Community Technology in Champaign-Urbana Flyer and Announcement: May 7, 2011
Title
Community Technology in Champaign-Urbana Flyer and Announcement
Subject
Community Informatics, eBlackCU Public Meetings
Description
Saturday MAY 7th, 2011
9 a.m- 12:30 p.m.
Champaign Public Library
Robeson Rooms A & B
A public meeting on:
UC2B
The eBlackCU digital library
Jobs and Technology
Youth and Technology
Churches and Technology
Plus Community Technology Workshop:
Learn how to digitize and share online your photographs, fliers,
scrapbooks, and books! Bring your own or digitize files we have.
Take home a free CD of your digitized materials!
*Also: Help getting e-mail/Facebook accounts!
More information at http://eBlackCU.net. Contact:
nlenstr2@illinois.edu or 244-8203.
==
Over 450 people in Champaign-Urbana have attended Public Forums on
Digital Technology, Digital Education, Digital Community and Digital
Jobs. This event continues this momentum. We need all voices and all
backgrounds to mobilize to change our community for the better.
YOU are invited to come and share what you and your community groups
do with technology, what you have thought about doing with technology,
what obstacles you face, and some solutions you have come up with.
Our goals are articulated in the Community Technology Manifesto:
https://eblackcu.net/portal/manifesto, which EVERYONE is invited to
sign.
This event will feature discussion and updates on: the eBlackCU
Digital Library of local African-American History and Culture, Jobs
and Technology, Youth and Technology, Churches and Technology, and
UC2B Big Broadband Network.
This event will be broadcast LIVE around the world at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eblack-champaign-urbana
A workshop will be held on-site to help interested individuals with
e-mail, facebook, the eBlackCU digital library, and digitization of
photographs, scrapbooks and personal and community history
collections. Come to digitize your material and go away with A FREE CD
of your digitized material. IF YOU INTEND TO BRING LARGE ITEMS TO THE
WORKSHOP WE RECOMMEND E-MAILING US AHEAD OF TIME at
nlenstr2@illinois.edu so that we ensure we can meet your needs.
Come to this meeting to find out how individuals and groups in our
community have mobilized to get out of UC2B (http://www.uc2b.net/) the
following community benefit resolution. Find out how YOU CAN PLAY A
PART in making sure the community gets everything it can out of this
$30 million dollar high-speed broadband network.
Community Benefit Resolution Passed by UC2B Policy Committee, April 20, 2011:
1. The Policy Committee (of UC2B) will issue an annual public report
on the digital divide in the UC2B service area (the area of the seven
rings including all of Urbana, Champaign, and Savoy).
2. The Policy Committee will convene an annual meeting of anchor
social institutions to discuss the above report and set general goals
for overcoming the digital divide. This meeting will be open to the
public, and be scheduled as a regular meeting of all UC2B committees.
3. At the end of each fiscal year, unless UC2B has operated at a
deficit that year, the Policy Committee will allocate at least 5% of
its annual revenue to a community benefit fund as a line item in the
budget. Money from this fund will be dedicated to overcoming the
digital divide, according to the general goals as above and the
process as below.
4. The Advisory Committee for Digital Equality will develop and carry
out a plan, including competitive grant awards from the community
benefit fund to nonâ€governmental agencies, to implement the general
goals as above. If there is no available money in any given year, no
grants will be made. The Advisory Committee will forward to the Policy
Committee its recommendations for spendingthe community benefit fund,
and the Policy Committee will make the final decision.
Light refreshments will be served.
Share this invite with your friends.
Link: https://eblackcu.net/portal/items/show/1195
UPDATED eBlackCU Volunteer Opportunities
The website is: https://eblackcu.net/portal/
Here is a one-sentence summary of the project: eBlackCU is a
collaborative portal on African-American history and culture in
Champaign-Urbana which ALL are welcome to use and add to.
And here some volunteeer/service-learning opportunities we have created:
1) Digitization
a) We have identified a lot of material to digitize and get online. If
you could dedicate some time to learning, with us, how to digitize,
how to manage digital files, and how to get them online with proper
metadata, this is for you! No prior skills necessary! Estimated time
commitment: 3 hours minimum, up to 15 hours (or more)
b) We will also be holding “mass digitization†events in which people
can digitize together! E-mail us if you want to be informed when these
events will take place. Food and drinks after the event will be
provided. Estimated time commitment: 3 hours.
2) Web Development
a) Metadata – we need to improve our metadata for the eBlackCU digital
library. Spend some time learning what is in the library and help us
improve access by adding better descriptions to enhance searching!
Estimated time commitment: 2-10 hours (or more)
b) Design – Help us improve the eBlackCU design! Spend some time
looking through the site to find ways to improve it and then implement
the changes if you have the tech skills (or send us your comments if
you don’t). Estimated time: 1-10 hours (or more)
REQUIRED SKILLS: Some background in web design/php/and database-driven
web development
c) Installins apps – We would like to install a number of apps and
programs on the eBlackCU site that will allow us to geocode data,
place interactive time-lines into the site, and more! If you are
interested in web development and have some experience this would be
perfect for you! Estimated time: 5-15 hours
REQUIRED SKILLS: Knowledge of web development, attention to detail
3) Outreach/Marketing
a) Facebook – We are trying to develop a version of eBlackCU in
Facebook! Help us spread the word through the social networks and help
us build this collaborative Facebook page. Estimated time commitment:
2-3 hours.
b) Community Memory workshops – We want to help community
organizations and older generations access this material. Lend a hand
and help us organize and carry-out meory workshops to support capacity
building in community organizations. Estimated Time Commitment: 3-20
hours.
4) Research:
a) Visit area archives in Champaign-Urbana and inventory material that
documents African-American history and culture in our community. A
list of sources has been prepared and volunteers would be asked to
spend a few hours looking at an archives record group to see what is
of interest in terms of local African-American history. A great way to
learn about archives and to do some original research! No prior
experience is necessary. Go alone or with a friend! Estimated time
commitment: Between 2 hours to 10 hours depending on the size of the
archives chosen.
b) Check newspaper microfilm rolls and city directories for data about
African-American history in Champaign-Urbana around specific themes.
Can be done at the Champaign County Historical Archives, History
Library or online, in the case of the Digitized Urbana Courier –
(http://www.library.illinois.edu/dnc/Default/Skins/UIUC/Client.asp?Skin=UIUC&AW=1273084920855&AppName=2).
Estimated time commitment: 1-5 hours depending on research needed.
REQUIRED SKILLS: familiarity with online databases
c) Have an interest in digital exhibits? Take the initiative to
research and produce a digital exhibit using the Omeka Content
Management System! We can get you started with the tech and orient you
in the research and then let you take the initiative and develop an
exhibit around your interests. Estimated time commitment: 10-20 hours
minimum.
REQUIRED SKILLS: experience with writing and graphic design
SAVE-THE-DATE: Community Technology Event in Champaign-Urbana: March 19, 2011
This e-mail is to announce the next Community Technology Event in
Champaign-Urbana.
Over 300 people have come to the last two meetings on this topic, held
November 5 and 6, 2010, and January 8, 2011.
The full record of these events is online for all to see:
https://eblackcu.net/portal/symposium
We need to continue this momentum and everyone’s voice and knowledge
MUST be shared and included
Join us March 19, 2011 at the Champaign Public Library for a public
event on Community Technology in Champaign-Urbana.
This event is from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and ALL are welcome.
There will be informational panels/discussions on
1) UC2B (http://www.uc2b.net);
2) a demonstration of the eBlackCU digital library
(http://www.eBlackCU.net), featuring over 30000 pages and 4 days of
audio/video on the local African-American experience;
3) jobs and technology
4) youth and technology
5) churches and technology
Followed by a discussion of the next steps in our community so that
everyone can make effective use of technology for community change.
EVERYONE needs to be part of the next steps!
Sign a manifesto to indicate your willingness to work together in
getting everyone in our community connected:
https://eblackcu.net/portal/manifesto
We will have computer stations set up for you to get an e-mail account
if you don’t have one; learn how to digitize information, bring in
your own material (scrapbooks, flyers, photographs) or digitize some
of the material we will have on site.