Digital Repository Top 5: the most popular newly digitized materials of 2023

As we near the end of 2023, we’re sharing the most popular items that the State Publications Library added to our digital repository over the past year. Our digital repository houses thousands of full-text state publications that are freely available for anyone to explore.

The list below shares the top 5 most popular items that were added to our digital repository in 2023 but are not necessarily newly published items. Onto the list!

Upper Gunnison-Uncompahgre Basin : phase I feasibility study. Final Report (Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, 1989)

This document is the final report of a study conducted on behalf of the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority to explore environmentally-friendly methods of developing the water resources of the Upper Gunnison-Uncompahgre Basin. The report offers six potential plans, and the researchers recommended that reservoirs be built in the Ohio Creek and Tomichi Creek basins and develop recreational opportunities in the river basin area.

Lemon Dam project feasibility report (Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, 1985)

Like the first, the second most popular item is also related to water resources development. Lemon Dam project feasibility report describes the results of a study requested by the Florida Water Conservancy District and focuses on the feasibility of retrofitting Lemon Dam, located along the Florida River in southwestern Colorado, to generate hydroelectric power. The researchers determined that the project would be technically and economically feasible. As a result, a power plant was built and operates at the dam to this day.

9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance project report (2011)

This report details the acts of service completed across Colorado on September 11, 2011, which was federally designated as National Day of Service and Remembrance. The report was compiled by Serve Colorado, which is guided by the Governor’s Commission on Community Service to administer AmeriCorps Colorado and promote volunteerism throughout the state.

Executive budget request (Colorado Department of Human Services, 2023) and Budget request 1995/96 (Colorado Department of Administration)

The next two popular items in our digital repository are state agency budget requests. Each year, the agencies that make up Colorado’s state government publish documents outlining their priorities for the upcoming year and estimating how much money they will need to fulfill these priorities. They send these budget requests to the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly to request funding. More information about the budget process can be found here.

While they might sound a little boring, budget requests are a great resource in the State Publications Library. Each request contains details about ongoing state projects and priorities, so they are an excellent place to begin a research project.

Saving Colorado’s boreal toads (Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2020)

The boreal toad is Colorado’s only alpine toad species, which has seen a significant population decline in recent years. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) listed the boreal toad as a state endangered species in 1993 and has undertaken a project to research and reintroduce the boreal toad into its natural habitat. This video describes CPW’s successful boreal toad reintroduction project at Zimmerman Lake in northern Colorado.

 

We hope you found as much fascinating information in our digital collection as we did in 2023. More of our frequently used new digital publications are listed below. Keep an eye out for even more great information that will be added to the digital repository in 2024!

• Developing Colorado’s turf replacement program (Colorado Legislative Council, 2022)
• Colorado Department of Corrections incident and escape report calendar years 2006 and 2007
• Southwest native aquatic species, 2018-2019 boreal toad conservation efforts (Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2019)
• The Indians of Colorado (Colorado State Historical Society, 1957)
• Directory of Colorado state government (General Assembly, 1979-2022)
• Pioneer potluck : stories and recipes of early Colorado (Colorado State Historical Society, 1963)
• Annual report of the Arkansas River Compact Administration 1949 – 1993 
• Colorado’s dinosaurs (Colorado Geological Survey, 1993)
• Renewable resources in Colorado : opportunities for local governments (Office of Energy Conservation, 1981)
• Colorado facts (Department of Local Affairs, 1976)
• Education in Colorado, 1860-1954 (Colorado State Library, 1972)
• Living in Colorado (Division of Commerce and Development, 1973)
• Rural school buildings in Colorado (State Historic Preservation Office, 1999)
• Archaic period architectural sites in Colorado (Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, 1990)