College & Research Libraries News vol. 83, no. 11 December 2022) December 2022 528C&RL News Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public services and collection development at Willamette University, email: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical services at Willamette University, email: cdrost@willamette.edu. I n t e r n e t R e v i e w sJoni R. Roberts and Carol Drost Northwest Digital Heritage. Access: https://www.northwestdigitalheritage.org/. Everyone interested in the cultural heritage of two of our northwestern states, Washington and Oregon, is encouraged to visit the Northwest Digital Heritage site, a project of the Oregon Heritage Commission, the State Library of Oregon, and the Washington State Library. This comprehensive site provides access to collection items found in libraries, mu- seums, and cultural heritage organizations throughout Oregon and Washington. At this writing, more than 150 institutions have made contributions to the site, and that number continues to grow, making Northwest Digital Heritage a tremendous resource for both content contributors and content seekers. By leveraging existing infrastructure and digitization best practices, Northwest Digital Heritage partners have created a straightforward, strongly supported way for cultural heri- tage institutions across the region to increase and enhance access to their unique resources. The partnership provides digitization training, digital asset management guidance, metadata creation best practices, digital collection hosting, consultation, and grants and other fund- ing opportunities for community digital projects. It’s no surprise that this well-considered collaboration has drawn numerous participants who have contributed quality images and extensive metadata. The resulting data-driven resource is a terrific find for researchers and learners of every kind. Starting at the home screen of Northwest Digital Heritage, users can select the search box to seek specific topics, dates, and types (text, images, moving images, or sound). Items can also be searched by location, language, collection, and contributing institution. By choosing “Explore Now” on the homepage, users are given a selection of highlighted topics to browse or research deeply. Northwest Digital Heritage is also a service hub of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), an open access collection bringing together millions of digital items from across the country. Northwest Digital Heritage users have access to DPLA collections as well as the extensive rights and usage information provided by DPLA. Whether you are the curator of unique materials in a large or small institution or are an interested learner seeking hidden collections and stories of the Pacific Northwest, the North- west Digital Heritage site can be relied on to provide the information and guidance you are seeking. Consider it a window into the cultural heritage of Oregon and Washington as seen through the materials found in museums, libraries, tribes, and other cultural organiza- tions.—Sarah Goodwin Thiel, University of Kansas Libraries, sgthiel@ku.edu River Network. Access: https://www.rivernetwork.org/. River Network is an environmental nonprofit organization that aims to connect and em- power individuals, organizations, and communities to protect and restore rivers and other natural waters in the United States. Like its name suggestions, River Network connects groups that focus on water issues—more than 8,500 nonprofits, agencies, tribes, and utili- mailto:jroberts%40willamette.edu?subject= mailto:cdrost%40willamette.edu?subject= https://www.northwestdigitalheritage.org/ mailto:sgthiel@ku.edu https://www.rivernetwork.org/ December 2022 529C&RL News ties—and provides support to strengthen their work with rivers and clean water initiatives. They also facilitate collective action on issues including drinking water access, healthy rivers in agricultural landscapes, water laws and policies, and resilient communities. Their website hosts a wealth of information about their initiatives, network, and public resources. The River Network homepage highlights four resources of broad interest: the organiza- tion’s Clean Water Act Owner’s Manual; tools for community-led research; profiles of, and interviews with, featured “water champions”; and an interactive map of networked orga- nizations. Readers can further navigate the website through a tabbed menu as well as a site search. The “About Us” and “Our Impact” tabs provide detailed information about River Network’s history, mission, priorities, strategic plan, impact stories, and more. The “Mem- bership” tab provides information about membership benefits, options to join (including a free tier for individuals), network map, and peer groups (communities of practice that facilitate connections). The “Business & Water” tab provides information about corporate partnership opportunities. The “Connect & Learn” tab is the access point for a variety of learning resources, includ- ing the River Network Resource Library, a collection of hundreds of publications, webinars, newsletters, tools, and templates related to water issues, primarily created by River Network. Featured publications and items in the Essential Learning Series are linked from the library landing page, and the full collection can be searched through a simple database; readers can filter their search by program and/or resource type. Other interactive learning opportunities are also accessible under “Connect & Learn,” including the River Rally conference; upcom- ing webinars, events, and workshops; job opportunities; and an online community. The River Network website provides useful practical information and tools that may be of interest to researchers and practitioners working in areas such as water resources and hy- drology, environmental science, environmental justice, public policy, and sustainability. The site may also be useful for students seeking project topic ideas or a deeper understanding of professional opportunities in this facet of environmental work.—Amy Jankowski, University of New Mexico, ajankowski@unm.edu UnidosUS. Access: https://www.unidosus.org/ UnidosUS is the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. Established in 1968 and formerly called the National Council of La Raza, UnidosUS initiates op- portunities for Latinos’ economic, political, and social advancement. For the researcher, UnidosUS provides statistics and resources for and about Latinos in the United States. The website is divided into facts about US Latinos; a list of key issues that effect Latinos; a li- brary of research reports, articles, and papers; and information about UnidosUS. The “Facts” section lists statistics related to the US Latino population in the areas of health care, education, wealth, and jobs. The statistics include citations and, where applicable, links to the source documents. For example, the statistic “70% of Latino college student are the first in their family to attend college” is a statistic taken from National Center for Educa- tion Statistics, and a link is provided to the primary source. Not all statistics are cited, so it is difficult to fact check a statement like “In the next 20 years, 70% of new homeowners will be Hispanic.” The website would be more helpful if all statistics either had citations or links to the original document. mailto:ajankowski@unm.edu https://www.unidosus.org/ December 2022 530C&RL News The “Issues” section contains educational material and data on a variety of civil rights topics. For example, the “Education” page links to facts on Latinos in higher education, an education blog, a video of their higher education agenda, a description of their core educa- tion programs, and links to publications in both English and Spanish. The most valuable section for librarians is “Library,” which contains research reports, articles, ebooks, working papers, curriculum, data sets, and recordings of virtual events. Readers can browse, search, or limit the publications by type or topic (civil rights, educa- tion, health, housing, immigration, impact report, policy, the economy, voting, youth). As an example of available publications, the Education Library has Spanish publications, toolkits for welcoming AfroLatinx and LGBTQ youth to schools, a letter sent to a House Subcommittee regarding funding to support English learners, and the book Debt, Doubt, and Dreams: Understanding the Latino College Completion Gap. This is an essential resource for researchers needing information on current and recent Latino history and civil rights.—Delores Carlito, University of Alabama at Birmingham, dcarlito@uab.edu mailto:dcarlito@uab.edu