archiving
Digital Story Archiving
Organization:
Center for Digital Storytelling VISTA Name:
Patrick Castrenze
Program Start:
7/2009
Program End:
7/2010
Project Description:
CDS has on archive over 6000 digital stories, the largest archive of digital stories in the world representing 16 years of work, and we continue to capture as a national/international organization more than 800 stories per year. The archival system has evolved slowly over the last decade, we can identify the location of the vast majority of stories by the workshop name and date, but we lack a robust system of managing the stories based on meta-data tags and client name. To secure the archive for future generations we need to maintain a robust system, and enhance its capabilities. The capacity to fully integrate effective archival practices into all of our workshops and post-production processes is an invaluable contribution to the field.
We are seeking a CTCVISTA member to help develop our Archive and Post Production Technical Support systems. This work would include:
Reviewing existing archive project and systems, research comparable systems in other organizations: enhancing and developing database systems for our movie archive; enhancing and developing post-production systems for managing participant data, update materials for post production process and software tutorials, DVD and Website templates for publication; developing model research/curatorial projects for each initiative process using archive as basis for examining relevant issues in connection to poverty.
The CTC Vista will work with the Supervisor/Technical Director to further develop and enhance two major systems of our organization, the CDS story archive and CDS Post-Production system
The tasks will include:
1. Review existing archive project and systems, research comparable systems in other organizations
2. Enhance and develop database systems for our movie archive.
3. Enhance and develop post-production systems for managing participant data
4. Develop model research/curatorial projects for each initiative process using archive as basis for examining relevant issues in connection to poverty.
Project Outcome:
Principal Task: Archive.
Accomplishments: Research best/appropriate RAID system for CDS archive of story data. Arranged for purchase of system. Migrated data onto new system. Met all deadlines. Research and purchasing assistance from Apple Certified Support Professional, Clinton Gilbert. Migration assistance from Jennifer Nazzal, CDS Post Production Supervisor. Needs analysis and design of custom organizational system to accommodate over 8TB of story data covering over 10 years of various types of Digital Storytelling workshops and projects conducted around the world. Set-up, installation and troubleshooting of dedicated computer station to operate the RAID. Review and organization of over 8TB of story data into custom system. Collection and integration of additional data from 4 Field office staff members. Creation of record of files for review purposes. Creation of multi-chapter guide for institutional use of the RAID system and data management. Training of staff and interns for continuation of RAID maintenance. Archive intern selection and management overseeing data entry by archive interns during May-July.
Additional Archive Task: CDS Online Story Theater.
Accomplishments: Organized existing data and back-end of Theater. Compiled new submission form for CDS Staff to submit entries to Theater. Compiled new stories and associated data and added to Theater. Participated in promoting new stories in CDS quarterly newsletter. Creation of mulit-chapter guide for institutional use of the Online Story Theater platform and back-end data management. Training of staff and interns for continuation of Story Theater.
Patrick also undertook a complete proof-reading of our book entitled Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. This task included revisions on nearly every page of the book as well as considerable copy-editing of our new revised curriculum chapter: The Seven Steps of Digital Storytelling.
eLearning Project Developer
Organization:
Idealware VISTA Name:
Colin Pizarek
Program Start:
9/2010
Program End:
9/2011
Project Description:
The VISTA will develop and manage Idealware’s eLearning Training Initiative. The eLearning Training Initiative will help Idealware to transform their current on-line training programs into an on-demand training library which takes advantage of current eLearning best practices. The VISTA will work with the Idealware team to define an eLearning strategy to deliver training to help non-profits choose software. They will then package curriculum materials that Idealware has already developed to be optimally viewed as screencasts, software demos and more, as well as create new modules to fill content gaps and expand Idealware’s scope of offerings. The VISTA will also work with staff and consultants to develop the technology to appropriately sell packages and individual online trainings, help to facilitate and administrate Idealware’s current live training, and train Idealware staff in the skills to continue to maintain the training library and create new vidoes after the VISTA term expires.
eLearning Project Developer
Organization:
Idealware VISTA Name:
Colin Pizarek
Program Start:
9/2010
Program End:
9/2011
Project Description:
The VISTA will develop and manage Idealware’s eLearning Training Initiative. The eLearning Training Initiative will help Idealware to transform their current on-line training programs into an on-demand training library which takes advantage of current eLearning best practices. The VISTA will work with the Idealware team to define an eLearning strategy to deliver training to help non-profits choose software. They will then package curriculum materials that Idealware has already developed to be optimally viewed as screencasts, software demos and more, as well as create new modules to fill content gaps and expand Idealware’s scope of offerings. The VISTA will also work with staff and consultants to develop the technology to appropriately sell packages and individual online trainings, help to facilitate and administrate Idealware’s current live training, and train Idealware staff in the skills to continue to maintain the training library and create new vidoes after the VISTA term expires.
Digital Archive Program Development
Organization:
Southern California Library VISTA Name:
Tiffany Otoya
Program Start:
9/2010
Program End:
9/2011
Project Description:
The Corps member will develop a comprehensive, sustainable, and consistent program for digitizing materials from our collections that we simply would not be able to do otherwise, given our limited staffing. The member would also strengthen our ability to integrate out community partners, staff, board members, and volunteers into the digitizing program.
Curricula Development and Program Building
Organization:
Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth (CAPAY) VISTA Name:
Molly Higgins
Program Start:
9/2009
Program End:
9/2011
Project Description:
While being involved with some of CAPAY’s youth/community/media programming plans, our proposed 2009-2010 VISTA member, will primarily be responsible for enhancing CAPAY’s current and future organizational capacity
Goal 1: Activate and mobilize CAPAY’s alumni network to provide increased/ongoing resources
Goal 2: Using Web 2.0 tools to support and streamline organizational communications, mapping of organizational assets (including alumni networking), and outreach/promotion.
Goal 3: Initiate and nurture long-term organizational partnerships in addition to shorter-term project-based collaborations.
Goal 4: Develop assessment and reflection tools with which to document short-and long-term impact of CAPAY program and project participation on youth participants, community members/organizations, and CAPAY alumni
Goal 5: Expand CAPAY’s financial base, including earned income, donations, and grant development.
Molly’s main role in the 2010-2011 service year will be to collect and organize pre-existing content, produce some original content, and produce/package training materials for staff and volunteers to take over the project. This includes archiving CAPAY’s collections of resources and workshops and digitizing them for the CAPAY website and also developing a training curricula that could potentially be used as a revenue stream for CAPAY in the future. The VISTA will also partake in fundraising and grant writing for the program.
Project Outcome:
our VISTA member goals for 2009-2010 were: - Provide staff support to assist organizational members in convening and revitalizing the CAPAY Alumni Network. - Develop community partnerships and collaborations, including youth/community internship sites, to build sustainability of the program into future years. - Develop grant/funding proposals and enhance CAPAY’s funder networks in conjunction with CAPAY staff and Adult Advisory Board. - Organize grassroots fundraising events for CAPAY programs. - administer/maintain CAPAY’s website and Web 2.0 presence (e.g., updating Facebook, Youtube, Google maps, etc) while exploring possibilities for online revenue streams and other relevant sources of earned income. - Develop assessment and reflection tools with which to document short-and long-term impact of CAPAY program and project participation on youth participants, community members/organizations, and CAPAY alumni. Molly was successful in implementing Web 2.0 tools to support and streamline organizational communications. She took over the management of CAPAY’s communications, including CAPAY’s Facebooks and listserve. She worked closely with the CAPAY coordinator Tri Quach to integrate Web 2.0 tools into the new CAPAY website. This includes the development of CAPAY’s media portal, designed to gather Asian American media such as digital stories, blogs, and artist websites (including original CAPAY content). She also worked with one of the CAPAY youth to develop a city-wide blog for youth organizing. Molly made progress in initiating and nurturing long and short term partnerships with other organizations. This includes the promotional video she made with other UMass Boston students for MASAE, a local basketball team. She successfully planned and administered all of the CAPAY YouthLearn internships at other organizations, including UMass Boston’s Asian American Studies Program, BCNC, AACA, ATASK, AFH, and Close to Home. Molly re-established connections with CAPAY alumni, the Alumni Network, which has been meeting actively since June to develop fundraising initiatives and to provide planning assistance and support for the November 2010 CAPAY youth symposium. Molly developed several grant proposals that are pending review.
Molly’s organizing and facilitation with these other Asian American youth programs led to the creation of a Steering Committee (SC) representing the Asian American Civic Association’s Youth Center, the Asian Community Development Corporation’s A-VOYCE, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center’s YouLead, and the Chinese Progressive Association’s Chinese Youth Initiative, along with CAPAY. This is an unprecedented accomplishment in terms of Boston Asian American community youth capacity-building and provides an organizational framework to foster programmatic collaboration and coordination, shared research and advocacy, and joint grant submissions.
Archiving Local History Online
Organization:
The Inland Northwest Community Access Network VISTA Name:
Nora Lollar
Program Start:
9/2004
Program End:
9/2006
Project Description:
The broad goal of Nora’s VISTA assignment was to develop local historical content for our online community history archive “Inland Northwest Memories” (history.tincan.org), to link the Memories project to other TINCAN community efforts, and to create a base of volunteers to collect information and maintain the site. Nora has taken a somewhat moribund project, where the site/database had been created but content was not being entered, and created a vibrant resource that captures local history.
Project Outcome:
The first focus for the site was to capture the history of World War II veterans because they are subject of a great deal of local interest and are quickly passing away. TINCAN is a contributing member of the Library of Congress Veterans’ History project. Nora’s accomplishments on the veteran’s aspect of the project include:
• Collecting, transcribing, and uploading (with volunteer assistance) 25 WWII veterans’ and civilians’ oral histories. Several WWI veterans have been identified as well.
• Scanning hundreds of photos from WWII, often from veterans’ scrapbooks, and photographing memorabilia, including medals and souvenirs brought back from the various locations in which the veterans were stationed.
• Reorganizing the handful of veteran’s histories and photos that were online, which included creating consistent archiving processes for the materials, correcting annotations, and in some cases, re-contacting the veteran or civilian to check data.
• Developing a cadre of 30 volunteers, primarily from Gonzaga University, to carry out interviews and scan photos.
• Putting on events to bring attention to veterans’ history. Perhaps the most memorable was a gathering on Veteran’s Day at a neighborhood coffee house, where veterans of all wars were invited to come, bring materials to be scanned, and make appointments for oral histories. The café owner loaned the back room to set up computers and scanners, and a local grocery store provided a large cake decorated like an American flag.
The next focus of the project was to engage local historical organizations in uploading historical materials to the Memories site. Nora’s accomplishments to date are:
• Identifying local museums and historical associations in the Inland Northwest. Four organizations are now actively working with the project.
• Working with the Valley Museum, a small community museum, that is planning to upload documents and photographs to the site. Working with a local school, they will develop an exhibit on the founders of the Valley community, and upload the materials to the site as well as having an exhibit.
• Working with the Hillyard Museum, which does not yet have a physical location, to explore putting materials online as a means of raising interest in the development of their neighborhood museum.
• Working with the local Railroad Society to consider putting their extensive collection of materials online. We will also look for a means of collecting railroad-related oral histories, since the railroads were pivotal in Spokane’s settlement and development.
• Scanning and documenting materials for the Masonic Temple, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
• Helping to develop a rationale for organizations to put their materials online. For example, since every item in the Memories archive contains the URL of the contributing organization (if available), viewers of online materials may select the contributor’s web site for further information, and perhaps donations.
• Beginning to develop formal training materials for volunteers to put materials online. Formal training procedures for uploading and using the archiving tool will greatly streamline the process, and take the burden off staff trying to develop a full and interesting site. The project also has goals that include working with K-12 schools and TINCAN’s other projects to make use of the Memories site. Accomplishments to date include:
• Assisting teachers who took prior oral history workshops in uploading student interviews and other veteran’s memorabilia.
• Developing a project with a local K-8 school to work with the Valley museum on an exhibit.
• Planning a summer teacher workshop for summer 2005.
• Developing a proposal with the Garland neighborhood to engage at risk teens in TINCAN’s Virtual Online Teen Center in a project that will use oral histories to create the basis for business district murals and a video project.