Digital Initiatives & Metadata News

In 2023, Minitex and three organizations conducted a small pilot to learn more about using the wiki-based, free-to-use media repository called Wikimedia Commons, along with its sister sites Wikidata and Wikipedia, to increase discoverability of content from digital collections. Soon after adding the very first test image to Wikimedia Commons, it appeared as the top Google Search result. If this sounds intriguing, read on for a brief overview of why we did the pilot and what we learned.

Registration ends very soon for the Minitex/Minnesota Digital Library-sponsored virtual class Basics of AV Preservation. The class will be presented by Alyssa Magnone from the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) on March 5th, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. If you have audiovisual materials in your collection such as cassettes, VHS, or reel-to-reel film this is for you!

The SAA course, Arrangement and Description: Fundamentals, is coming to Minneapolis April 18-19, hosted by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Register by March 18 to receive the early-bird registration rate!

While many of the traditional resources found in libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage organizations--books, photographs, objects--can survive for years with no intervention, digital content is much more fragile. Managing it requires ongoing care and preservation activities to ensure continued access far into the future. Join Carol Kussmann (University of Minnesota Libraries) and Sara Ring (Minitex) as they present this 3-part virtual course in April.

Have you heard that CatExpress and Connexion Browser are retiring soon? OCLC is focusing their attention on WorldShare Record Manager. Join Elissah Becknell (Minitex) and Elizabeth Tuckwood (Minnesota State Law Library) as they talk about adopting this bibliographic utility into their cataloging practice and point out important features and cool discoveries along the way.