As libraries increasingly use digital infrastructure to provide access to content and resources, there are more and more opportunities for collaboration around the tools and services that they use to meet their users’ needs. To this end, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is making substantial investments in developing collaborative and sustainable technical and social digital infrastructure for libraries through the National Digital Platform initiative. In this talk, you will learn about a series of digital tools, services, training opportunities and resources IMLS is funding through the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The presentation will focus on ongoing projects and efforts that you and your library can get involved in and make direct use of. It will also provide insight into how you could develop competitive proposals for projects that could be funded through this national effort.

1. The IMLS National Digital
Platform & Your Library
12/2/16

2. National Digital Platform
solve local digital issues
& contribute to national
efforts.

3. National Digital Platform
catalyze improvements
to digital capability &
capacity

4. Roadmap for Talk
1. About me & IMLS
2. Defining NDP
3. What we heard
4. What we’ve funded
5. Where we’re going

5. Roadmap for Talk
 I lead the National Digital
Platform initiative in the Office
of Library Services at IMLS.
 The Institute of Museum and
Library Services (IMLS) is the
primary source of federal
support for the nation’s123,000
libraries and 35,000 museums

6. National Digital Platform
Two related ideas of the National Digital Platform
1. A way of thinking about all the digital tools,
services, infrastructure and skills libraries
and librarians utilize to meet the needs of
their users across the United States.
2. A portfolio of projects funded through IMLS
grant programs focused on expanding the
digital capability and capacity of libraries
across the country.

7. National Digital Platform
the national digital platform is
the combination of software,
social and technical
infrastructure & staff
expertise that provide library
content and services to all
users in the United States.

8. National Digital Platform
The platform isn’t an
individual thing. It isn’t a
piece of software, or a
website. The platform is
what all those things add
up to.

9. National Digital Platform
It is possible for every
library in the country to
leverage and benefit from
the work of other libraries
in shared digital services,
systems and
infrastructure.

10. National Digital Platform
foundations of the
national digital platform
already exist

11. National Digital Platform
prioritize improving &
connecting promising
digital tools & services
that have clear potential
to scale

12. National Digital Platform
 In 2014 and 2015 IMLS
convened stakeholders to
provide input on the
national digital platform
portfolio
 The results of the 2015
convening are available
distilled in this report
http://1.usa.gov/1Xkxrcw

13. National Digital Platform
Key Themes from the 2015 event included
 Engaging, Mobilizing and Connecting
Communities
 Leveraging linked open data to connect
content across institutions and amplify
impact
 Shifting to continuous professional learning
as part of library professional practice

14. National Digital Platform
Engaging, Mobilizing and Connecting Communities
 Engaging users in national digital platform
projects through crowdsourcing and other
approaches
 Establishing radical and systematic
collaborations across sectors of the library,
archives, and museum communities, as well as
with other allied institutions
 Championing diversity and inclusion by ensuring
that the national digital platform serves and
represents a wide range of communities
 Establishing and Refining Tools & Infrastructure

15. National Digital Platform
Leveraging linked open data to connect content
across institutions and amplify impact
 Focusing on documentation and system
interoperability across digital library software
projects
 Researching and developing tools and services
that leverage computational methods to
increase accessibility and scale practice across
individual projects

16. National Digital Platform
Shifting to continuous professional learning as
part of library professional practice
 Focusing on hands-on training to develop
computational literacy in formal library
education programs
 Educating librarians and archivists to meet the
emerging digital needs of libraries and
archives, including cross-training in technical
and other skills

17. National Digital Platform
Example Projects & Tools You Can
Use

18. National Digital Platform
Almost all the narratives for these
projects are available online
imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-70-15-0006-15
Just put the log # in the last part

19. Open Source Access to eBooks
Library E-Content Access Project (LEAP)$1,372,154
and $1,372,154 in Cost Share
– The New York Public Library (NYPL), in close
collaboration with the Digital Public Library of America
(DPLA), and 19 partner libraries and library consortia
from across the country will expand and provide
outreach for the SimplyE open source eBook platform.
Through this work, the partners aim to unify and
improve the eBook borrowing and reading
experience for library users across the country.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-00-15-
0263-15

20. Open Source Access to eBooks
SimplyE for Consortia: 3 Clicks for All Your Ebooks
$695,000 and $695,000 in cost share
– Minitex, in partnership with the Massachusetts Library
System (MLS) and Reaching Across Illinois Library
System (RAILS), will enhance SimplyE, an open source
e-reader designed specifically to streamline and
improve the e-book circulation process for library
patrons. SimplyE, which is currently designed to
provide a seamless user experience for public library
patrons, will be modified for academic, public, and
school library users.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-70-16-
0010-16

22. Hydra
Fostering a New National Library Network through
a Community-Based, Connected Repository System
$1,999,897.00 and $2,000,686.00 in Cost share
– The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), Stanford
University, and DuraSpace will foster a greatly
expanded network of open-access, content-hosting
"hubs." The three partners will engage in a major
development of the community-driven open source
Hydra project to provide these hubs with a new all-in-
one solution, which will also allow countless other
institutions to easily join the national digital platform.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-70-15-
0006-15

24. Archive-It
Systems Interoperability and Collaborative Development for
Web Archiving $353,221 and $98,460 in cost share
– The Internet Archive, with the University of North Texas,
Rutgers University, and Stanford University Library will build
a foundation for collaborative technology development,
improved systems interoperability, and an Application
Programming Interface (API) based model for enhanced
access to, and research use of, web archives. In working with
the Archive-It platform, used by more than 350 partner
institutions, results of this research will be directly applicable
to libraries, archives, and museums around the country and
the world.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-71-15-0174-15

26. Perma.cc
Scaling Up Perma.cc: Ensuring the Integrity of the
Digital Scholarly Record $782,649 and $823,126 in
cost share
– The Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab, in
cooperation with the Berkman Center for Internet &
Society and over 130 partner libraries will sustainably
scale Perma.cc to combat link rot in all scholarly fields.
Building on solutions and approaches developed in the
field of legal scholarship, this project will grow the
Perma library coalition and tackle link rot in other fields.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/LG-70-16-0023-
16

28. HistoryPin
Digital Memory in Rural Tribal Libraries: A Program for
Technology Training & Memory Gathering
– Historypin, a free international platform for sharing culture
and heritage, will work with tribal libraries in New Mexico and
California to develop an online and in-person community
memory program. The planning process will engage a diverse
group of communities, moving toward a simple and scalable
digital program with training and evaluation modules that can
be conducted within the limits of under-resourced rural tribal
libraries. Project partners include the New Mexico State
Library's Tribal Library Program and the University of
California, Riverside, who will contribute to state-level
planning and coordination activities.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/RE-00-15-0105-15

30. Digital Education and Training
Omeka S: Enhanced Description and Dissemination
$249,337.00
– The university's Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and
New Media will extend the core functionality of Omeka S
by more fully integrating linked open data in digital
collections, and creating new modes of access and
dissemination through other platforms. The center will
develop and support several deliverables: a basic
resource description template; three linked open data
and controlled authority modules; a social media sharing
module; and several developer training workshops.
https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/lg-70-15-0258-15

32. Zooniverse
Transforming Libraries and Archives through Crowdsourcing
- This project will greatly expand the capacity for libraries
and archives across the country to use crowdsourcing
techniques to engage with audiences and improve access to
digital collections through the Zooniverse. The Zooniverse,
an international crowdsourcing organization with 1.4 million
volunteers, is poised to serve as a transformative element in
the future of library and archive engagement efforts and as a
core component of the national digital platform. Lessons
learned from these projects will be incorporated into the
Project Builder, which enables anyone to build a
crowdsourcing project for free.
https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/RE-00-15-0105-15

34. Mozilla Web Literacy
Digital Skills for Digital Librarians $808,601 and
$808,601 in cost share
– The Mozilla Foundation, in collaboration with The
Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the
University of Washington Information School, will refine
and launch an open source curriculum, training, tools,
and credentials for public library staff to learn web
literacy skills. The project intends to empower library
staff to provide patrons with opportunities to develop the
digital skills they need for better success in such areas as
education, workforce development, and civic
engagement. Emphasis will be placed on underserved
communities, and populations.
– https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/RE-00-15-0105-15

36. National Digital Platform
So.. What’s next?

37. National Digital Platform
… is largely up to people
like all of you.

38. National Digital Platform
The national digital
platform is a challenge
to the field.

39. Digital Education and Training
Anticipated due dates for 2 page preliminary
proposals for both the National Leadership Grants
Program and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian
Program
 February 1st 2017
 September 2017 (Anticipated)