Tag: Digital Public Library of America

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DPLA Launches The Banned Book Club

In response to book bans across the United States, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched The Banned Book Club. Through the Palace e-reader app, The Banned Book Club uses GPS-based geo-targeting to make available free e-book versions of banned books to readers in US locations where the titles have been banned.

To download the app, follow these instructions from the DPLA News release:

To access The Banned Book Club now, download the Palace app and choose “Banned Book Club” as your library, then follow the prompts to sign up for a free virtual library card. For more specific instructions, click here.

For more information about The Banned Book Club, you can view the DPLA News Release or visit TheBannedBookClub.info.

Glass plate slide reads Books for Everybody: the Aim of the American Library Association
Books for Everybody. 1918. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. McLean County Museum of History. American Library Association Archives Digital Collections. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.

Glass plate slide reads "It is the responsibility of the American Library Association to encourage and promote the development of library services for every man, woman, and child in America."
Library Services for every Man, Woman and Child. 1918. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. McLean County Museum of History. American Library Association Archives Digital Collections. Courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.

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Join Us at ILA and the Chicago Research Summit

Happy October! The Illinois Digital Heritage Hub will be at the Chicago Research Summit and the Illinois Library Association Conference later this month.
Join Keri Cascio, chair of the IDHH Marketing Working Group and Chicago Public Library’s Assistant Chief of Technology, Content and Innovation at the Chicago Research Summit on October 18th. Keri will introduce the new IDHH website and search portal and its potential as a resource for educators and students of Chicago History.
Joshua Lynch, IDHH metadata specialist and webmaster, will present on the IDHH Website and Portal at the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference during both exhibits sessions on Wednesday, October 23rd and Thursday, October 24th. Learn about the IDHH and the DPLA and the website as a tool for new and current contributing institutions, educators and learners, and other user groups.
We look forward to seeing you there and want to hear your thoughts on the site!

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Introducing the IDHH Website

The Illinois Digital Heritage Hub is proud to announce the launch of a brand new website! The site provides a portal to all of the IDHH’s contributors’ rich and unique cultural heritage objects, numbering more than 300,000 and growing.

IDHH Website Homepage screen capture
IDHH Website Homepage. Screen capture taken in September 2019

Visitors can search the catalog by keywords or browse topics, Illinois historical events, locations, people, or formats. Users may also browse by some of the IDHH’s more than 140 contributors. The site also provides documentation for new providers preparing to get started contributing collections.
Special thanks to our providers whose contributions make the IDHH possible. The website was made possible by the DPLA’s Local platform and we thank the Digital Public Library of America’s developers, who provided the out-of-the-box technology infrastructure and necessary modifications for additional pages and features. The IDHH is glad to be a part of this feature development and trusts that it will build on the solid foundation of DPLA Local and empower other DPLA partners. Finally, graduate student assistants, Tath Haver and Kaylen Dwyer made essential contributions toward developing key site features and their work is greatly appreciated.
The website will be undergoing several rounds of updates in the coming months and new features are soon to come. These include more features for educators and students, more browsing options, and, longer term, digital exhibits.