One of the first things I focused on after starting work as Digital Metadata Librarian for the Mountain West Digital Library was learning how to add new collections! The MWDL actually has a backlog of new collections to add, so I don’t need to worry about not being busy! At the top of my current work queue is the Arizona Memory Project collections. This is a wonderful portal to digitized collections from libraries, museums, historical societies, and other cultural heritage institutions run by the Arizona State Library. It has been fun in the past few weeks seeing the geographic coverage of the MWDL expand with the addition of these collections.

A few Arizona Memory Project collections that have caught my eye as I’ve added them to MWDL include:

Collections from the Bead Museum, which has digitized images of courtship and marriage beads from different cultures.

The Tohono O’odham Polychrome Pottery Making Study, which documents the process of making polychrome pots, from gathering materials to the final product.

I always find it interesting when collections from different institutions combine to provide more information for researchers on a particular subject area. The MWDL previously provided access to  the Frank Lloyd Wright Wasmuth Portfolio, but now MWDL researchers can find even more information on Wright with the addition of the Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona 1929-1959 collection.