The Minnesota Digital Library hosts several types of online exhibit projects. Exhibits may be developed by MDL staff members or guest curators, who are content experts from an MDL contributing organization. All exhibit topics must be approved by the Exhibits Committee, made up of MDL’s Digital Curator, Metadata Librarian, and Outreach Coordinator.
Topics should address the following selection criteria:
- Volume: There is enough content in MDL to support this topic
- Relevance: The topic is significant enough to Minnesota history and/or culture; or, if it is a national topic, there is a direct, local connection to Minnesota
- Uniqueness: The topic is not already highlighted in an existing digital storytelling project. If the topic is part of another MDL project, the new exhibit needs to approach it in a unique way to avoid duplication
- Timeliness: The topic is of current interest and importance
- Audience: The topic is of interest to at least one of MDL's identified major interest groups: researchers, students, amateur historians, or history enthusiasts
- Format: The topic is suitable for the chosen storytelling format
The Exhibit Committee will conduct a regular review of all online exhibits to check for minor and major errors. During this review, the committee will also consider if an exhibit should still remain live on the MDL website. The decision should be made based on the following factors:
- Quality and accuracy of text, content, and research
- Relevance to current and future MDL audiences
- Completeness, with no obvious missing content
- Exhibit platform software usability and updates
- Timeliness (i.e. commemorating an anniversary that is no longer close at hand)
- Website's visitation numbers measured by Google Analytics
- Exhibit's age
- Number of current exhibits
If the committee decides an exhibit should be removed, they will also determine if the exhibit should be unpublished or deleted entirely. Guest curators will be notified about the decision and given an opportunity to make revisions, if applicable. The exhibit content will be archived, and the reasons for the decision to remove it will be recorded in the MDL online exhibit archive.