Are you looking for a free tool to help you manage your research? Try Zotero, a Firefox extension! http://www.zotero.org/

“The National Archives and Footnote.com are working as partners to bring unprecedented access to selections of the vast holdings of the National Archives. Learn More.

This non-exclusive agreement, beginning with the sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm, will enable researchers and the general public to access millions of newly-digitized images of the National Archives historic records on a subscription basis from the Footnote web site. By February 6, the digitized materials will also be available at no charge in National Archives research rooms in Washington D.C. and regional facilities across the country. After an interval of five years, all images digitized through this agreement will be available at no charge through the National Archives web site.”
-http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2007/nr07-41.html

The two organizations also worked together to develop the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial. You can search or browse for names on the wall. Linked to each image, is information about the person’s service. The site is web 2.0 capable in that it allows members (there is a free level of membership) to attach comments or tributes to a particular person’s record.

The Minnesota Digital Library is pleased to announce that people may now comment on the images in our “Minnesota Reflections” collection. The MDL designed a wiki site that allows us to provide this resource. Look at a photo, map or document, click on the “comment on this item” and leave your comments.

We are looking for public support in providing information on the items in our collection and we would like people to ask questions and share stories.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Visit Minnesota Reflections ( http://reflections.mndigital.org/ )

• Search for items you want to view.

• When you are looking at an individual photo, document or map, you will see a button in the blue menu bar above the image. The button is red with yellow type.

• Click on that button and you will go to a wiki page. From there, comment as you like on that particular object.

No registration is required. We do ask people to focus their comments on the item in the collection.

The Minnesota Digital Library will monitor comments. This is still a prototype service. We are still designing it and answering questions about how to share the information people provide.

If you have general comments, suggestions or insights to offer regarding the Social Side of Reflections, please send them to Marian Rengel, MDL outreach coordinator (mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu).

Thanks for helping the MDL with the project and have fun.