A presentation to the Research and Learning Services department at the University of Utah. The 20 minute presentation included an overview of the Mountain West Digital Library and the Digital Public Library as research resources and ended with live demonstrations on how to navigate both interfaces effectively.

1. MWDL and DPLA as research resources
Rebekah Cummings, Assistant Director
University of Utah, RLS Forum
November 7, 2013

2. Roadmap
1. MWDL and DPLA overview
2. Search interface tips

3. What is the Mountain
West Digital Library?

4. In the beginning…
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What is the Mountain
West Digital Library?
BYU
• Utah State University
Dixie State
• Utah Valley University
Salt Lake CC • Weber State
Snow College • Westminster
SUU
University of Utah
(Go Utes!)
• Utah State Library

5. MWDL Growth
As of 2013…
• 124 Collecting Institutions
• 6 states
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Utah
Nevada
Arizona
Idaho
Hawaii
Montana

6. Types of resources
Photographs, maps, artworks, schola
rly
documents, music, sounds, books, bi
rth and death records, finding
aids, and more!

7. For example…
Civil Rights Photos
Confession Letters
Slave owner’s letter

8. Where does the
content come from?
Utah
Valley
U of
U
BYU
MWDL
Weber
State
USU
DPLA
• 124 Partners
• 30 Hubs
• 1 of 9 service hubs to DPLA

9. What is DPLA?
“The Digital Public Library of America
will make the cultural and
scientific heritage of humanity
available, free of charge, to all.”

10. Tiered Infrastructure
“Leverage the existing
infrastructure of
the nation”
1. Digital Commonwealth
2. Digital Library of Georgia
3. Empire State Digital Network
4. Kentucky Digital Library
5. Minnesota Digital Library
6. North Carolina Digital Heritage
7. The Portal to Texas History
8. South Carolina Digital Library
9. Mountain West Digital Library

11. Searching MWDL
• Start at http://mwdl.org/
• Ways to search:
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Basic
Advanced
By Partner
By Collection

12. Searching DPLA
Digital Public Library
of America
• Search DPLA
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Basic search
By place
By date
By exhibition
By bookshelf

13. Thanks!
Questions? Ask now or…
Email me
Call me
Tweet me
rebekah.cummings@utah.edu
(801) 587-8893
@MWDigLib
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https://www.facebook.com/mountainwestdigitallibrary