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

Absent: Tom Kuhn, Jim Oda, Anna Truman, Michael Lucas

Staff in Attendance: SMary Alice Mairose, Shawn Martin, Angela O'Neal, Phil Sager

Advisory Group Chair Greg Byerly called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. in Classroom 1 at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus. Byerly welcomed the group and reviewed the agenda. He reminded the group of the role it plays in advising the staff and being advocates for the project.

George Parkinson spoke briefly about assumptions proved and discoveries made. As expected, the Ohio Memory project has proved popular with repositories of all types and in all parts of the state. Through the project, many fine treasures have been uncovered and will become significantly more accessible through the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook.

Laurie Gemmill gave a brief presentation summarizing accomplishments of the hard-working project staff and providing statistics on participation. She showed examples of noteworthy submissions: Wright Brothers materials united virtually although owned and stored at multiple Dayton-area repositories and a mounted specimen of the now-extinct passenger pigeon owned by the Portsmouth Public Library. Content Editors Mary Alice Mairose and Angela O'Neal also spoke about significant submissions.

Meribah Mansfield initiated a discussion of how to deal with institutions reluctant to let materials leave their site for scanning. Ohio Memory staff have thus far been able to reassure institutions, and have encountered no problems with the transfer or digitization of collections at the Ohio Historical Center.

Staff commented briefly on how well accepted submissions cover the subject areas and time period established for the project. While all areas could be strengthened, a few significant weaknesses have been identified. For example, Immigration and Ethnic Heritage and Geography and Natural Resources are not well represented. Through listserv messages and personal contacts, project staff have taken an active role in encouraging submissions that fill in gaps and relate to important events or people.

Tom Sanville inquired about whether Ohio Memory had inspired repositories to begin their own projects. He reiterated a suggestion made at the first advisory board meeting, that there should be an online resource similar to Ohio Memory in terms of contributors and historical content, but less selective. This "Big Ohio Archive" could provide a unified point of access to Ohio's historical collections and relieve repositories from the burden of purchasing and maintaining servers and software. The group responded positively to the idea, although expressed some doubts about its practicality. Group members felt that an LSTA grant might provide funding for the effort, and suggested that it would be desirable to develop a pilot project, possibly with Ohio Historical Society and the Worthington Public Library taking the lead.

Web Designer Phil Sager demonstrated the beta version of the online scrapbook interface and spoke about the results of usability tests. Advisory group members questioned staff about how they research and write collection descriptions and cite their sources. Staff responded that they base the descriptions on information supplied by the submitting institution, then used sources available at the Ohio Historical Center to verify and supplement the information. Sources are not cited in the item descriptions, but in the Explore section of the web site there is a bibliography for each subject category.

After lunch, Byerly steered the advisory group into a conversation about the next steps for the project. The group decided that since Statehood Day in March presents an excellent opportunity to draw attention to the project, there should be a ribbon-cutting event to announce the availability of the online scrapbook. The event should honor sponsors and participating institutions, and look ahead toward the bicentennial year. Partners that might contribute by sponsoring the event and assisting with marketing include the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, OPLIN, and the Ohio Library Council. Project staff will investigate the willingness of the institutions to help. Because the project budget will not cover costs associated with marketing, a source of funds must be identified.

The first phase of the project will end in June 2002. Project staff developed a budget for the second phase of $1.2 million for two years. This level of funding would allow the Ohio Historical Society to hire additional staff and purchase additional equipment. Both staff and equipment are necessary to expand the scope of the online scrapbook to include historical materials from 1903 to the recent past. Possible sources for funding include OPLIN, LSTA, and the Ohio Bicentennial Commission (a request for a $75,000 Bicentennial Legacy Grant was submitted in October 2001). The Ohio Historical Society's Office of Institutional Advancement will attempt to attract private funding. In addition, the society included Ohio Memory in its request for capital bond appropriations for the fiscal years 2003-2004.

Advisory group members applauded the work of the staff, and praised the online scrapbook in particular.

The meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m. The advisory group will next meet in March at the site launch event.

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