A Proposal to Create A Local Digital Archiving Project

Flemington Digital Archives

 

A Project To Help Support The Celebration of the 300^th
Anniversary of the Hunterdon County

Produced by

Mediatech Foundation

118 Main Street, 2^nd Floor

Flemington, NJ 08822

www.mediatech.org

 

Mediatech is a non-profit 501 (c)3 organization

To: The Flemington Borough Council

From: Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., Executive Director, Mediatech Foundation, warren@mediatech.org

Date: February 19, 2013

AT A GLANCE: This is a request for $8279 in seed funds that would be used to start an ongoing digital archiving project, starting this summer at Mediatech on Main Street. In this document, we’ll describe the work in detail, with timeline, and a complete description for how the money would be used.

We have made every effort to make this project that can self-fund itself in the future. On behalf of the Mediatech board of trustees, we’re extremely excited about this project and we hope that you will feel confident that we have the ability make the most out of each dollar we receive. The products that will be funded will be easy to see and evaluate.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Flemington Digital Archives is an initiative designed to capture and archive significant cultural material for future public access.  We hope it will make our town better, by helping us to learn more about the people that live close to us to build informal bonds between people, and to create a more cohesive and caring community.  We hope that this innovative program can serve as a model for other towns.

WHAT CONTENT WOULD BE ARCHIVED? We will capture amazing, but true stories told by local residents.

These would include:

• Family histories with illustrations from scrap books and/or movies.
• How We Ended Up in Flemington“ perhaps an immigration tale that starts in one place and ends up in Flemington.
• Poetry and/or original book readings.
• Story telling sessions, enhanced by a document camera.
• People and places of note (e.g., local business owners, historians, authors, sports experts, collectors, Archie of ShopRite).

WHERE WOULD THE CONTENT BE ARCHIVED?
In the cloud on free, public, social media resources, especially YouTube. Content could be embedded on Mediatech’s YouTube channel as public Creative Commons content. It could then exist freely on Mediatech’s website and Facebook page to be used by other groups, families, churches and so on.

WHO DETERMINES WHAT WILL BE CAPTURED?
We will digitize two types of content. (1) Free and public, and (2) curated. The free and public will be the same as an open mic where anyone can come and make a recording, providing it meets Mediatech’s  guidelines (all content must be OK for children).

The curated content will include special programs and people who will be selected in advance by the trustees of Mediatech with the advice of the Historical Society. All work will be strictly non-commercial and non-partisan; no person will be turned away. 

WE’VE ALREADY DONE ONE.

You might ask. Can these guys pull this off? We already have. Last summer, we recorded one session as an experiment, and it was an amazing success.

The storyteller was Herman Walter Schiller, the Grandfather of two of the pilots for the Spirit of St. Louis flight simulation.  Mr. Schiller, a cancer survivor, read a heart-felt poem about his father. He had written the poem many years ago, and it had never been shared. His daughter asked if he could share it. The video was edited and posted, and has been viewed by his family who have expressed deep gratitude about being able to have this event captured, saved and archived for future generations.

How many of these stories are hidden, waiting to be told? Mr. Schiller’s recording can be seen at http://youtu.be/MNWfxnlABz

COLLABORATION
We will work with the FFPL Library Friends, HCRHS and FRSD to support school-related work; a job that is made easier because we have teachers serving on our board.

ON THE GO – A PORTABLE STORY BOOTH
We’ll have a table set up in front of the Union Hotel for portable stories during concerts and/or street events.  We’ll reach out to the Hunterdon Historical Society to find people with stories to tell; in addition we’ll host “open mic” sessions at Mediatech for public access for an interview spot.

WORKSHOPS
We will host workshops on the art and science of storytelling to be held in the community room.

OUTREACH
We’ll work with NJ.com and other media outlets, and share with WDVR. We’ll produce a production schedule for June, July and August, scheduling regular weekly recording sessions in the Community Room. Videos will be edited while Mediatech is in session so that local residents can see the process happen.

 

BUDGET DETAIL AND TIMELINE

 

The cost for 64 videos by the end of the summer, is $8279. This includes a one-time investment in some video editing equipment to be used on an ongoing basis.

STAFF  COSTS

Video Producer Matt 64 videos, with 4 hours/video at $11/hour = $2,816

Video Editor Ben 64 videos, with 4 hours/video at $11/hour = $2,816

TOTAL =$5,632

EQUIPMENT DETAIL All equipment will be inventoried, insured and housed in Mediatech, available for public use.

Sony HDR-XR260V HD Camcorder, $698 from B & H Photo

Apple 8GB 21 inch iMac $1499 from Apple.com

This computer would be available for public use, as another Internet and video editing terminal in Mediatech.

1 TB external USB3 hard drive $100

Lighting, tripod and sound equipment would be borrowed.

Banner ($200), folding tent ($80) and printing ($70) for the portable unit: $350

TOTAL EQUIPMENT = $2,647 

STAFF QUALIFICATIONS

We are fortunate to have two college students available to work on this project this summer.

Mediatech is an independent non-profit 501-C(3) organization that has been serving the residents of Flemington since 2003.

 

REFERENCES

1. StoryCorps has created a free Do-It-Yourself interview guide with equipment recommendations and interview instructions available online at http://nationaldayoflistening.org .

 

2. We have created a trial run last year during the Lindbergh flight. See http://youtube.com/mediatechnj for several of these videos, including the Sweet Talks series edited by Ben Kates.

 

3. Mediatech Remembers: My Father by Herman Walter Schiller

http://youtu.be/MNWfxnlABzs

 

4. The Moth: True Stories, told live (www.themoth.org) is another source of inspiration.