Quick Summary
Our unit, formerly known as Digitization, Cataloging, and Metadata Education, went from new staff to new name to new projects all in just over a year!
Our unit, formerly known as Digitization, Cataloging, and Metadata Education, went from new staff to new name to new projects all in just over a year! I myself, was one of three new employees to join the unit (we also had one departure): Molly Huber started as Outreach Coordinator for the Minnesota Digital Library/Minnesota Reflections a week before me; RDA guru Mark Ehlert bid us farewell after 7 years facilitating cataloging/RDA education and training to join the University of St. Thomas libraries, which in turn gave us the opportunity to welcome Elizabeth Baus as our new Cataloging & Metadata trainer.
The new projects on our horizon served as impetus for the unit name change to Digital Initiatives & Metadata Education. We accomplished this task extremely efficiently as a unit, and found a name that more accurately describes our work. In addition to welcoming new staff to DIME, we welcomed new work projects and bid adieu to one grant project. Our PLPP work came to a close this fall as Carla Urban and Greta Bahnemann finished all pieces related to incoming PLPP collections, including two special exhibitions. The special exhibitions work developed into digital storytelling and community scanning service, Scan for Keeps, for Carla. For Greta, a new project evolved out of PLPP work consists of creating educational primary source sets from Minnesota Reflections content in a cross-unit format. Molly Huber served as part of another cross-unit project, EBooks Minnesota, set to debut in the very near future. Sara Ring collaborated with other library colleagues on a Minnesota Library Association history digital project which resulted in Sara winning the President's Award at the 2015 Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference!
And all the while we've continued to serve our library communities with contract cataloging support, education and training in a variety of areas including our core OCLC digital and catalog training. All this is an excellent demonstration of innovation, and the ability to change and respond to our library and partner organization community needs. We are geared up, ready, and excited to continue work with you in 2016!
