About MDL

Museum content and educator resources free to use and share

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Newfields Lab of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, the Field Museum, Chicago, and History Colorado, Denver developed MDL as a way for museums of all disciplines to leverage digitized museum collections to help K-12 educators and students.

These founding museums, along with a growing number of museums of all disciplines, regularly upload digitized objects and activity-filled resource kits. If we don’t have a resource kit you need, check back often. New museums continually join MDL and currently-participating museums add new resource kits often.

Become a participating museum.

We are looking for museums interested in providing collections-based digital educational content for our platform. These materials would include lesson plans, videos, essays, slideshows, and other online activities that are created using a museum’s digital content. Museum professionals and educators will work together to shape the resources to fit classroom needs.

Criteria to become an MDL participant includes:

  • • An ability to commit educational and collections staff resources to this project.
  • • Existing online digitized collections, preferably with metadata.
  • • Existing digital educational materials, or the potential to create materials.
  • • An institutional priority to expand or diversify your audience.

If you are interested in joining this project, or would like more information, please fill out the form below and one of our team members will get back with you as soon as possible.

Institution Type (check all that apply)
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