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 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).