FYI I started an "activity charter" page on the wiki about this: 
http://www.loc.gov/extranet/wiki/osi/ndiip/ndsa/index.php?title=Content_Interview_Series


-----Original Message-----
From: The NDSA Content working group list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Grotke, Abigail
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 4:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [NDSA-CONTENT] Tossing out an idea: Content Interviews for the Signal Blog

Hi all,
I've been inspired by the Innovation Working Group's series of interviews on the Signal blog (http://www.loc.gov/extranet/wiki/osi/ndiip/ndsa/index.php?title=Broadening_and_Networking_the_Field_of_Research_in_Digital_Preservation) , and thinking about ways in which our working group can draw attention to the work going on at our organizations and the diverse set of content that we all are preserving and thinking about (beyond the case studies that are already underway).

Building on some interviews that Trevor Owens has already done around particular content areas and some of our members, I was wondering if we should start a "Content Interviews" Series of our own.  Content-focused blog posts already out there, for some inspiration:

http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/05/artbase-and-the-conservation-and-exhibition-of-born-digital-art-an-interview-with-ben-fino-radin/
http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/08/the-born-digital-in-the-archives-one-curators-experience/
http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/06/web-archiving-and-mainstreaming-special-collections-the-case-of-the-latin-american-government-documents-archive/

I've also done a series of "Ask the Recommending Officer" posts for the blog that might be of interest (related to the LC web archives): http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/?s=ask+the+recommending+officer

Some initial thoughts I've had after talking with other Working Group co-chairs here at LC:


*         aim for one interview every quarter (or more, if there is interest!)

*         rotate through content teams so each team is represented and can be mentioned

*         members of a content team could interview other members (or answer a core set of questions for their own organization), or interview others outside of NDSA who are working with interesting content that we want to draw attention to  (or you can send leads my way, and I can interview)

*         come up with a core set of questions that could be used by anyone, answerable by email

Here are some rough ideas for questions we could use as a starter set (or to pick and chose from) based on the q&A in the above posts -- please feel free to add others or comment!:


*         Could you give us an example of some of the kinds of things you have collected?

*         What kinds of stories do you think this collection tells us? Are there some trends and changes over time in the collection that you could tell us about? It would be ideal if you could point to particular works that you think exemplify these trends.

*         What are some of the most popular pieces in the collection? Could you tell us a little bit about them?

*         How about a few of the most underappreciated pieces in the collection? Do you have a few favorites that you think people should be paying more attention to? Again, it would be ideal if you could give us a bit of context for these pieces. What kinds of stories do these works help us tell?

*         Tell us about the importance of [X] collection

*         How does this collection fit in with other collections and areas of research activity at your organization?

*         Could you tell us a bit about what you see as the primary value of this kind of collection? Do you think this is a model for other organizations, and if so what do you see as the key features that [organizations[ should be focusing on in developing plans for [these types of collections].

*         Could you tell us a bit about how the collection is being [or might be] used? To what extent is it for the general public? To what extent is it for scholars and researchers? [or other audiences]

*         Any thoughts about the general challenges of handling digital materials within archival collections?

I would be happy to coordinate this effort and can guest post on the blog on our behalf. If anyone else is interested in this and can lend a hand, let me know. I can work up a wiki activity charter for it, just to document some of these ideas and get us started.

And if YOU want to be interviewed, definitely let me know!! Don't be shy!

Abbie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abbie Grotke | Web Archiving Team Lead | Office of Strategic Initiatives National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program | Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/webarchiving/ | http://www.digitalpreservation.gov<http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/>
202-707-2833 | [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | @agrotke


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