I will be discussing a two-year grant project that I was involved with called the Civil Rights Digital Library. This project was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for $761,427 US in federal support for a civil rights initiative over two year period.
A large part of the project involved using 16mm newsfilm from the WSB-TV Newfilm Collection at the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection. Over 25 hours from this collection of approximately 2500 hours total of footage was used to tell the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia and the Southeastern United States from the 1950s through the 1970s.
This newsfilm is being used in a variety of different ways. 1. The footage is described in detailed Dublin Core records and available for streaming on the Civil Rights Digital Library website. Other digital collections from all over the US are also being described and added to this on-line resource. 2. A database for the WSB collection was rescued and is now updated and streaming clips added to make this a resource for researchers and producers. 3. The footage particular to Georgia is being used on a site called Freedom on Film that explores the movement through story and provides and educational curriculum. 4. The New Georgia Encyclopedia is using the streaming footage to highlight encyclopedia entries about the movement.
I will show examples of all the on-line resources and describe this highly cooperative project process.