National Council on Public History Conference- Part 2

One of the main reasons why I registered for the NCPH Conference was because of the Digital Projects Showcase, a mega-conference session of sorts in which 10 projects were presented for a total of about 15 minutes each. It was sponsored by the Museums and the Web conference (which I really want to go to but can't). I made sure that I got there early so that I could get a seat up close and success! I was one of the first few people in the room so I grabbed a good seat. Unfortunately the room was so long and narrow, many people who did not get there so early ended up in the back, making hearing and seeing difficult. What made this session interesting in the conference managing sense was that because of its organization, people were able to come and go between sessions (and people in the back could move up to the front). I think the format was a resounding success and I hope that future conferences will continue to use it for at least some sessions.

The first project showcased was the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, capturing memories of those affected by the hurricanes Katrina and Rita. As Michael Nelson from the University of New Orleans put it, the Memory Bank is preserving the stories of people who fell between the media extremes (which were stories of heroes or of crimes from desperation). It follows the format of the 911 Archive structure, and was created in collaboration with the Center for History and New Media using Omeka, a digital collections program.* After these hurricanes, one will remember, people from New Orleans were scattered from the area, which created a dilemma for the project because without people and their photos and memories, the project cannot exist. The solution for this was obviously to get the word out, but I found the method of doing this to be quite creative. The first is the use of posters displaying Katrina Crosses to catch one's attention and the information of how to reach the project and contribute a personal story. The second is the use of mailer cards. Each of the session goers received an example of this. In a simple sense these are twice the size of a postcard so that they can be folded in half and secured shut. On the inside is space for someone to share their story. It can then be mailed off where the story will be collected with others and entered into the Memory Bank. I love how that method makes project participation so easy for people. That of course works best for those who have access to the cards in some way. The first Mardi Gras after the hurricanes saw an influx of people returning to the city of New Orleans for the first time (consisting of visiting but still displaced residents and tourists). The Memory Bank used this opportunity to reach people by printing their own Mardi Gras cups for people to use. I think that was brilliant and very original, using the history, heritage and culture of the area to aid in the project. They have even created a Skype account as another method in which people can tell their story. One of the interesting things I learned was that the money FEMA had for documentation after the hurricane went into building documentation and not oral history. Thankfully this project has helped to document the memories, photos, and blogs of the average person who witnessed and suffered from this devastation. These things most certainly would have gone undocumented and eventually would have been lost completely had the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank not been created. The website for it can be found here at http://www.hurricanearchive.org/. They are still collecting people's stories, and it currently contains over 25,000 items.

The second project was the Massachusetts Studies Network (I'll be calling it MASN). What started 5 years ago at UMass Boston as an attempt to collect photos that represented life in Massachusetts, blossomed into a collection consisting of 1,300 photos and stories, creating a digital portrait of Massachusetts. Using volunteers, freelancers and one part-time worker, MASN runs what is called the Massachusetts Memories Roadshow numerous times a year across MA. This is done in a format similar to the TV show Antiques Roadshow (which I love). In an event, people are allowed to bring in about 3 photos showing life in MA at some point in time. These photos are scanned into a computer and the stories that go with these photos are recorded. In return, oral history/photo scanning donors get a keepsake photo of them with their photos at the event and the satisfaction of having preserved local history. Held at local historical societies or community buildings, local residents past and present of all ages can interact and find common ground. One of the challenges this project faced was how to make it extend beyond a physical event? One way was to create a social network hosted on Ning, which allows people to connect with one another digitally and continue to share interests, photos and stories. There is also a Flickr group. Both of these sites brought up questions after the presentation about copyright issues that go way beyond what I understand at this point. I was excited by this project and it was amazing to see what could be accomplished without funding (especially when each Road Show costs $8,000 to $10,000 to run). The website for the social group is located here at http://mastudies.ning.com. The link to the Flickr group is http://www.flickr.com/groups/massmemories, it is newly live and I'm sure that more will be added to it as time goes by.

Part 3 will be comprised of more of the projects showcased during the session starting with GIS in Annapolis.

*This is probably the most general of definitions of Omeka and in no way does it justice from the little I know about it. I really hope to learn how to work with it at some point in the not too distant future (aka grad school).