Multigenerational Volunteers: Using Technology to Engage a Diverse Demographic
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Museums commonly employ diverse groups of local volunteers and match them, based on their interests and skills to specific tasks and projects throughout the institution. But can we engage volunteers of varying ages, skills, and geographic locations with the same project? Yes! Using technology, tailored training sessions, and some creativity, it’s possible for retirees and university students to collaborate on the same collections-based project while meeting the individual needs of our volunteers and our collection.
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Multigenerational Volunteers: Using Technology to Engage a Diverse Demographic
- 1. MULTIGENERATIONAL VOLUNTEERS Using Technology to Engage a Diverse Demographic The Panama Canal Museum Collection At The University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries Jessica Belcoure Volunteer Coordinator
- 2. Generations Lost Generation Greatest Generation Silent Generation Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Generation Z 1883 - 1900 1901 - 1924 1925 - 1942 1946 - 1964 1961 – 1981 (or) 1965 - 1984 1982 - 2001 Mid 90s Early 2000s • Fought in WWI • High fatalities and youth employment • Came of Age in The Great Depression • Fought in WWII • “Lucky Few” too young to fight WWII • Children of The Great Depression • Rejection of traditional values • Woodstock and Beatlemania • The MTV Generation • Highest education levels • The Internet • “Peter Pan” or “Boomerang” Generation • Currently being born • “Homeland” Generation
- 3. A Museum Divided Adult / Senior Volunteers Student Volunteers Taking Photos Social Media
- 4. All Groups Contributing to One Project Processing the PCM Collection Student Senior Adult
- 5. A BRIEF HISTORY The Canal, The Zone, The Museum …and us.
- 7. Constructing The Canal The French 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 8. Constructing The Canal The Americans 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 10. Early Days in The Canal Zone 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 11. Life in The Zone 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 12. Life in The Zone 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 13. 1979 – 1999 Transitioning Control of The Canal 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 14. 1998 Panama Canal Museum Established 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 15. 1999 Handing Over Control of The Canal To Panama 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 16. PCM and UF “Wedding” 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 17. Transfer of PCM Collections to UF 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 18. 2012 Panama Canal Museum Closes 1500 - 1900 1880 - 1889 1904 - 1914 1914 - 1979 1979 - 1999 1998 1999 2010 2010 – 2012 2012
- 19. CURRENT STATE OF THE PROJECT What Volunteers Expect
- 20. Most Objects Still in Boxes • Packed and shipped by PCM volunteers
- 21. Processing • At least 90% of volunteer time = processing • Mostly done by UF students • Undergraduate of all disciplines • Museum Studies Graduate (M.A.) Students
- 22. Previous PCM Volunteers • Want to remain involved • Closely connected to the collection • Personal memorabilia • School Yearbooks • Military and Police • Scouting • Construction • Molas / Cultural Items • Sports • Housewares • Clubs / Organizations • Religious • Family Photos
- 23. ZONIAN VOLUNTEERS Issues Associated with this Existing Group of Volunteers
- 24. Issues with Zonian Volunteers • Little or no traditional museum training • Cannot lift boxes • Limited knowledge and/or comfort with computers • Not within commuting distance of UF • Enjoy reminiscing with the collection • Often causes additional work • Asking for copies of photographs • Setting items aside • Getting distracted from the original task
- 25. How Can We Engage This Population Who… • Cannot be involved in long-term projects • Desperately want to engage with collection items on a meaningful level • Have varying levels of computer literacy • (Generally on the lower end) • Want to share personal stories
- 26. The Internet
- 27. DIGITAL OPTIONS For Multigenerational Volunteers
- 28. Two Digital Options: Combined • Sobek CM Database • Wordpress.com Blog Space
- 29. Sobek CM - Library Database Software • Software engine which powers digital repositories: • University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) • Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) • Complex, professional library software • Developed in-house at University of Florida
- 30. Sobek CM - Library Database Software
- 31. Wordpress.com • Blog and website hosting • Intuitive and very easy to use • Public site– accessible by anyone • Social
- 32. Wordpress.com
- 33. Filling in the Gaps ufpcmcollection.wordpress.com
- 34. Filling in the Gaps
- 35. Sobek CM • Target = 5 to 10 volunteers maximum • 3 hour online training • Contribute directly to library database • Use LOC Subject headings (Controlled vocabulary) • Access must be granted by UF staff Wordpress Blog • Unlimited # of volunteers • No training required • UF students transfer content to Sobek CM • May use common language • Accessible by anyone
- 36. Metadata Collecting and Processing Students Researchers Faculty Sobek CM Select, Reformatted Metadata UF Students Wordpress Blog Raw, Narrative Metadata Zonians
- 37. Combined Efforts Zonians Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X • Less comfortable with technology • Not local • “Big Picture” • Want to share stories and information about objects • Casual, loosely structured volunteering UF Students Millennials • Very comfortable with technology • Very local • Detail oriented • Curious about objects in the collection • Regular, supervised volunteering
- 39. THANK YOU For more information: • ufpcmcollection.wordpress.com • ufdc.ufl.edu/pcm • jbelcoure@ufl.edu
Editor's Notes
- Hello! My name is Jessica Belcoure and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for the Panama Canal Museum Collection at UF’s George A. Smathers Libraries. Today, we’re going to be talking about an interesting “project within a project” we’re working on that has a number of different generations all working on the same project together. Some of them are very tech savvy and many of them are not. But we’ve got such an interesting project and a great volunteer base, that we’ve managed to find some really good solutions for bringing all of these people together on the same project.
- The generations in blue are the ones we are dealing with the most on our project. We have TONS of Millenials. We’re a university campus that that’s simply our largest demographic. Well, that and squirrels. These other generations form the other half of our volunteer base. Most of them are Baby Boomers. But we also have quite a lot from the silent generation and just a sprinkling of Gen X-ers. These other groups in gray aren’t really participating in this project too much. There may be a couple from the Greatest Generation, but most of those folks are getting up into their 90’s. They’re our grandparents age. And we have a handful, but not a significant number. Then the Lost Generation is mostly out of the picture, or they’re 113 years old. And we don’t have much from Generation Z because they’re a little too young still. They’re mostly still in High School or younger.
- This may seem familiar to some of you who have spent a lot of time working with volunteers in museums. You have very distinct groups of volunteers, both valuable in different ways. Older adult volunteers who tend to gravitate toward docent-type positions. Then there are our student volunteers who might just want to spend 3 hours a week doing data entry or scanning images. So there are these two groups– and never the two shall meet, right? But that’s not usually a problem because there are so many jobs in the museum, there’s something for everyone, and these generations never have to work with each other…. Unless you are the Panama Canal Museum Collection at UF.
- We are a Special Collection under the Latin American Collection of the libraries. We are not a museum. Right now, we are on a 3 year, IMLS grant with the singular goal of processing this one collection. So that means that all of our volunteers are working on the very same project.
- Our project is a little different because this collection actually comes with a built-in constituency. We have this group of people– as I said, mostly Silent Generation and Baby Boomers– who are incredibly invested in this collection on a very personal level. I’ll show a brief history to explain why.
- We all know the Panama Canal is a trade route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. But the canal and the area directly around it, known as the Canal Zone, have a significant history.
- The first attempt to dredge a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was carried out by the French, from 1881 to 1889. It was not successful, for a number of reasons, and the French ultimately abandoned the project.
- The American construction period started in 1904 and ended in 1914, resulting in the completed construction of a working canal, now regarded as one of the engineering wonders of the world.
- This pink area around the Canal– The Canal Zone– was where all the Americans and their families actually lived. It was zoned for military activity, research, civilian housing and commercial needs– stores, restaurants, etc. As well as community necessities such as churches, schools, police and fire stations, hospitals, mail service. Everything you would find in any typical American town could be found within the Canal Zone.
- But this all came later. In the early construction area– it was a rough, men-only, camp full of construction workers.
- It was later, in an effort to get American workers to stay longer, and to reduce crime and prostitution, that the canal commission began to build schools, churches, and places for families.
- This effort was effective in transforming the Canal Zone into a tight, traditionally American community, no longer a work camp full of bachelors. Several generations of Americans lived and raised families in the Canal Zone. Many of these American civilians spent most of their lives living in the zone.
- Since 1904, the Panama Canal and surrounding canal zone were controlled by the United States. In 1979, a treaty was signed that began a 20 year period of transitioning control from the US to Panama. During this time, the two countries shared joint control of the canal and the canal zone.
- It was near the end of this transitional period that the Panama Canal Museum was established in Seminole, Florida. Many of these folks, who grew up in the Canal Zone and refer to themselves as “Zonians”, felt as though they were being ousted from their homes in the Zone when the transition period began– and when the 1999 transition was approaching. Wanting to save and record as much of their history as they could, they began moving items out of Panama and to this Panama Canal Museum in Seminole, which functioned much like a local historical society.
- Finally, in 1999, control of the Canal was transferred to Panama and most of the Americans living in the Canal Zone moved to the United States– some living in the U.S. for the first time.
- The Panama Canal Museum was entirely volunteer-run and by 2010, its operations and funding were becoming unstable. So they made the decision to donate their entire collection to the University of Florida. They billed this merger as a “marriage” of the two organizations and even held a wedding. Pictured there is our Dean and the Head of the Friends of the Panama Canal Musem, walking down the aisle together to symbolize the merger UF’s Smathers Library System and the former Panama Canal Museum.
- The collection materials came to the library in batches, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2012, with the largest delivery in the fall of 2012. We now have the entire collection of the PCM at the library. Here, it will function as a research collection, as all of our Special Collections do; available for research to students and faculty. It will not have a permanent museum exhibit space, though it will be used in temporary exhibits across UF’s campus– including 9 exhibits being installed in 2014 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal.
- Finally, in 2012, the PCM closed its doors permanently.
- That is the long and history of this project. So, where are we now?
- As you can see in these photographs, many things are still packed in the boxes in which they were shipped to us. They are in various stages of processing and in various conditions. We still have a massive backlog of objects that need to be processed.
- Almost all of the processing is being done by UF students and almost every volunteer that works with us is working on processing this collection. UF has a graduate program in Museum Studies, so those students have been an invaluable resource for us, as they come with a lot of skills and experience working with museum collections.
- As I mentioned, the PCM was entirely volunteer run and those former museum volunteers feel very close to the collection, as they were the sole stewards of it for 14 years and the collection itself is very personal. Most of the donors are still living and many of the donors were volunteers at the museum. Imagine working in a museum that is full of everything from your own childhood– items directly from your own mother’s basement. Your personal high school yearbooks, for example.
- Because the Panama Canal Museum was entirely volunteer run, we have this group of existing volunteers who have been very invested in this collection for a very long time.
- For as close as most of the Zonians feel to this collection, they have not been formally trained to work with museum collections– even at the original PCM, they employed a lot of nonstandard collections care methods. Many of them are older, those Silent Generation and Boomers can’t do a lot of lifting and moving. Those boxes pictured in a previous slide are all FULL and very heavy! Most of this group lives near Tampa, while we’re in Gainesville at UF. Some of them are even in other states or all over the world. They may come to town for a football game or a special event and want to volunteer for a few hours, without having gone through any training. And at this time it’s really not feasible for us to do that kind of episodic volunteering. And finally, because they enjoy looking through the collection so much, their working in the collection can create additional work. Imagine processing a box of items and coming across pictures of your high school friends. Things can get disorganized and set aside because they request copies of things and the organizational schema has the opportunity to get disrupted.
- After several meetings with Zonians on the Friends of the Museum board, the feeling they consistently communicated was one of an urgent need to share their stories about living in the canal zone and have them recorded in a permanent space. They often want to provide this information in a written way– and it’s usually written by hand, which is not really a viable option for us. They may write something on a post-it or a scrap of paper and tell us to put it with an object, which is not an optimal system. There are a few folks, mostly those who are extremely invested in the collection and the previous museum, who expressed a desire to work directly in our database software. But I’ve found that’s a fairly small, yet vocal group of people, and the larger community isn’t especially interested in learning our software and using it. So then the question was: “How can we engage this population in a way that is meaningful to them and useful to us?”
- The internet! The solution to most of our modern dilemmas.
- There were a few options we had available. One requires a ton of training and really careful, monitored use. And the other is a much more casual approach.
- Our existing digital option was our Sobek CM Database software, which is quite complex. What we really needed was an additional digital option and that’s where a Wordpress blog made a really nice complement to the existing method.
- Sobek CM is the software we, at the library, use to manage our collections. All the books, documents, AV materials, objects, periodicals– everything is managed in Sobek.
- These are a few screen grabs from inside the Sobek system. I suspect many of you are using a content management system very similar to this one, whether it’s Past Perfect, TMS, ARGUS, etc. As you can see it’s not very exciting or engaging. It turns out that our undergraduate students at UF actually really enjoy working with this platform. They tell me that they find it very zen. That’s a direct quote. But you can see it’s extremely structured– metadata must be entered in a very specific format. We use controlled nomenclatures and vocabularies– mainly Library of Congress Subject Headings, which all require a bit of research.
- Wordpress.com is a blog and webhosting site that may be familiar to many of you. It’s a commonly used platform, I think probably because it’s so flexible and customizable. So I set up a blog on Wordpress. And we post a different object every single day, five days a week. I chose a blog format for the reasons listed here. But also because I thought it would be a good match for the Zonians’ needs. Facebook seemed a little too dynamic and ever-changing. I wanted posts to be visible and available for a long time– also searchable by tags and categories. I also wanted something that didn’t require a membership. You don’t have to “join” Wordpress to make a post. There’s a sense of permanence to a blog that you don’t have with facebook or twitter or some other social media platforms.
- This screenshot is a little old now, but we post a new object every day. And we select objects that are missing metadata. Objects with incomplete records. And we present them to the Zonian community via the blog and ask for their help. We ask them to contribute their unique knowledge to these images– their images. As you can see, this is a really user-friendly interface, and it’s one that a lot of people are already familiar with, and maybe already using. The web address is also pretty simple. Just put that in the address bar of your browser and you’re there-- as opposed to a really complicated login process with Sobek CM. All of the information is contributed via the comment section. It’s just a standard text box and nothing has to be specially formatted. It’s meant to be very simple and user friendly. And some additional social media links are also there, in case users want to share another way.
- This is a great example. This photograph had a note on the back that said, “Panama Station”, but we couldn’t identify it in the image. So we posted it and got this comment, which clarifies that this is actually Central Avenue and that the Station isn’t even pictured here. It’s a short comment, but it’s a really valuable piece of information correct the metadata.
- This is a different example of the type of feedback we’re getting. As opposed to that first comment, these are quite long and narrative, as these folks are sharing a lot of personal memories. There’s not as much metadata in these comments that we could add to the record, but I still find it to be a nice example of the type of community engagement that has been lacking with the collection since its transfer to UF.
- The blog setup works really nicely as an entry point into the database (and really into the collection) for those who are not able to contribute metadata directly. They work well together but you can see the two platforms are obviously quite different and they are operated by two different volunteer demographics. You can see that the Wordpress Blog is really the main access point for Zonians or anyone who is interested to engage with this collection and contribute to its metadata.
- This infographic shows the relationships between everything we’ve been talking about today. Our Zonians have this wonderful information– these raw, narrative stories with lots of metadata embedded in there. They share that in the comments on the Wordpress blog Our UF students retrieve that information– whatever is usable They will reformat it, do any necessary research, and then they’ll input that into Sobek CM The Sobek CM records go into the library catalog and can be accessed by researchers, students, and faculty.
- Now, we have these two groups working together on this project and they end up complimenting each other VERY nicely 1.) The easy one is that it works out really well in terms of technology. It allows everyone to work within their comfort zone. 2.) Where the Zonians are spread out globally, the students are IN Gainesville, and they’re on campus, at the library all the time aleady. 3.) The Zonians tend to think very “big picture”. They have all this information and they just want to PUT it somewhere. And the students really take to the detailed database work of formatting and entering metadata. Remember they said it’s very “zen” for them. 4.) The students surprised me a little with how much they want to know about the collection. They ask me about objects and I don’t have all the answers– I only know what’s in the database– so I’ll say, “Put it on the blog and let’s find out!” 5.) The Zonians have a very casual, free-choice experience with the blog. They can access it when they feel like it. They can participate or just browse. They can be as involved or not involved as they want, which is really nice for them. But the students want to put in their 6 hours per week and put it on a resume. They want guidance and structure and it works out really well for them.
- I have found that the skill sets, the knowledge, and the interests of these two groups really complement each other very nicely. And this set-up of the blog as an entry point into the collection and database has allowed for both of these groups to work together on the same project, even though they differ in terms of their interests, skills, ages, and even geographical locations.
- If you’re interested, I encourage you to check out both our blog or our digital collection. And if you have questions about starting your own blog, please don’t hesitate to contact me for tips.