WGBH Digital Media Library & Archives: Participatory Cataloging Project

November 14, 2012 · by · in Opportunities

WGBH has received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to bring the hidden treasures in WGBH’s Media Library and Archives to light. We hope to increase public awareness of the vast collections that digital repositories hold by publishing our entire archive catalogue online, for open access and use. Placing the catalogue online is only the first step, as records may be incomplete or misleading. To help enhance the quality of our records, we are inviting scholars, teachers and students to research our catalogue and contribute their own discoveries and findings back to us. Participants may contribute a lot or a little- it’s up to you! Presently, we have three ways you can participate:

  • Fill out a Survey: If you have used the online catalogue, let us know about your experience by filling out a quick survey and describing the items you utilized.
  • Share your expertise: If you have accessed the online catalogue and viewed items in our physical collection, then please share your expertise! Contribute full descriptions of the items you examined and receive credit for your contributions in the catalogue record.
  • Curate a collection: For those doing in depth research with the online catalogue and our physical assets, there are limited opportunities to catalogue and curate an online collection specific to your field of research as part of Open Vault. Final products could include essays on your topic, streaming public access to one selection of media in your collection, supplying metadata for the items in your collection and/or presenting your findings at a conference.

We hope you will join us on this exciting project!
**Limited funding may be available to those who choose to participate**

To see some of the content already curated by WGBH’s Media Library and Archives staff, please visit our website.

For more information on the project or if you wish to participate, please contact:
Allison Pekel
Project Coordinator
Allison_Pekel@wgbh.org
(617) 300-2678