The Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) provides project management and digitization services to non-profit organizations, cultural heritage institutions, libraries of all types, and governmental agencies located in Minnesota who wish to add their collection materials to MDL. Projects in the Minnesota Digital Library may also come directly from contributing organizations either as in-house digitization projects or as born digital materials. MDL staff will work with these organizations to ensure their digitized or born digital content meets MDL requirements.
All projects must adhere to these basic MDL requirements:
- Items/materials must fit the mission and vision of MDL.
- Items/materials must be in, of, or about Minnesota or Minnesotans.
- Items/materials proposed for digitization should be originals, complete, and well-organized.
- Items/materials submitted for digitization must be held by the types of organizations listed above.
- 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.
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.
- MDL is not able to accept applications from private corporations or private individuals.