University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine | Page 16
The Impact of
Digital Collections
by Melissa McLimans
UW Digital Collections
It goes without saying that the State of
Wisconsin Collection (http://uwdc.library.wisc.
edu/collections/WI/WEMArchive) is at the
very heart of the University of Wisconsin’s
Digital Collections (UWDC). With 70
separate projects, 745,780 pages, 22,000-plus
photographs, maps, and other images, it’s
the largest of our collections. With 871,401
user visits in the last year alone, it is also the
UWDC’s most accessed online collection.
And, with projects coming from such wideranging areas as Beloit, Superior, La Crosse,
and Oshkosh, it certainly covers a lot of
territory. Many of these projects and much
of the content originate within public
libraries, historical societies, and UW System
campuses, but UWDC has been fortunate to
partner recently with two state agencies to
expand the State of Wisconsin collection.
Projects with Wisconsin Emergency
Management and the Department of Natural
Resources showcase our state’s history and
provide unique research opportunities for
students and faculty alike. Additionally, the
Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public
Lands has been a long-time partner with
UWDC, making available early plat maps
and survey notebooks of the state.
Bringing these resources together
in UW Digital Collections means that
researchers and people with a general
interest in Wisconsin history are more
able to find a photograph that shows a
site from thirty years ago or survey notes
from over a century ago. Peter Gorman,
Assistant Director for Digital Library and
Preservation Strategy, explains, “Our
collaborations with other state agencies
show how we can support each other’s
missions, creating valuable research
materials and disseminating them to the
widest possible audience within the state
and beyond.”
Wisconsin Public Land Survey Records
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/
Digital Collections
http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/
collections/WI/WEMArchive
Wisconsin Public Land
Survey Records
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/
SurveyNotes/
Wisconsin’s Historic Natural
Resources Photos
http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/
collections/wi/DNRphotos
Wisconsin Emergency
Management Images and
Historic Materials
http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/
collections/WI/WEMArchive
It makes sense that some of the earliest
records related to Wisconsin state history
are part of one of UWDC’s earliest state
Above: Plat Map for T7N R9E
Left: General Dwight Eisenhower fishing, 1946
Wisconsin’s Historic Natural Resources
DNR0082
16 | LIBRARIES Fall 2015
University of Wisconsin–Madison | 17
Libraries
Partnering, Presenting, and Preserving Wisconsin’s History:
Inset: Oshkosh1889
From Randall, Geo. A. / Illustrated atlas of Winnebago County, Wisconsin : containing outline map
of the county, map of each township in the county, with village and city plats. Also maps of the
world, United States and state of Wisconsin, together with other valuable information.