The 2018 Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference (#UMDCC18) will be held on November 8-9th at St. Catherine University campus, St. Paul, Minnesota. The UMDCC provides opportunities for digital collections creators and curators in the region and beyond to network, share best practices, participate in hands-on workshops, and learn from leaders in digital cultural heritage.
Hennepin County Library has partnered with several Minneapolis-based community and civic organizations in providing content for its digital collections. These include community newspapers, the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Public Schools and other departments in Hennepin County. While the Library continues to serve as a traditional repository in these arrangements, the element of digitization – specifically digital access has provided additional incentive for partnering organizations to work with the Library. These organizations wish to preserve their historic materials, but also to provide access to them. I will explain how the free and open service philosophy of the Public Library combined with professional preservation capabilities and now a robust digitization program have met the wishes and requirements for several organizations and provided the general public with rich and varied information resources.
