How people used DPLA resources in 2020

By Kathleen Williams, December 16, 2020.

Amid both the hopeful and sobering news of the past week, you may also have seen Google’s recent release of its annual top search terms lists for 2020. Some we probably could have predicted at this time last year: election results, Iran, Tom Brady. Of course, there were many more we would never have guessed: coronavirus symptoms, hand sanitizer, sourdough bread, cutting hair at home, Zoom. As we look back on the ups and downs of our own year at DPLA, we wanted to share with you some information about how the 1.5 million people who visited dp.la this year used our resources:

  • And maybe there’s some solace to be found in artifacts from our aggregation? For the first time, this 1917 Handel opera from HathiTrust was among our most viewed items, as well as this recording of a 2002 Library of Congress concert from Mountain West Digital Library.

In addition to usage via dp.la, our new Wikimedia project has and will continue to allow for vastly expanded discovery and use of DPLA artifacts. As you may know, DPLA is now the largest single contributor to Wikimedia Commons—in 2020, DPLA uploaded over 1.25 million images from 7 partners. And we are delighted to report that in the 10 months since the first item was uploaded in February 2020, DPLA artifacts have received more than 7.5 million views on Wikimedia. Items from DPLA now receive more than 2.5 million views per month. 

Find out more about the Wikimedia project and how to put it to work for your institution in this introductory webinar, and feel free to get in touch with us to find out more. 

Although the world has changed a great deal in the past 12 months, one thing that has remained is the ever-growing need for digital access to knowledge. A big thank you to our funders, contributing institutions, partners, site visitors, and friends for your continued efforts to make a national digital library possible. We’d love to see you all at our next Community + Open Board Meeting on January 15th at 2 pm ET.  ‘Til then, we wish you a joyful holiday season, and a happier, healthier 2021.