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.
When museums and volunteer-run cultural heritage organizations close, how can academic research libraries support their valuable collection and community stewardship processes? This panel will discuss the challenges to library conventions and librarian expertise encountered in the case of one museum-library merger. We invite audience members to question and brainstorm along with us about what it means to create a national model of museum-library mergers and advance national dialogs on the subject.
When museums and volunteer-run cultural heritage organizations close, how can academic research libraries support their valuable collection and community stewardship processes? This roundtable discusses the challenges to library conventions and subsequent adoption of museum practices encountered in the case of one museum-library merger. We invited audience members to question and brainstorm along with us about what it means to create a national model of museum-library mergers and advance national dialogues on the subject.
Many libraries are acquiring much more than an individual’s papers. They are also acquiring community-based collections. Community-based collections are those which have been amassed not by one individual but by a collective, which may take the form of a museum, ethnic or cultural organization, or other diaspora group active in the documentation of its past. Often these collections are emotional collections, in that they speak to the community’s heritage and identity. As such, these broad archives are extremely personal to those who collected and, sometimes created, the materials. When libraries work with community based collections, they navigate new territory In working with community-based collections, libraries are navigating new territory in integrating and stewarding these communities as well as more traditionally caring for the physical collection. An ongoing commitment to community engagement, with some level of shared governance or other collaborative activity to build, process, or publicize the collection, is often a key part of acquiring community-based collections.
Wetaskiwin Public Lirbary organized a 'Lanuage Coffeehouse' to celebrate UNESCOs International Langauge Day on Febraury 20, 2010. Learning builds an inclusive community.
I created this Powerpoint for one of my Grad class to show how we can use social media in our libraries. Examples that I Used was taken from The Free Library Of Philadelphia where I currently work.
When museums and volunteer-run cultural heritage organizations close, how can academic research libraries support their valuable collection and community stewardship processes? This panel will discuss the challenges to library conventions and librarian expertise encountered in the case of one museum-library merger. We invite audience members to question and brainstorm along with us about what it means to create a national model of museum-library mergers and advance national dialogs on the subject.
When museums and volunteer-run cultural heritage organizations close, how can academic research libraries support their valuable collection and community stewardship processes? This roundtable discusses the challenges to library conventions and subsequent adoption of museum practices encountered in the case of one museum-library merger. We invited audience members to question and brainstorm along with us about what it means to create a national model of museum-library mergers and advance national dialogues on the subject.
Many libraries are acquiring much more than an individual’s papers. They are also acquiring community-based collections. Community-based collections are those which have been amassed not by one individual but by a collective, which may take the form of a museum, ethnic or cultural organization, or other diaspora group active in the documentation of its past. Often these collections are emotional collections, in that they speak to the community’s heritage and identity. As such, these broad archives are extremely personal to those who collected and, sometimes created, the materials. When libraries work with community based collections, they navigate new territory In working with community-based collections, libraries are navigating new territory in integrating and stewarding these communities as well as more traditionally caring for the physical collection. An ongoing commitment to community engagement, with some level of shared governance or other collaborative activity to build, process, or publicize the collection, is often a key part of acquiring community-based collections.
Wetaskiwin Public Lirbary organized a 'Lanuage Coffeehouse' to celebrate UNESCOs International Langauge Day on Febraury 20, 2010. Learning builds an inclusive community.
I created this Powerpoint for one of my Grad class to show how we can use social media in our libraries. Examples that I Used was taken from The Free Library Of Philadelphia where I currently work.
This letter was sent to the Somerville Library Director in February, 2010, in order to inform her regarding the current inaccessibility of several of this program's events. However, she ignored our concerns, and all inaccessible programs were presented to the public as originally planned.
The City of Somerville fails to demonstrate adequate understanding that inaccessible means: discrimination by design.
Let's Go on a Bear Hunt: Special Collections in the WildElaine Harrington
Case Study presentation given at "Evolving Identities: Collaboration to Enhance Student Success" National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, Dundalk IT, 23 May 2019.
What is the barrier to researching in Special Collections? Is the process akin to going on a bear hunt? Can you go through it? If you learn how to do this then the achievements and opportunities for student success can be immense. Student success can be gauged in terms of internal departmental or university awards, or external awards and funding. Equally student success can be gauged by public engagement outputs, the reach and impact of such outputs and the skills learned. This presentation examines a number of different interactions with Special Collections borne out of conversations 2013-2019.
NCompass Live - April 20,2016
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ncompasslive/
Learn about the Lincoln Lancaster County Genealogical Society's unique relationship with Union College Library's Heritage Room. These two special collections have different missions, but have discovered mutual benefits in working together to reach members of the community.
Presenters: Sabrina Riley, Library Director, Union College, Lincoln, NE & Judi Cook, Lincoln Lancaster County Genealogical Society.
An international symposium exploring the role of libraries and archives in the revitalisation of Indigenous language and culture. Indigenous people, librarians, archivists, linguists and museum professionals sharing their experiences of working in the field of language documentation and revitalisation. http://blogs.sl.nsw.gov.au/hidden-gems/
#hiddengems13
Circus Conservatory of America Library PresentationRainie Themer
In August of 2014 I visited Portland, ME to see the Circus Conservatory of America and to present a proposal about the Library of the Circus Conservatory of America to a group of librarians. Those in attendance included librarians from University of Southern Maine, Maine College of Art, Portland Public Library, University of New England, Bates College, and Colby. The presentation consisted of a brief overview of circus arts, what types of materials the Library of the Circus Conservatory of America would collect, and a discussion about how the Circus Conservatory of America and the libraries at the presentation could collaborate to create a regional performing arts collection.
Presentation delivered at 'Shaping Access', Berlin 13 November 2014
http://www.zugang-gestalten.de/shaping-access-more-responsibility-for-cultural-heritage/
Video of presentation: http://vimeo.com/112799188
Presentation given at the "50 Horas" Wikipedia editathon, 27 September 2014, at the Museo Somaya, Mexico City
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiproyecto:Museo_Soumaya/Editat%C3%B3n_Soumaya_Abierto._50_horas_de_arte
This letter was sent to the Somerville Library Director in February, 2010, in order to inform her regarding the current inaccessibility of several of this program's events. However, she ignored our concerns, and all inaccessible programs were presented to the public as originally planned.
The City of Somerville fails to demonstrate adequate understanding that inaccessible means: discrimination by design.
Let's Go on a Bear Hunt: Special Collections in the WildElaine Harrington
Case Study presentation given at "Evolving Identities: Collaboration to Enhance Student Success" National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, Dundalk IT, 23 May 2019.
What is the barrier to researching in Special Collections? Is the process akin to going on a bear hunt? Can you go through it? If you learn how to do this then the achievements and opportunities for student success can be immense. Student success can be gauged in terms of internal departmental or university awards, or external awards and funding. Equally student success can be gauged by public engagement outputs, the reach and impact of such outputs and the skills learned. This presentation examines a number of different interactions with Special Collections borne out of conversations 2013-2019.
NCompass Live - April 20,2016
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ncompasslive/
Learn about the Lincoln Lancaster County Genealogical Society's unique relationship with Union College Library's Heritage Room. These two special collections have different missions, but have discovered mutual benefits in working together to reach members of the community.
Presenters: Sabrina Riley, Library Director, Union College, Lincoln, NE & Judi Cook, Lincoln Lancaster County Genealogical Society.
An international symposium exploring the role of libraries and archives in the revitalisation of Indigenous language and culture. Indigenous people, librarians, archivists, linguists and museum professionals sharing their experiences of working in the field of language documentation and revitalisation. http://blogs.sl.nsw.gov.au/hidden-gems/
#hiddengems13
Circus Conservatory of America Library PresentationRainie Themer
In August of 2014 I visited Portland, ME to see the Circus Conservatory of America and to present a proposal about the Library of the Circus Conservatory of America to a group of librarians. Those in attendance included librarians from University of Southern Maine, Maine College of Art, Portland Public Library, University of New England, Bates College, and Colby. The presentation consisted of a brief overview of circus arts, what types of materials the Library of the Circus Conservatory of America would collect, and a discussion about how the Circus Conservatory of America and the libraries at the presentation could collaborate to create a regional performing arts collection.
Presentation delivered at 'Shaping Access', Berlin 13 November 2014
http://www.zugang-gestalten.de/shaping-access-more-responsibility-for-cultural-heritage/
Video of presentation: http://vimeo.com/112799188
Presentation given at the "50 Horas" Wikipedia editathon, 27 September 2014, at the Museo Somaya, Mexico City
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiproyecto:Museo_Soumaya/Editat%C3%B3n_Soumaya_Abierto._50_horas_de_arte
Local History and Content Curation a presentation by LIz Pidgeon at Libmark's...Libmark
Liz Pidgeon, Yarra Plenty Regional Library's Local and Family History Librarian presentation on the online project WikiNorthia: documenting life in Melbourne's north which curates local stories and images. As the 2012 recipient of the Margaret C. Ramsay Scholarship she will showcase curation examples from genealogy and local history collections in the UK and USA.
Presented at the Marathon County Historical Society, Wausau, Wisconsin, May 14, 2012. Part of the Wisconsin Historical Society's spring workshop series.
Library, Museum, Archival & Historical Societies: Resources for Emerging Bili...Manhattan College
This presentation discusses ways in which English as a second language teachers can use resources from library, museum, archival & historical societies. Frequently, librarians, museum educators/librarians, archivists, and historical society coordinators & researchers provide outreach to schools and education programs. Explore these ideas! Perhaps, one will be suitable to use in your classroom!
COMM 102 Mass Media & Society Term Paper Guidelines MargaritoWhitt221
COMM 102: Mass Media & Society
Term Paper Guidelines
• Length: 7-10 pages, 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced. (2,500-3,000
words)
• Style: APA
• Topic: Anything to do with Media & Society.
• Important: You may choose a topic that has been covered in class, but you must
take what we have covered as your starting point and research the topic well
beyond that.
• Sources: There are stacks and stacks of things called “books” in our library and
the VPL. I am going to want to see some of these in the List of References or
Works Cited section at the end of your paper. Wikipedia is not a valid source for
academic research. It can provide a very useful place to start because it often lists
good sources for further research, but it should not be used as a source itself. Our
library websites also includes access to many e-books and databases, the most
useful of which might be Communication and Mass Media Complete.
• Tip: You might want to query me on your proposed topic, as I can probably tell
you if you will be able to find many good sources on it and I can probably point
you to some of them.
• Due date: Sunday, midnight of week 10 for online sections.
Possible term paper topics
• How does mass media influence society?
• What are the contributions of mass communications to modern society?
• Marshall McLuhan from the Gutenberg Galaxy to the Global Village
• How Web 2.0 advances the Internet from Web 1.0
• How social media have changed politics
• How U.S. hedge funds came to control Canada’s press Citizen journalism
• Native advertising: Sell-out or saviour of journalism?
• Does Technology save or suck time?
• What are the effects of TV and Movies on young minds?
• Who controls content on the www?
• Is the data being mined about customers on the www a breach of privacy?
• Explain the importance of racial and gender diversity in mass media
• How has history repeated itself in mass media?
COMM 102: Mass Media & Society
Term Paper Guidelines
• Length: 7-10 pages, 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced. (2,500-3,000
words)
• Style: APA
• Topic: Anything to do with Media & Society.
• Important: You may choose a topic that has been covered in class, but you must
take what we have covered as your starting point and research the topic well
beyond that.
• Sources: There are stacks and stacks of things called “books” in our library and
the VPL. I am going to want to see some of these in the List of References or
Works Cited section at the end of your paper. Wikipedia is not a valid source for
academic research. It can provide a very useful place to start because it often lists
good sources for further research, but it should not be used as a source itself. Our
library websites also includes access to many e-books and databases, the most
useful of which might be Communication and Mass Media Complete.
• Tip: You might want to query me on your proposed topic, as I can p ...
In 2012, The Panama Canal Museum (Seminole, FL) closed its doors and donated its entire collection to the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. Over 15,000 items headed to Gainesville; from canoes to cups, books to busts and everything between. The collection was renamed the Panama Canal Museum Collection (PCMC) and is now managed as an archival collection in Special & Area Studies Collections (SASC). UF received an IMLS grant to manage this transition from museum to archives, creating a model of integration in the process. For three years the PCMC was managed by project staff working in consultation with UF archivists. In 2015 SASC developed a transition plan for managing the collection after the grant, including a processing plan for a sizable unprocessed backlog. One challenge is estimating processing times for artifacts because the archival community does not share information about object processing rates. Another challenge is a highly engaged, high maintenance community of former Canal Zone residents who had donated most of the Museum collection and who are particularly interested in ongoing exhibitions. SASC hired a museum professional to manage these activities and employs interns from the UF Museum Studies program. This is a terrific opportunity for students who might be able to find work in either museum or archives settings after graduation, but it also raises questions about the future of the professions. This session will present challenges and opportunities of this merger between museum and archives, focusing on the very different viewpoints of the museum, library and archives professionals.
Presented as part of this pre-conference workshop.
Digital Humanities Is What You Do With It: Going Beyond Digitization In Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Annual Meeting. Coral Gables, FL. June 21, 2016.
This training was offered to Smathers Libaries staff as an introduction to the process for conceptualizing and executing exhibits using library collections materials. Topics include the differences between exhibits and displays, the qualities of a successful exhibit, audience engagement, effective label copy, and evaluation processes.
This paper will use a case study of the city of Detroit to examine the relevance of shifting population demographics to museums’ community engagement. In recent years, Detroit has endured substantial changes in its population and, consequently, its culture and identity as a city. The implications of such demographic shifts will be discussed in the context of participatory museum programs, such as DIA Inside|Out, and the ways in which Detroit museums are attempting to understand and engage an ever-evolving audience. The importance of local ethnographies and addressing the unique needs of metamorphosing populations will play a vital role in this discussion.
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
Slack (or Teams) Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Soluti...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on the notifications, alerts, and approval requests using Slack for Bonterra Impact Management. The solutions covered in this webinar can also be deployed for Microsoft Teams.
Interested in deploying notification automations for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024
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
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
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
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
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.