The Museums and Public Libraries Digital Collections Analysis website project was undertaken to explore, analyze, compare, and critique digital collections and two public libraries and two museums or archives (in this case, museums). By undertaking this work, I was not only able to provide critical assessment of the collections and items within them for end users and patrons, but also to explore collections of interest to me and hone my website design and academic writing skills further than I had previously. As a result, the project directly impacted my work at Colorado State University during my internship, and at Poudre Libraries, the public library system where I am currently employed. The project specifically meets PLO4 in that systems and technologies in both the MLIS program and at the institutions studied, were evaluated and assessed regarding their effectiveness in delivering information to curious patrons. The project was undertaken with the overriding assumption that cultural heritage collections are increasingly digitized and born-digital, and new paradigms in discoverability must be addressed and used to a high level of effectiveness in order to make information available to patrons. In this way, the project also meets the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy standard #4, which places research as inquiry, and the RUSA Guideline 5, which mandates evaluation of information and information sources. ALA Ethic 8 regarding excellence in the profession, both individually and in the profession as a whole, was used as a guiding principle for this project, and the project has already been used as the basis for a collection management project as part of a professional internship.

The project may be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/digitalcollectionsseelmeyer

or by clicking on the image to the left of this description.

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