Media History Digital Library

A cover of Photoplay magazine from March 1954. Debbie Reynolds is depicted along with the caption, "Debbie Reynolds: Look at me now!". Other headlines include "Guy Madison's Heartbreak Marriage Story" and "New—Crazy Costs of Hollywood Divorce"
Debbie Reynolds pictured on the cover of Photoplay, March 1954. Accessed via the Media History Digital Library

The Media History Digital Library (MHDL) is a non-profit, open access digital archive founded by David Pierce[1] and directed by Eric Hoyt that compiles books, magazines, and other print materials related to the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound and makes these materials accessible online for free. The MHDL both digitizes physical materials and acquires digital copies from outside libraries, archives, collectors, and other collaborators. Most of the material in its more than 2.5 million pages is in the public domain and therefore free for all to use with no restrictions.[2][3]

Projects of the Media History Digital Library include its search engine Lantern[4] and its data visualization platform Arclight. The Media History Digital Library is led by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in Madison, Wisconsin. Film and media studies librarian James Steffen has called the MHDL one of "the two most important digital collections today for studying media industries."[5]

  1. ^ "Academy Science and Tech Council Adds David Pierce, Andy Serkis, and Jeffrey White". Below the Line. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  2. ^ Hall, Lucinda M. "Research Guides: Film Studies: Media History Digital Library". researchguides.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  3. ^ Gary, Nina; Yatsuknenko, Becky (2021-03-08). "Review: Media History Digital Library". Reviews in Digital Humanities. II (3). doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.5afaa9a7. S2CID 233795027.
  4. ^ "Lantern Media History Digital Library | Subject and Course Guides". library.uncw.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  5. ^ Steffen, James (2017-07-01). "Resource Review: Media History Digital Library and Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive". Media Industries Journal. 4 (2). doi:10.3998/mij.15031809.0004.206. hdl:2027/spo.15031809.0004.206. ISSN 2373-9037.