According to the Minnesota Daily…

The Minnesota Digital Library was one of seven regional digital libraries selected in mid-October to contribute to the Digital Public Library of America, an initiative to make information for the study of American life available and searchable online. The digitization of books and archival information is part of an effort to help increase availability and preserve fragile items.

Initially, the Minnesota Digital Library — a collaboration that includes the University, the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Cloud State University and cultural heritage institutes from across the state — will provide the initiative with about 125,000 items like maps, documents and images, said John Butler, associate University librarian for data and technology.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a card-carrying librarian, so I love this kind of nerdy news. I think this is fantastic for two reasons. First, I’m excited that an effort is being made to preserve, catalog and make available so many trinkets from American society. Now admittedly finding a picture or video of something that happened a century ago isn’t as cool as finding a fossil in your back yard or a bog body – but it’s no less useful and a heck of a lot more accessible to more people. Second, I’m excited that Minnesota is one of the seven libraries chosen to curate the collection. It’s nice to think of the hometown school getting the funding but even cooler to think of Minnesota having such great representation in the archives of America!

An amazing online collection like this is just one byproduct of better broadband. Now people in the most remote location can find and share artifacts that you used to have to travel to see. And that assumes the artifact in question was made public and promoted – now with broadband more of us can find, and access and share our stories!