does the fox really say? This Facebook post was our runaway winner with 573 views and 45 likes, comments, and shares. There was no stopping the fox in 2013 and MWDL did our part to answer that "age old mystery." The bad news? He doesn't really say Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!
#2 - Getting bits off disks was our second most popular Facebook post this year and it was really just a picture of me and Anna in between sessions at Best Practices Exchange. Not sure how that generated 306 views, but you can expect more pictures of me and Anna in 2014!
#3 - Adorable, old-timey kittens was our third most viewed Facebook post in 2013 with 305 views and 28 likes, comments, and shares. Why do kittens rule the Internet? I'm not sure, but at least for MWDL the verdict is in. People love kittens.
#4 - A shout-out to Gina Strack's Best Practices Exchange presentation was our fourth most viewed Facebook post of the year with 238 views. Whether this spoke to the powerful #BPE2013 tag or the sheer awesomeness of Ms. Strack, I cannot say. This was, however, the only post in the Top 13 that did not have an accompanying picture and that is saying something!
#5 - Robert Frost's personal letter to U.S. Secretary Stewart Udal secured the fifth most popular spot on our list with laughable nuggets from Frost like "The beauty of my position is that I'm only listened to for amusement" and "a big vigorous economy like ours can't keep itself from overstocking and so having to have a clearance sale once in so often." I treasured the lively prose and sneak peek at history and am happy 195 of our Facebook readers did as well!
...and one more because it's funny.
#6 - Dan Cohen's wardrobe choice at DPLAfest garnered the sixth most popular MWDL Facebook post of 2013 with 190 views. For all the people who could not be at #dplafest 2013, maybe the glimpse of Dan's casual work wear was a worthy substitute!
I can't wait to see what Facebook posts come out on top in 2014 and will try to give you lots of pictures, updates, and notifications worth sharing!
Reading List: Microdata
I've been doing a bit of reading to bring myself up to speed about schema.org and microdata. Here are some of the things I've been bookmarking recently. Now, if only I had time to read all of this!
HTML5 Microdata and Schema.org
Dive Into HTML5: Extensibility
Microdata to RDF
HTML5 Microdata and Schema.org
Dive Into HTML5: Extensibility
Microdata to RDF