This content policy pertains only to reformatted or born-digital collections produced or coordinated for inclusion in the Mountain West Digital Library under the auspices of the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) Special Collections/Digital Library Committee. Collecting policies for commercial content are handled through the UALC Collection Development Committee.

Purpose of the Digital Library

The Mountain West Digital Library seeks to support the teaching and learning of the citizenry of Utah and Nevada as students and teachers at all educational and cultural heritage institutions. These digital collections expressly seek to support an informed citizenry and the pursuit of life-long learning.

Contributors and Participants

Through the Mountain West Digital Library, educational and cultural heritage institutions and other appropriate entities of all types in Utah and Nevada are building a digital collection of selected resources that are unique, rare and/or of special regional interest. As needed, these institutions may seek digitization assistance from one of five regional UALC digitization centers: Utah State University, the University of Utah, Southern Utah University, Weber State University, and Utah Valley University.

Content Areas for the Mountain West Digital Library

Submitted material should fit one or more of the following content areas:

• Content documenting the history of the region.
• Content promoting an informed citizenry, i.e., politically, legally, medically.
• Content needing preservation due to heavy use and subsequent deterioration of the original format in repositories throughout the region.
• Content featuring resources that are unique, rare and/or of special regional interest (e.g. regional book collections, manuscripts, rare books, photographs, and maps, etc.).
• Content featuring exhibits or collection snapshots that highlight significant resources of the region.
• Content supporting teaching and classroom learning not already available digitally

Selection Criteria for the Mountain West Digital Library

Submitted materials should meet all of the following selection criteria:

• Materials are not available from another network accessible digital repository or through digital commercial publications.
• Owning institution has processed and adequately described the collection prior to submission for digitization.
• Audience is identifiable and sufficiently broad to warrant project costs.
• Digitization of materials fulfills a preservation, accessibility, curriculum, research or information need within the region.
• Materials will be freely available to students, faculty, and the general public.
• Materials will be added to the Mountain West Digital Library's permanent digital repository.
• Funding support is available for reformatting, metadata creation, file storage and other special costs associated with the project.
• Sufficient personnel are available to complete the project on time.