mass humanities presentation

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The Public Humanities Toolbox:Engaging Communities Online

Leah Nahmias & Al Lees

Mass Humanities History Conference

June 2009



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Web 2.0

The types of …

INTERACTIVE (tag, comment,respond, favorite)

COLLABORATIVE (many peopleediting, adding content fromdifferent places)

INTEROPERABLE (all the partswork together—embedded—to

create one seamless whole) web applications developed

after the dot com bust of 2000-2001

The ways users interact witheach other and with contentenabled by these applications

Characterized by the ease withwhich non-expert—That’s us!

That’s you!—can add content to



+

Other definitions

Applications

To embed

“Third Space”

Blog

Interoperability

Tagging

Metadata



+What do we mean by

“framework”

Start with a blog as your website’s base (theframework)

Customize the blog with pages for differentaspects of the organization (or project) About, Collections, Educators Resources, Public

Programs, Hours & Directions

Embed other applications into your blogdepending on what you want to share—photos, maps, videos, documents

Use other social media tools to help you reachnew audiences, network with other

professionals, build meaningful and richrelationshi s



+ Your Goals? Your Goals?

Find new supporters?

Reinforce relationships with existingsupporters?

Meet the needs of changing demographicsin your community?

Document and collect stories of underrepresented people and events?

Document and collect recent history?

What else?



+ Your goals for today?

Do you have a specific project in mind?

Want to build a website? For the organization

and/or for a specific project (exhibit, program,partnership, etc.)

Want to re-do your current website?

Want to find out what others are doing?



+

Our goals?The workshop and

beyond

Above all: it’s possible! What are the opportunities?

What are the tools? How do you use the tools?

To make local history instantlyand easily accessible

To broaden the scope of localhistory

To make it easier for teachersand students to incorporatelocal history

To increase collaboration amongsmall cultural heritageorganizations



+A Strategy for Web Projects

What are your organization’s goals? Who is yourintended audience? What sort of “voice” will yourorganization have online?

Self-Assessment

Where are you now? Where is your staff? What do youknow how to do? What do you need to learn to achieveyour goals?

Page 11-12 of the Handbook

What functions do you need? Choose tools (allow form to follow function)

PLAN CAREFULLY! What are the key “categories”/organizing principles of your site? Who will do whatwork? Who will maintain it?

Map it out



+

A piece of advice

Social media is likea free kitten:

easy to get one,

but then you have

to take care of it!



+Functions chart

The functions chart is organized so that thefurther down the function is listed, the morecomplex the software and skills to perform it

becomes

List of tools for each function found on pages

17-18 of the handbook



Tools

WordPress

Flickr

ScribdGoogle Maps

Wikis

Facebook & SocialNetworking

Podcasting



+WordPress

Basic web publishing platform; a blog

Highly customizable

Free!

Lots of users: Advice! Help! New features allthe time!

Two versions:Fast and Easy WordPressBigger and Better WordPress



+WordPress continued

All WordPress sites have a blog portion

A page has its own separate address (it

will appear as a tab at the top or side of your page)Pages for…Planning a Visit, Current Exhibits,

Resource Room, Education, Programs

A post appears in the running blogportionBest for announcementsCan set “sticky post” that always appears at

top (good for “Welcome” message or

similar)



+Fast & Easy WordPress

Totally free

Hosted on WordPress’s server (

www.yourname.wordpress.com) Limited customization features

Can create unlimited pages, embed images,video, audio

Art+History

The Public Humanities Toolbox

http://www.yourname.wordpress.com/

http://artplushistory.wordpress.com/

http://publichumanitiestoolbox.wordpress.com/


http://artplushistory.wordpress.com/

http://www.yourname.wordpress.com/



+Bigger & Better WordPress

Highly customizableHundreds, if not thousands, of plug-ins,

design schemes, and more

Must be hosted on your own server (there issome cost associated with this)

Basic package software is still free

More technically complicated

Uncovering Westport

http://www.uncoveringwestport.org/wordpress/

http://www.uncoveringwestport.org/wordpress/



Flickr

Photosharing

Basic account

free; upgrade$24.95/year

Users can view,

comment, makenotes, add tags



+Flickr

Tags, in Flickr and otherapplications, can be easilysearched People can search your tags to

get a sense of your collection’sstrengths, your researchinterests, etc.



+Flickr: Some cool examples

Library of Congress’s photostream

Grand Grocery, NE (LOC)

New Bedford Whaling Museum’s well organized photost

The Original Plymouth County group pool

Fox Point Oral History Project

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179931106/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nbwm/collections/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/originalplymouthcolony/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxpoint/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxpoint/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/originalplymouthcolony/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nbwm/collections/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179931106/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/



+Scribd

Document sharing (the Flickr of documents)

Free

Upload documents; viewers can download,print, comment, favorite, etc.

Works for virtually any type of file (Word,

Power Point, PDF)



+Google Maps

User-created maps

Free

Can embed maps in other sites Your maps/sites show up when others are

searching an area

Map driving or walking tours

Demonstrate research findings

Research/organizational tool for scholars?



+Google Maps: Some coolGoogle Maps: Some cool

examplesexamples

Historic Westport, Massachusetts

Restrictive Housing Covenants in Seattle

Bronx Rhymes

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109725297290563614249.00044c0681b7c0fb55add&z=11

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111594036434627845066.00043450b58862aa9ff72&z=10

http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/bronx_rhymes/map.html

http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/bronx_rhymes/map.html

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111594036434627845066.00043450b58862aa9ff72&z=10

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109725297290563614249.00044c0681b7c0fb55add&z=11



+Video and Audio Files

For video, use either YouTube or yourown server YouTube: better social media tools, more

serendipitous discovery, but limited lengthand file size allowable; FREE!

Your own server: more complicated to setup, but no limitations on size/length

No great third party host for audio; atthis point, you’ll need to host it fromyour own server



+Wikis: Some cool examplesWikis: Some cool examples

Placeography

Hoosier Round Barns

Providence Preservation Society’s Most Endangered Pro

Greene Farm Archaeology Project

Monticello’s Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Paul Cuffe

http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Main_Page

http://hoosierroundbarns.wikispaces.com/

http://wiki.ppsri.org/tiki-index.php

http://proteus.brown.edu/greenefarm/Home

http://wiki.monticello.org/

http://proteus.brown.edu/paulcuffee

http://proteus.brown.edu/paulcuffee

http://wiki.monticello.org/

http://proteus.brown.edu/greenefarm/Home

http://wiki.ppsri.org/tiki-index.php

http://hoosierroundbarns.wikispaces.com/

http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Main_Page



+Wikis

Wikis: product or process? You can create a wiki that documents the

history of a local community or a specific

topic, asking for amateur experts tocontribute (product)

Invite passionate volunteers, students oramateur experts into the practice of makinghistory, of recording what’s special (process)



+Facebook

A social networking tool

Users create their own pages; friends,acquaintances, or people with similarinterests can join their social network

A way to reach younger audiences?

Many young people’s “third space”

Institutions can create profiles Advertise events, post articles, meet audiences

where they “are”



+Do we have time?

Twitter

Library Thing



+ Twitter

“Micro-blogging”

Provide status updates (what you’re doing,

thinking, reading, etc.) of 140 characters orless

Follow others…see their updates on yourhomepage

Others follow you too



+ Twitter

Follow professionals or consultants in yourfield…keep abreast of new ideas, latestliterature

Follow other institutions…how are they using Twitter to build or maintain relationships

Share quick updates on events

Share fun like “this week in history” or brainteasers related to local history

Smithsonian

http://twitter.com/smithsonian

http://twitter.com/smithsonian



+LibraryThing

Build a catalogue online

Good for small lending libraries, resourcelibraries, or special collections

Enter ISBN number, author, title, etc., and itpulls all relevant metadata

Flash mobbing!



+What’s the difference between

Availability?

You’re open

People can find you

If they can get toyour physicallocation, they can

look through yourcollections

They “consume”what you produce

Accessibility?

Your tools make your

collections andresources… Easier to find

Easier to navigate andsearch

Open for reflection,Open for reflection,

discussion, anddiscussion, and

personal meaning-personal meaning-

makingmaking



What are the otherWhat are the other

differences betweendifferences betweenavailability andavailability and

accessibility?accessibility?

Can you think of Can you think of examples and non-examples and non-

examples?examples?

What are theWhat are the

opportunities andopportunities and

challenges of being morechallenges of being more



+

Poll

What tools do you want us

to focus on after thebreak?

WordPress

Flickr

Google MapsScribd

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter



+

Break!

10 minutes

Feel free to come ask usquestions



Demonstration Time!

WordPress•Bigger and Better WordPress

•Where we’re starting…

• You’ve already found a host server

• You’ve signed up for a domain name

• You’ve installed the FTP application

• You’ve downloaded WordPress and installedit on your remote server

These instructions are in theThese instructions are in the

handbook!handbook!



+ Telling WordPress toWake-up!

In the Address bar of your Internet browser, type inthe following address:http://yourdomainname/wordpress/wp-admin/install.p

.

Typing this will activate WordPress and allow it torecognize your domain.

If you have done everything correctly during theinstallation process, the screen that appears nextwill make you smile…

http://yourdomainname/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

http://yourdomainname/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php



Success!

Make sure to write down the Username and Password.Changes to your password can be made one once you’re

logged in.



+

Welcome Page…

Type in the name of your blog and youremail. You canalways changeeither later if youwish to.

Now click the InstallWordpress button.



Now the Fun Begins…



What does my site look like?

I did all that for this? I did all that for this?



Back to the Dashboard

Let’s Go Live and Build the Site…



Posts and Pages…



The Appeal of Posts

Posts are announcementsof interest to youraudience.

They appear in archivefiles for easy referral,pages do not.

They are searchable.



What can posts include?

Audio, video,documents,

hyperlinks, imagesand text, to name buta few.

In other words, a post

can include anythingthat can be includedin a page.



Why Page When You Can Post

Think of pages asmore permanentcontributions toyour blog.

They are morethematic in

nature.

Useful asnavigational tools.

+



+Demonstration Time: WordPress

Time to Go Live!


+





+Demonstration Time: Flickr

You’ve already gotten a free Yahoo account Ours is [email protected]

Our password is demo2009

http://www.flickr.com

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.flickr.com/

http://www.flickr.com/




+Demonstration Time:Google Maps

You’ve already set up a free account

+



+Demonstration Time: Scribd

You’ve already set up a free account

The files you want to share are formatted and on yourhard drive

+



+Other Demonstrations?

What else do you need to know? What “how-tos” areyou unsure of?

+



+Quiz & Brainstorm

This is a quick, low-stakes test to see how well you’rethinking “within” the public humanities toolbox

What tools are being used? What tools could be used?

+



+Discussion

How can you use these tools? How will you use thesetools?

+



+Perhaps…

You’d like to set up an online work session to piece outyour website?

You will share examples of what you’re doing with

these tools?

You will point us in the direction of other neat projectsusing these tools?



+ Thanks!

Al Lees ([email protected])

Leah Nahmias ([email protected])

http://publichumanitiestoolbox.wordpress.co







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