Who are the People in Your State Library Resource Center

Meet Michael Scott!
Digitization Supervisor &
Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage Coordinator
Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center

What do you do?
I am Digitization Supervisor and Coordinator of the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage (MDCH) program. MDCH is a statewide collaborative digitization program headquartered here at SLRC. We partner with libraries, historical societies, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions to digitize materials related to Maryland's history and culture. We also provide access to digital collections from throughout the state at the MDCH website (www.mdch.org). Items in the online collections include historical maps, photographs, manuscripts, art work, rare books, and oral histories. In addition to working with outside partners, our department also digitizes rare and unique materials housed here at SLRC, such as items from the Edgar Allan Poe and H.L. Mencken collections.

How did you get here?
Like many people, I had quite a few different jobs before settling on a career path and getting my M.L.S. I started at SLRC as a reference librarian in the Fine Arts and Music Department, then was hired as MDCH Coordinator in October 2008. Before coming to SLRC, I worked at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
I really enjoy traveling and meeting people from a variety of libraries and cultural heritage institutions. It's interesting to see the unique collections that exist throughout the state, and to work with other institutions to develop partnerships.

What’s a book that you didn’t expect to like – but did?
Hmmm... let's see. Not too many come to mind. I once took a poetry class where we read a book called The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley. The entire book is essentially one long poem where the lines are segmented into phrases with quotation marks. It wasn't that I didn't expect to like the book, but it was quite a challenge at first to get used to the rhythm of the writing. In the end, though, I found it quite lovely and was glad I read it.

What is your favorite SLRC program, service, or training?
At the risk of sounding biased, I suppose I have to pick MDCH. It's a great program that offers a range of digitization services to partners, and provides the general public with online access to collections they otherwise might not know about or might have to travel some distance to see in person.

What do you do when you’re not reading?
I love movies, travel, and going to art museums. My husband loves indie bands, so we go to shows when we can. I'm also a big animal lover, and spend a lot of time walking with my two dogs, Henry and Sylvie, in my neighborhood in south Baltimore.