This IMLS project is a model program of cooperation between several libraries and a museum. Smaller universities and colleges usually do not have the resources available that a museum does, for example, a Photo Curator with expertise in preservation and organization of images. On the other hand, museums often lack the library and information technology expertise that are usually available on a university campus. Through cooperation, the strengths of personnel at each partner institution will be combined to create a database of images of Native Americans.

The Project strives to broaden access to new constituencies by providing students, researchers, and the general public with direct access to important primary source material on the Plains Indian cultures currently only available by travel to Montana.

Images were digitized and drawn from the library collections of three of the Montana State University campuses ( Bozeman, Billings, 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 Libraries and the Museum of the Rockies.

The digital collection was created in consultation with Native Americans, educators, librarians, and historians. The overall organization of the database is by tribe, including: Crow, Cheyenne, Blackfeet, Salish (Flathead), Kutenai, Chippewa-Cree, Gros Ventres (Atsina), and Assiniboine. The collection consists primarily of images, but includes some text to give context. Most of the images are photographs, but there are also ledger drawings, serigraphs, paintings and other media.