Whether exploring millions of archived newspapers, state and federal documents, patents and trademarks, or taking a virtual journey through the Equality State, the Wyoming State Library’s (WSL) Digital Collection Suite (DCS) shines a light on Wyoming’s rich history.
The WSL DCS is comprised of six collections including Wyoming Newspapers, Wyoming Places, Wyoming Publications, Wyoming Legislation, Wyoming Inventors, and Wyoming Trademarks. Start your journey to discover out what each collection offers.
Let’s Ride!
Historically, many people have started or ended their day by perusing the local newspaper to read about current events, local news, and other important information. People still seek information from newspapers, but these days many prefer to consume their news digitally via computers or other digital devices. Thanks to the WSL’s Digital Wyoming Newspaper Collection, you can access newspapers from dating all the way back to 1849. With more than 4,000,000 archived pages this database is your resource to ride the river with to the Cowboy State’s newspapers of the past.
Wyoming Places provides Wyomingites with information about the more than 28,000 officially named places in Wyoming through its many online exhibits and resources. It’s a great place to find answers to questions like, “Why is Wyoming called Wyoming?” You can also find make connections between historical events and Wyoming places using the Places Calendar, which includes important events in Wyoming’s history for each day of the year. Read more about the Places Calendar in this blog post. Wyoming on the Map, a collection of historical maps of Wyoming, can help you trace how Wyoming has changed over the years since it became a territory in 1868, a state in 1890, and the beautiful place so many of us call home now in the twenty-first century. Wyoming Places also houses three online exhibits including the Heart Mountain WWII Internment Camp Exhibit, the Statehood Celebration Exhibit, and the Wyoming Prisoner of War Camps Exhibit. Wyoming Places not only provides information about locations, histories, name origins, and stories of places in the great state of Wyoming, it is an ongoing project that is frequently updated to include new information and resources as they become available. Patrons are invited to suggest additions to the Places calendar, too. Ride over to Wyoming Places to travel through time and our great state without even leaving your home!
With Wyoming Publications, you can access annual reports, budget requests, executive orders, and state and federal repository documents. This digital collection contains publications produced by Wyoming government agencies and boards, and federal documents concerning the State of Wyoming. You’ll find budget requests, agency reports, newsletters, annual report compendiums, and more. By statue [W.S. 9-2-3211 (c)] we are required to house all State Publications in our depository. Over 40,000 digitized items dating back to 1869 are available via the State Publications Digital Collection. The Wyoming State Library also has a vast print collection of state publications and federal documents on its physical shelves. For the most up-to-date government information, we advise patrons to check the board or agency’s official website.
Perfect for researchers and attorneys, Wyoming Legislation is an extensive collection of legislative documents, free for you to access and research. The Wyoming Legislative database contains over 77,000 digitized records that span a wide range of Wyoming history, from territorial days to the present. These digitized records create a robust collection of Wyoming Legislative history that includes Wyoming Territorial and State House and Senate Journals, Bills, Bill Actions, Enrolled Acts, Session Laws, and Session Audio files.
From the first patent for a new cartridge belt to innovations in spider silk, Wyoming Inventors is an outstanding resource for research and genealogy. This extensive database includes every patent issued in Wyoming dating from pre-territorial days to the present, including a patent issued by Buffalo Bill Cody for a horse bit. Curated by Anne Kuipers, WSL State Publications Librarian, this collection is truly unique in that it is the only complete state collection in the U.S. Patrons can search by patent number, name, or invention title to locate the specific patent they are looking for and can also browse the collection by name, city, or year.
With items dating back to 1906, Wyoming Trademarks showcases trademarked names, logos, and wordmarks registered to Wyoming citizens and business owners. This collection is useful for patrons planning on registering their own trademark, but is also a fascinating database to those wishing to view Wyoming history through the lens of business. Trademarks are searchable by word mark, application number, applicant name, goods and service class code, mark type, design category, and status. This thorough database of the logos and symbols used to identify and market goods and services in Wyoming is perfect for historical and research purposes and has links to the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office that manages trademark applications and currently active trademarks.
Check out all the WSL’s Digital Collection Suite has to offer!