Announcing the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections
Today marks the official public launch of the new Hennepin County Library Digital Collections! Visit digitalcollections.hclib.org to browse and search thousands of images, documents, and texts. You can also enter through the library’s website under Browse>Digital Collections. Collections can be accessed anywhere at any time. No library card is needed.
The collections mainly concern local (Minneapolis and Hennepin County) historical topics, but numerous collections crossover into areas of broader interest such as the WWII correspondence in the James G. Smith Collection or the political cartoons in the Charles Bartholomew Collection.
For best results searching for historical photographs, search all collections rather than collection by collection. The search bar defaults to a keyword search, but advanced search allows you to search specific fields (try searching a Minneapolis neighborhood name in the subject field, for example, or for an address in the description field). You can also refine your results using the facets on the left side of the search screen to narrow by date, format, or subject.
Material in the digital collections can be downloaded as jpg files or pdf files, depending on the resource. Multiple resolutions, including high resolution (600 dpi), are available for most jpg downloads.
Want to use a photo in a publication? With a few exceptions, content may be freely used as long as credit is given to Hennepin County Library. Use restrictions are described in the rights statement for each item.
Some collections, such as the Building Permit Index Cards and High School Yearbooks, have not yet been fully loaded. And new material will be added regularly, so check back often!
Contact staff in Special Collections if you have any questions or comments regarding the new Digital Collections.