Why should I share my collections with the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)?
Sharing your collection with the DPLA allows you to reach a wider audience on a national platform. You have the opportunity to increase traffic to your collections and therefore your institution. It also allows you to connect your collection stories with the stories held by other institution, creating a richer, more complete experience for the end user.
What types of collection items are included in the DPLA?
The DPLA contains metadata (descriptive information) for millions of historically unique items such as photographs, manuscripts, books, oral histories , moving images, serials, objects, and more. They do not accept monographs or books readily available through standard publishers, proprietary information that is not freely available through the contributor’s site, or theses and dissertations unless they are of historic importance.
What are the basic requirements for participating in the NJ/DE Digital Collective and the DPLA?
An organization must have an online collection that is available for viewing through the web. Each item submitted must include metadata with: the name of the owning organization, a title, a rights statement, a thumbnail or preview image when appropriate, and a unique URL linking back to the item at the home organization. For more detailed information about becoming a contributor, see How to Start.
Will the NJ/DE Digital Collective have a local discovery portal?
The NJ/DE Digital Collective is a dark aggregator. This means it will work behind the scenes to collect your metadata, transform it and send it to the DPLA. The DPLA has plans to create a local collection widget that will enable Service Hubs like the NJ/DE Digital Collective to create specific search filters that will only discover content added to the DPLA through the NJ/DE Digital Collective’s content feed.
What is metadata?
Metadata is textual information that is used to locate, organize or describe an information resource. In the case of libraries, archives and museums that resources is generally a collection item with digital or analog. This textual information could include the name of the author or creator, subject heading(s) that describe the collection item, or date the item was created. For more information about the NJ/DE Digital Collective Metadata Guidelines, see Partner Resources.
How can we share our collection’s metadata with the NJ/DE Digital Collective?
We receive data from providers usually via OAI-PMH but we can accommodate other options including CSV files when needed.
Does it cost anything to participate in the NJ/DE Digital Collective and the DPLA?
The NJ/DE Digital Collective does not collect any fees for participation in the Hub or the DPLA. Support for the NJ/DE Digital Collective’s membership in the DPLA, and the Hub’s technological infrastructure and staff are provided by the New Jersey State Library, the Delaware Division of Libraries, Rutgers University, Princeton University, the University of Delaware, and the Somerset County Library System of New Jersey.