NDSA:Meeting Minutes 08-18-11

Meeting Minutes

OWG Storytellers Blane Dessy, Deborah Rossum, Karen Cariani, Bob Downs and Carol Minton Morris (rec.) met on Aug. 18, 2011 to discuss approaches to telling preservation and archiving tales and enlisting assistance to make this happen. We are looking forward to your feedback and ideas if you were unable to attend. The Storytellers will meet again on Sept. 22 at 3:00 PM ET. Details to follow.

• Editorial focus --What kinds of stories will we tell? --Is there a structure for telling a particular type of story about preservation and archiving issues that makes sense? --What sort of "container" will stories be part of: an online serial publication or ad hoc releases of content on a wiki or web site?

While there is considerable interest in focusing stories around positive outcomes it is acknowledged that there is a "ghoulish interest" in situations where things go bad. Preservation and archiving stories often contain a bit of both. Ending on an inspirational note with lessons learned and "where to go from here" resources is favored. Two examples of the kinds of tales that might be told were offered:

1. Deborah offered an example from her experience. SCOLA materials in deteriorating condition from prior to 2007 were kept until very recently. Shortly after making the decision to let them go a donor offered to digitize them free of charge. The lesson learned was to make outreach a larger part of the ongoing archiving workflow. If the availability of the materials was know individuals might have offered to preserve them earlier.

2. Carol mentioned the recent SONY warehouse fire in London. The outcome was mixed–SONY had a preservation and archiving strategy but because it was incomplete there were audio files that were irreplaceable [1]

3. Karen mentioned that P & A stories about the impact of "analog to digital" on organizations and consumers of information would also be of interest.

Action: We will develop a very brief form to use to put out a call for stories to NDSA-all

Action: We will develop a template for a 3-5 minute video structure

•Formats --Will these stories exist as online text-based documents? --Rich media such as video, audio or all of the above?

The group favors working in rich media. The possibility of working with LOC staff to cobble 3-5 minute video stories together if the OWG does some of the background research and resource gathering will be explored. There are a range of opinions regarding what sort of "quality" to shoot for. If we want high production value then we may have to sacrifice frequency and numbers of stories.

Here are examples of 2 approaches--highly professional and $$$ and lower key, short video formats offered by Karen Cariani:

Digital Public Library of America videos (low production value): [2]

WGBH impact campaign videos (high production value): [3]

Here is an example of an animation offered by Bob Downs (high production value): [4]

• Preservation and access --Where will this corpus of stories live? --Who will host? --How will we cover costs?

Assumed that LOC will want to archive/disseminate NDSA stories through existing channels and perhaps eventually an NDSA web site. It is also assumed that the OWG will share these stories through additional communication channels.

• Frequency --How often will we produce a story? Dependent on developing a workflow and call for participation (see action item above) in the project from the larger NDSA group, gauging responses and looking into production resources.

• Workflow --What does this look like? --Is there an integrated workflow attached to the creation/publication of each story? --Can we distribute responsibility for various steps?

Unknown at this time but assumed that much of the work will be done in a distributed manner by volunteers.

• Dissemination/distribution --How will we get the word out about availability? --How will we place these stories in front of those who need this inspiration/information?

To synch with our digital preservation in a box work each mini-media story should have a boilerplate "commercial" for the box and perhaps other resources that will encourage viewers to dig deeper into how to get actively involved in preserving digital resources. Hardening/understanding our collective communication networks is favored--what is the workflow attached to pushing the big "send" button?

* Audience(s)

--a broad audience is desired with possible segmentation once there are a variety of stories to work with. Placement through specific channels and through publicity will be required to get the stories to those who will further disseminate them.