Criteria for All Minnesota Digital Library Digitization Projects
MDL provides project management and digitization services to non-profit organizations, cultural heritage institutions, libraries of all types, and governmental agencies located in Minnesota.*
All projects must adhere to these basic MDL requirements:
- Items/materials must fit the mission and vision of MDL, as well as fill content gaps or complement existing collections.
- Items/materials must be in, of, or about Minnesota or Minnesotans.
- Items/materials proposed for digitization should be originals, complete, and well-organized.
- A good faith attempt should be made to determine if items/materials are already digitally available in other collections or owned by other organizations. If other copies are available online, MDL reserves the right to not digitize.
- Items/materials submitted for digitization must be held by the types of organizations listed above.
*NOTE: The MDL is not able to accept applications from private corporations or private individuals. People representing corporations or private citizens are welcome to contact the MDL Outreach Coordinator to learn more about digitizing and access to their collections.
Criteria for All Minnesota Digital Library Previously Digitized Content
The Minnesota Digital Library also advises and works closely with organizations that manage their own digitization projects, or have born-digital materials, with the intent of providing access to the digitized items through MDL.
Previously digitized material must meet the Basic Criteria identified above, as well as meet MDL's Best Practices for Digitization.
Additional Considerations
- If the history of a particular area is already well-represented, the new items must provide either new information or add a new perspective.
- Organizations facing barriers or challenges in sharing their items will receive priority consideration.
- Items/materials under consideration have an obvious need to be digitally preserved due to condition concerns or similar.
- MDL does not accept newspapers, newspaper clippings, yearbooks, or cemetery records.