My name is Laura Vavrosky and I’m thrilled to be part of the Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) program this summer. After taking several classes in Library and Information Studies through the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I’m eager to apply my knowledge of metadata and information organization to a practical cause. The 3-day workshop all CCDC participants attended in May also provided a lot of digital preservation training, so I’m ready to dive into my CCDC experience.
in Superior, Wisconsin
A few weeks ago I started working at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin. My primary focus this summer is their digital oral history collection.
In support of their mission to preserve and honor the memory of Major Bong and all veterans and to provide educational resources for the Twin Ports area community and beyond, the Bong Veterans Historical Center collects oral histories from veterans.
Richard I Bong Veterans Historical Center
In recent years these oral histories have been recorded as digital files; earlier oral histories on audio cassette tapes and other older media are being digitized. The collection includes oral histories from veterans of World War I all the way through veterans of current conflicts and offers listeners a chance to hear what these events were really like from those who lived through them.
While my site supervisor Briana Fiandt, the Curator of Collections, and other staff and volunteers have done an excellent job interviewing veterans and recording their stories, the digital files themselves are a bit jumbled. I’m starting my work by organizing the files more coherently and naming them consistently.
Along the way, I’ll also write a Digital Preservation Policy, make recommendations about file storage, and develop workflows for ensuring the ongoing integrity of these valuable slices of history.
Most of my work takes place in a small room at a computer, but thanks to the magic of these audio recordings, my efforts will help allow others to experience over a century of events taking place around the globe.
For more information about Curating Community Digital Collections, visit https://recollectionwisconsin.org/digipres. This project is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, #RE-85-17-0127-17.
