Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Library Preservation Project

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA TEAM

• Jessica Ugstad, Head of Collections, Collection Management Librarian, Law Library; NNDWRLPP Project Manager
• Teresa Miguel-Stearns, Associate Dean and Director, Law Library
• Toni Massaro, Regents Professor and Dean Emerita, College of Law; and the Executive Director, Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice
• Nancy Peterson, Assistant Director, Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice

NAVAJO NATION DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES TEAM

• Maurice Upshaw (Diné), GIS Supervisor, Water Management Branch, Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources; Team Project Manager
• Dr. Crystal Tulley-Cordova (Diné), Principal Hydrologist for the Water Management Branch, Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources
• Staff of the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources

LLMC TEAM

• Patrick Butler, Executive Director, LLMC 
• Joseph Hinger, Director of Global Legal Content Initiatives, LLMC
• Richard Amelung, Professor of Legal Research, Vincent C. Immel Law Library, Saint Louis University School of Law

The Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources Library Preservation Project (NNDWRLPP) concluded its fourth year. This project aims to preserve, digitize, catalog, and provide access to the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources (NNDWR) Library collection. This vast and unique collection encompasses the history and geography of the Navajo Nation’s water resources found across more than 27,000 square miles of the southwestern United States. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, this collection was an active, living, and growing library, regularly utilized by: NNDWR staff in their daily work; Navajo Nation members and Tribal officials in governance; government agencies to subsidize their studies and reports; and more generally by academic researchers, water scientists, hydrologists, and high school and college students who were given permission to access the collection. The library contains 8,250 print resources of which 7,525 resources have been designated by NNDWR as unrestricted and publicly accessible. 

NNDWRLPP represents the authentic partnerships that have been formed between NNDWR and the University of Arizona’s Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library (library), the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, and James E. Rogers College of Law; and LLMC. In response to the Navajo Nation’s formal directive and priorities for their NNDWR Library, these dedicated partners have collaborated to ensure that the rich history and vibrant stories of the Navajo Nation are preserved for and made available to current and future generations of Indigenous and non-indigenous people, communities, groups, educational institutions, agencies, and organizations. 

Protecting the Indigenous information and data sovereignty of the Navajo Nation serves as the foundation of the NNDWRLPP’s mission. Every decision made on this project and all access to the collection now and once digitized remains under the control of NNDWR and the Navajo Nation. 

Updates:

• As of August 2023, the entire collection was inventoried and processed in preparation for segmented shipments to LLMC. 
• On October 26, 2023, the NNDWRLPP partners submitted their Council on Library & Information Resources' (CLIR) Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices Grant application (first round). If awarded, the project will receive a $300,000 grant.
• As of December 2023, the entire NNDWR collection was relocated to a new, secured and publicly inaccessible location within the library. 
• On January 8, 2024, Patrick Butler became the Executive Director of LLMC. 
• On February 22, 2024, NNDWRLPP’s Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices Grant application was selected as one of 49 applications (from 166 total submissions) to move to the final round. The partners submitted the final application on May 6, 2024. CLIR will notify awarded projects in August 2024. 
• As of summer 2024, 219 resources have been digitized and cataloged, with 138 of those resources now publicly available, many for the very first time, on LLMC’s Open Access database. 

To access the NNDWRLPP Digital Collection, go to LLMC Digital Open Access:

• Select the plus sign next to Special Focus Collections;
• Select the plus sign next to Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources;
• Select the plus sign next to the category of your choice to open up all the digitized report within that category; or 
• Search using the Full-Text Search option on the right side of the screen.