The Mass. Memories Road Show Your Place in Massachusetts History

What is the Mass. Memories Road Show?  A public event  A digital collection  An educational and research tool  A community-building activity

Overview of the MMRS  Massachusetts Studies Project, UMass Boston  State-wide project  University/community partnership  Co-sponsored by Mass Humanities & Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston

Road Shows to Date: COMMUNITY ROAD SHOWS  Norwood: Norwood Historical Society, 2004  Roxbury: Hibernian Hall, 2005  Dorchester: multiple locations,  Quincy: Thomas Crane Public Library, 2007  Deerfield: Historic Deerfield, 2007  Brewster: Brewster Ladies Library, 2008  Natick: Morse Institute Library, 2008  Norwell: Norwell Public Library, 2009  Truro: Truro Public Library, 2009  Falmouth: Falmouth Public Library, 2009  Reading: Reading Public Library, 2009  Danvers: Peabody Institute Library, 2010 THEMATIC ROAD SHOWS  Grub Street Memoir Project/Boston Public Library (Boston), 2007  Hebrew Senior Life (Roslindale), 2007  World War II veterans/WGBH (Brighton), 2007  Boston Public Housing/Boston Housing Authority (Boston), 2008  Boston Public Schoolchildren, 2009

Codman Square BPL Local venues for Road Shows… Dorchester Historical Society Lower Mills BPL branch, Dorchester Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy Norwood Historical Society

What Makes a Road Show?  Planning Building a local team Outreach & diversity Funding  Public Event Welcome station Info. Station Scanning Video Local history New England Archivists Keepsake Photos  Post-Production Roadies, March 2006 Dorchester, Codman Square BPL

Building a Local Team  Partner with local organizations/individuals: Historical Society Senior Center Recreation Department Business Association (or individual businesses) Ethnic/Cultural Organizations Public Schools Religious Organizations Local Government Colleges/Universities  Build connections within the community.  Shared responsibility for fundraising, publicity, planning & staffing.

Dorchester Roadies  SCI Dorchester Youth Council  Dorchester Historical Society  Boston Public Library  UMass students  Volunteers and staff from past Road Shows, other Dorchester organizations

Outreach & Diversity  Translators, culturally-relevant outreach, reflection of diversity of community.  Network with other Road Show planners.  Personal contact with potential contributors is VITAL.

Funding  Costs $8,000-$10,000 to run a Road Show.  Sponsorship by Mass Humanities and Healey Library reduces local community costs to $500 + in-kind contributions.  Application required.  If not accepted for sponsored Road Show, then will assist with applying for outside funding.  New Option: Self-run Road Shows

What Makes a Road Show?  Planning Building a local team Outreach & diversity Funding  Public Event Welcome station Info. Station Scanning Video Local history New England Archivists Keepsake Photos  Post-Production Roadies, March 2006 Dorchester, Codman Square BPL

Welcome Station  Nametags  Greeters/ushers  Registration form  Crowd control

Info. Station  Photo forms  Reviewers  Selecting photos

Scanning Station  Scan & project images.  Working with original material.  Keeping track of scans and paperwork.

Scanning Specifications  300 DPI  24 bits per pixel  16.7 million colors  Master: TIF  Web: JPG  Unique event, contributor & photo numbers

Video Station  Videotape “the story behind the photo.”  Professional videographer and/or local public access TV stations.

Local History Station  Historical society and/or local historian.  Written mini-history of community.  Identify images, locations.  Flag unique material for possible donation.

NEA Station  Partnership with New England Archivists’ “On the Road” program  Preservation advice from professional archivists

Keepsake Photo Station  Documentation of the event.  Take-away for contributors.  Postcard with URL of website.

What Makes a Road Show?  Planning Building a local team Outreach & diversity Funding  Public Event Welcome station Info. Station Scanning Video Local history New England Archivists Keepsake Photos  Post-Production Roadies, March 2006 Dorchester, Codman Square BPL

Post-Production  Database  Image processing  Video processing  Public access  Keywords/metadata  Website  Flickr

Metadata collection

The Mass. Memories Road Show Massachusetts Studies Network Heather Cole, Asst. Director Tel: