Our Collaborative
"[A]n essential resource for any student of the American West" -Review of MWDL in College & Research Libraries News, December 2011
The Mountain West Digital Library is a collaborative of libraries, museums, and archives -- universities, colleges, public libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies. Starting in 2001 as a program of the Utah Academic Library Consortium, MWDL has been joined over the last decade by partners in other states in the West as well, including Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Hawaii.Our History
Goals
Discovery Portal
Provide a regional search portal for public access to the digital collections of the Mountain West for the benefit of MWDL partners, the scholarly community at large, and the general publicDigital Library Interoperability
Support interoperability of records and resources through the development of common digital library standards among Collections Partners whose digital collections are hosted by MWDL Member RepositoriesDigital Public Library of America On-Ramp
Serve as the Service Hub to the DPLA for libraries, museums, and archives in the Mountain WestPublic Library Partnerships Project
MWDL worked with the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) to provide digital skills training to public librarians and help a number of public libraries get digital collections online in 2015. Check out the new online exhibits that feature the new content! Also, see the new self-guided digitization curriculum we created along with other Service Hubs in the DPLA!Support
The Mountain West Digital Library was founded in 2001 as a program of the Utah Academic Library Consortium, as part of its goal to improve the availability and delivery of library and information services.
In July 2015, the MWDL started receiving dues support from Member Repositories (hosting hubs). These Repositories host the digital collections of their institutions as well as the collections of other Collections Partners.
In addition to dues support from Member Repositories, we gratefully acknowledge the additional ongoing and historical support of many organizations:
- Ongoing support from the Utah Academic Library Consortium, since 2001
- Grant funding from the Digital Public Library of America for participation in the Digital Hubs Pilot Project, 2012-2015, and the Public Library Partnerships Project, 2013-2015, with sub-awards from these funding sources: National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute for Museum and Library Services, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Contributed workspace and systems support from the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library, since 2001
- Bridge funding in summer 2015 from the Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library
- Support from the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement for the cost of MWDL Primo fees.
- Original set-up costs in 2001 for four CONTENTdm servers and one Multi-Site Server from Institute of Museum and Library Services funding under the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Utah State Library
- Volunteer assistance from librarians, archivists, and curators at MWDL Collections Partners