The Louisiana Digital Library contains more than 165,000 digital objects from 22 state institutions available to the public for free.
Patricia Threatt, archivist and special collections librarian, Frazer Memorial Library, McNeese State University, spoke about the online library recently to the Eunice Rotary Club.
The library at louisianadigitallibrary.org started as a project by one of the professors at LSU to share another professor’s work with the world.
“So, he worked with the libraries and the IT department at LSU to come up with a little database. It was very, very rudimentary,” Threatt said.
“It has grown to include other institutions besides LSU,” she said. “We also have collaborative projects. One, to give an example, is teaching American history, which paired public school teachers in Baton Rouge with archives in the libraries.”
The online library’s offerings include photographs, maps, manuscript materials, books, sound files, videos and oral histories.
The site’s content does not show up in Google searches, but does have its own search tool.
There is a feature that allows saving to PowerPoint, a presentation program, she aid.
“This is really helpful to the kids when they are doing their projects,” she said.
Threatt said most of the content is public domain.
“We are interested in the smaller places adding their materials, she said.
The site is through LSU, but has a independent governing board, she said.
Institutions contributing to the site include Amistad Research Center; Louisiana State Archives; Louisiana State Museum; Louisiana State University; Louisiana State University Shreveport; Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans; Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport; Louisiana Tech University; Loyola University New Orleans; McNeese State University; New Orleans City Archives; New Orleans Public Library; Nicholls State University; Northwestern State University; Ogden Museum of Southern Art; Southern University and A and M College; State Library Of Louisiana; The Historic New Orleans Collection; Tulane University; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; University of Louisiana at Monroe; and University of New Orleans.
