Image

Northwest Digital Heritage is proud to present its DPLA Local site, a new search portal that enables users to more easily access materials digitized by over 150 institutions in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

At the DPLA local site (https://nwdh.dp.la/), visitors can discover over half-a-million electronic documents, photos, maps, oral histories, and much more. The site enables users to narrow their search results across a variety of categories, including copyright status, location, contributing institution, and much more. Additionally, DPLA Local highlights specific and unique topics and events in Pacific Northwest history and culture, from Tribal Fishing Rights and the Oregon Federal Art Project to the Great Seattle Fire and the Mount St. Helens eruption.

Image

Kalispel Indians in birch bark canoe circa 1900-1919. Courtesy of Spokane Public Library.

“DPLA Local is a platform representing a unique, regional slice of the nationwide Digital Public Library of America portal,” said Evan Robb, project co-coordinator at the Washington State Library. “Researchers can discover online historical materials and government documents from a variety of sources, some of which don’t rank prominently, or display at all, in search-engine results.”

Image

Dorothy Looney, Kittitas County trick rider, circa 1940s. Courtesy of Ellensburg Public Library.

The DPLA Local platform was designed and developed by the Digital Public Library of America. Content for the portal is provided by the Northwest Digital Heritage hub in partnership with the Orbis Cascade Alliance service hub, University of Washington, and Oregon Digital. Northwest institutions interested in participating in the DPLA can visit northwestdigitalheritage.org.

Northwest Digital Heritage is a project of the Oregon Heritage Commission, State Library of Oregon, and Washington State Library.