Hi all, 

The Center for History and New Media, the University of New Orleans in
partnership with the National Museum of American History, and Louisiana
State Museum recently launched a new digital history project, the Hurricane
Digital Memory Bank (http://hurricanearchive.org). I think this is a great
example of how digital archives can help document the history of current
events. Also, we include a Google map that allows all contributors to plot
their locations during the hurricanes or where they took specific photos or
recorded podcasts. Visitors to the site may also browse through
contributions via the map.

Here is a little info about the project. Please feel free to contact me with
any questions or comments on the site. 

 (Please forgive any cross-postings)

"The compelling images and stories seared into the memories of all who lived
through last year's hurricanes will endure through an online hurricane
archive. Anyone may visit the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank: Preserving
Stories from Katrina, Rita, and Wilma at http://www.hurricanearchive.org to
read the submissions of others before contributing their own memories and
pictures to this growing collection. All experiences related to the storms
are sought, whether one was directly affected by the storms or served as a
volunteer hundreds of miles away. 

"First-hand accounts, on-scene images, blog postings, podcasts, and other
audio files are some of the materials being collected. Digital technology
offers people the opportunity to record experiences in the moment, but many
of those digital recordings are quickly discarded. Hurricanearchive.org
seeks to save those creations in a permanent database for scholars and a
wide audience for generations to come. Contributors also may phone
504-208-3883 to record their stories. 

"The University of New Orleans and the Center for History and New Media,
CHNM, at George Mason University created this digital history project in
partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American
History and Gulf area partners, with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation. Hurricanearchive.org builds on prior work to collect and
preserve history online, especially through CHNM's ECHO
(http://echo.gmu.edu) science and technology history project and the
September 11 Digital Archive (http://www.911digitalarchive.org), which
gathered more than 150,000 digital objects related to the attacks. The
Library of Congress permanently houses those materials. Both projects are
part of a growing practice of using the Internet to preserve the past
through "digital memory banks.""


Sheila Brennan
Project Manager, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank
Center for History and New Media
George Mason University
409-729-9622 (office and home)
[log in to unmask]
http://hurricanearchive.org 

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