About

What is CVL Collections?

CVL Collections is a program that helps small and rural libraries, museums, and archives in Colorado and Wyoming share their unique historic collections online with their communities and with the Digital Public Library of America. We utilize an open-source content management system called Omeka, which is both an online platform to host digital collections and a technical means to participate in the DPLA via our state hub, the Plains to Peaks Collective. Colorado State Library staff will work with you to create an online database branded like your institutional website, and help you exhibit your digital collection.

Your digital collection in Omeka could contain a variety of content, including:

  • Audio recordings
  • Video recordings
  • Written/printed documents
  • Transcripts
  • Photographs
  • Diaries
  • Personal narratives
  • Works of fiction
  • Art
  • Poetry

CVL Collections provides project management services and training during your implementation, as well as ongoing support at no cost to your organization. We also provide complementary hosting for your Omeka content management system and free storage up to 10GB. We offer reasonable pricing if you exceed that storage limit.

Ready to get started?
If CVL Collections sounds interesting to you, check out the Participation page to learn more about eligibility and other requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Content Management System?

A Content Management System (CMS) is an online database that stores and displays digital objects, including still images, text, audio, video, and even 3-D objects. A CMS also contains descriptive metadata for each digital object and makes that metadata available in a format that is interoperable with other systems, which is how we are able to share Omeka collections with the Digital Public Library of America. Some commonly used CMS’s include: ContentDM, Luna, DSpace, Past Perfect, Islandora, and (of course) Omeka.

Can CVL Collections help with digitization (i.e. the creation of digital objects)?

While we don’t offer one-on-one digitization training, Colorado State Library (CSL) offers Digital Creation Kits to libraries and cultural heritage organizations in Colorado that don’t have the funds to purchase digitization equipment, and/or don’t have a long-term need for it. Kit contents are designed to make archive creation more accessible, and give our communities the resources they need to begin sharing their stories digitally.

Wyoming also loans digitization kits to their state’s organizations. For more information, contact:

Sara Davis, Wyoming State Archivist
Phone: 307-777-8691
Email: sara.davis@wyo.gov

If my collection is available online, won’t people stop coming in person?

Sometimes folks worry that if they make their collections available online people will stop visiting in person. We are here to tell you that that simply is not the case. The reality is that putting collections online actually increases foot traffic. Additionally, your usage statistics should take into account both in-person and virtual use; by sharing your collections online you are greatly expanding your potential audience.

Who are Frontier and Pilot?

Frontier is the name given to our Plains to Peaks Collective (PPC) logo — the ubiquitous Colorado/Wyoming pronghorn.  Pilot is the son of Frontier, representing the CVL Collections program and symbolic of its familial relationship with the PPC.

We chose the pronghorn to be our symbol because of its characteristics… independent, resilient, and stalwart, yet with the capacity to join together to create a larger and more powerful presence when warranted.