About the Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains Collection
The Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains Collection includes photographs, paintings, ledger drawings, documents, serigraphs, and stereographs from 1874 through the 1940's. In 1998, the images were digitized and drawn from the library collections of three of the Montana State University campuses (Billings, Bozeman and Havre), the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, and Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana.
The applicant partnership was between Montana State University Library and the Museum of the Rockies. The major tribes represented in this collection include the Assiniboine, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Chippewa-Cree, Crow, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Salish (Flathead), Shoshone, and Sioux.
Since its original release in 1998, much of the world-wide-web technology changed. To continue hosting and maintaining the original Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains Collection, it was necessary to perform a full technical upgrade.
In 2012, the database and user interface were upgraded to a scalable set of web 2.0 systems. The technical upgrade provided long-term sustainable IT support and maintenance by the hosting institution (MSU Library at Bozeman), and it increased enduser web accessibility and usability.
The 2012 technical upgrade included:
Use of Artificial Intelligence & Tools
Montana State University Library allows the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools with its digital collections for noncommercial educational, scholarly, and research purposes only.
Users are permitted to make content accessible to other users in any legal manner, use content to train AI models or create large language models (LLMs) for nonprofit educational, scholarly, or research purposes, with proper attribution to the MSU Library, and incorporate AI-generated content or derivatives in academic works (e.g., presentations, books, articles) with proper credit and acknowledgment of the original product(s). These uses must adhere to U.S. Copyright Law, MSU Library policies, and ethical guidelines for AI in academic and scholarly contexts.
Users are not permitted to use MSU Library content for creating commercial products or proprietary services and should avoid actions that will disrupt the functionality, integrity, or accessibility of the content, such as altering metadata, reformatting digital files, or impeding access for other users.
Harmful Language and AI
When using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and tools with resources held by the MSU Library, an AI system may encounter and process historical materials containing language or content that is now recognized as harmful, offensive, or discriminatory. These materials do not reflect the views of the MSU Library or its staff but have been preserved to maintain the integrity of the historical record and to provide a complete and accurate representation of the past. The MSU Library is not liable for any damage(s) resulting from the processing of such language by AI systems, and users are encouraged to approach these materials with appropriate historical and ethical sensitivity.