Minnesota Digital Library

MDL Reflections offers images from cultural institutions across Minnesota. Images are continually being added. Recent additions are from the Hennepin County Medical Center Museum (Minneapolis metro area) and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum.

1) Selection decisions
Decision-makers: the "Minnesota Digital Library Coalition" - professionals from Minnesota libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums. The collection contains unique photographs and images from participating Minnesota historical societies, special archives and libraries. The purpose is to support education, scholarship and enrichment through the internet access to this collection.

2) Metadata
The MDL provides formal specifications of 40 metadata fields outlined in Metadata Guidelines that can be found as a pdf on the website. The data includes metadata name (field title), MDL definition, if mandatory, input guidelines and input examples. Fields include title, creator, contributor, description, parent collection, contributing institution, rights management, digital specifications, etc.

Searching from nearly every available descriptor is possible. Much of the text is linked to display a filtered search list of other images containing the same word.

Dublin Core has been used, and the MDL provides a very good compilation of best practices for digital projects as PDF's on their "Standards and Practices" page.

A CONTENTdm template was used.

3) Characteristics of digital object
A roughly 4 x 6 in image is displayed with the ability to zoom, pan, rotate, crop and clip in new window. The image can be "clipped" to a new window and from there you can copy/save/email, etc a screen-quality copy of the image. Many of digitized images do include the color/grayscale bar.

4) Intended audience scholars, teachers, students, general public--interested in MN topics (or historical topics).