About the Project

Ohio Memory Project
Advisory Group Meeting

Advisory Group Members in Attendance: Greg Byerly, Jeanine D'Andrea (for Lynda Murray), Theresa Fredericka, Laurie Gemmill, Meribah Mansfield, Jim Marshall, Elizabeth Nelson, George Parkinson, Kristin Pool, Tom Sanville

Members absent: Carol Roddy

Also present: Shawn Martin (Scanning Technician, Ohio Memory Project), Angela O'Neal (Content Editor, Ohio Memory Project), Phil Sager (Web Designer, Ohio Memory Project)

Greg Byerly, Chair of the Ohio Memory Project Advisory Group, called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. He welcomed the group and thanked them for their participation in the project.

George Parkinson, Archives/Library Division Chief, provided background on the history of the effort, which the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB) originated in 1995 as the Bicentennial Scrapbook project. Although the specific details of the project have changed, the primary goal has remained the same: to encourage historical repositories to digitize their treasures and make them available online. Parkinson also clarified the role of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission. The commission supports the project, but has not yet provided any funding.

Ohio Memory Project Manager Laurie Gemmill, responding to questions from the group, addressed the process for selecting items to become part of the online scrapbook. She explained that the Ohio Memory project team will attempt to accept at least one item from every institution that wants to participate in the project. However, because there are limited resources to create the scrapbook and to ensure that the materials in it cover as many geographic, subject and chronological areas of Ohio history as possible, some items may be rejected. Initially, only materials dated from 1903 and earlier will be accepted. In the second phase of the project, 20th century materials, including audio and video collections, will be accepted. The Ohio Historical Society is seeking $600,000 for Phase II.

Gemmill also spoke to the issue of authenticity of materials included in the scrapbook. The project team will attempt to verify the authenticity of materials by tracking the provenance and historical documentation of materials. Furthermore, Ohio Memory staff will require submitting institutions to demonstrate copyright ownership or compliance and will assist them in doing so.

Tom Sanville, Executive Director of Ohio LINK, proposed the creation of an "Ohio Archives," through which materials not accepted for the scrapbook could be made available to researchers. This digital archives could be extensive, given OhioLINK's vast storage capacity. It could also minimize the number of sites users would need to visit to find information, since they could search dozens of databases at once. Advisory group members agreed that Ohio Memory could serve as a catalyst for local projects, which eventually might be able to contribute digitized collections to a statewide virtual repository such as Sanville suggested.

A related idea raised was the development of a union catalog of historical repositories and collections. The group decided that such a database would be a useful complement to the online scrapbook.

The advisory group discussed the role of education in the Ohio Memory project. Members agreed that the Ohio Memory project team should work to replicate the Learning Page concept from the Library of Congress' American Memory. The Ohio Historical Society applied for, but did not receive, a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to establish an Ohio institute modeled after the highly successful American Memory Fellows Institute, which produced educational content for the Library of Congress. However, the society will continue to pursue opportunities to augment the value of the online scrapbook for students and teachers. Terri Fredericka (INFOhio) offered to work with Ohio Memory on this aspect of the project.

Phil Sager, Ohio Memory Web Designer, demonstrated several mock-ups of the online scrapbook web site. Advisory group members provided some feedback, and agreed that the site should be usability tested by children, teachers, librarians, and other important audiences.

Before adjourning the meeting, Byerly asked the group to consider several questions before the group meets again:

• What do we envision Ohio Memory to be?
• What can the advisory group do to achieve this vision?
• How can we get people involved?

The next meeting of the advisory group will be held in April or May, 2001.

Ohio Memory Advisory Group

Greg Byerly
Associate Professor
Kent State University
2881 Bellaire Rd.
Silver Lake, OH 44224

Theresa Fredericka
Executive Director
INFOhio
2455 North Star Rd., Suite 1
Columbus, OH 43221

Laurie Gemmill
Ohio Memory Project Manager
Ohio Historical Society
Archives/Library
1982 Velma Ave.
Columbus, OH 43211-2497

Tom Kuhn
Director Ross County Historical Society
45 W. Fifth St.
Chillicothe, OH 45601

Michael Lucas
State Librarian
State Library of Ohio
65 South Front St.
Columbus, OH 43215-4163

Meribah Mansfield
Director
Worthington Public Library
820 High St.
Worthington, OH 43085

Jim Marshall
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library
Genealogy Department
325 Michigan St.
Toledo, OH 43624-1614

Elizabeth Nelson
Head, Special Projects Department
Ohio Historical Society
Archives/Library
1982 Velma Ave.
Columbus, OH 43211-2497

Jim Oda
Director Piqua Historical Society
Flesh Public Library
124 W. Green St.
Piqua, OH 45356

Ohio Library Council representative
Ohio Library Council
35 E. Gay St., Suite 305
Columbus, OH 43215

George Parkinson
Archives/Library Division Chief
Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Ave.
Columbus, OH 43211-2497

Kristin Pool
Archivist/Local History Librarian
Shaker Heights Public Library
16500 Van Aken Blvd.
Shaker Heights, OH 44120-5318

Carol Roddy
Executive Director
Ohio Public Library Information Network
1320 Arthur E. Adams Dr., 1st Floor
Columbus, OH 43211

Tom Sanville
Executive Director
OhioLINK
2455 North Star Rd., Suite 300
Columbus, OH 43221

Anna Truman
Records Specialist
Archives & Rare Books Dept.
8th Floor - Blegen Library
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0113

About the Project