The document outlines various outreach experiments conducted by Amanda Hill at Hillbraith Ltd. for Deseronto Archives, including initiatives like a new website and social media engagement to enhance community interaction. Despite some challenges with user participation and technology, there were successful outcomes such as oral history interviews and increased visits to the archives. Overall, the outreach efforts emphasized the need for diverse strategies and ongoing experimentation in engaging the community.

1. Losing control:experiments in outreachAmanda HillHillbraith Ltd.[Deseronto Archives]

2. Pushing the boundariesExisting outreachBlogTwitterFlickr site for imagesBi-monthly town newsletters (delivered to every home in Deseronto)All mediated by the ArchivesHow to take it further?

3. User-generated content?Grant of $16,000 from Museums and Technology Fund, 2010 with matched funding of $4,000 from the Town of DeserontoUsed to build and generate content for a new website: ‘About Deseronto’Inspiration: http://ournewhaven.org.uk

5. Absence…Physical distance from home townFeelings of affection for home townwith apologies to Jessica Hagy of ‘Indexed’ http://thisisindexed.com

6. Low-cost, sustainable approachJust launching a beta version of their hosted service in April 2010

7. Omeka.org and Omeka.net

8. Omeka.net plans

11. DisadvantagesInitially, Omeka.net did not offer an option for users to upload materials directWhich had been the whole point of ‘About Deseronto’Hard to get people to engageVery small population, which doesn’t help!

12. New directionOral historiesArchives Board members helped to identify potential interviewees10 interviews conducted during the course of the projectBig learning curve – technology, technique

13. Christmas in the funeral home

14. Memories

15. ‘About Deseronto’Partial success‘Contribute’ option now available, but not really being used!

16. Other outreach experimentsFamily/Heritage Day competition

17. Self-guided tour110 downloads

18. Doors OpenPartnership between Napanee and DeserontoBenefits of Napanee’s previous experienceRecycled earlier work: Flickr images for display boards and brochuresPlan to use these materials in future events - Waterfront Festival on July 2nd

21. FacebookSet up a Facebook account for the Archives to help promote Doors Open through an event pageAn unexpected success(yet another site to maintain…)Also used Twitter to do a daily tweet on Doors Open

22. Doors Open verdictA lot of work, but good to meet people on the day who had never used the archives1,000 people visited sites in DeserontoIdentified some more potential oral history intervieweesEven accessioned some new materials for the archives!

23. Conclusions on experimentsTry different things to see what happensSome things work better than othersSome are more work than othersDigitization groundwork (lots of images on Flickr) was a real boon

24. Contact detailsdeserontoarchives@gmail.comhttp://deserontoarchives.wordpress.com@DeserontoArch on Twitter