Milwaukee Civil Rights, Archives, and Digital History

a conversation with Jack Dougherty

Cities, Suburbs, and Schools ProjectTrinity College, Hartford CT

at University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeFebruary 1, 2010

Q1: Digital Archives

Q2: Dynamic eBooks

Q3: Born-digital eBooks

Q4: Digital Publishing Models

Q1: Digital ArchivesHow have archivists and scholars cooperated to improve access to civil rights history via the Internet over time?

Q1: Digital ArchivesHow have archivists and scholars cooperated to improve access to civil rights history via the Internet over time?

UW-M archivesopened web access to archival finding aids, mid-

1990s

will launch web-based “March on Milwaukee”

collection- documents and images- oral history interviews donated by author

Author’s companion website on UNC Press website

Q2: Dynamic eBooksWhat will the new generation of dynamic eBooks look like, and will they meaningfully enhance reader interactivity?

Q2: Dynamic eBooksWhat will the new generation of dynamic eBooks look like, and will they meaningfully enhance reader interactivity?

Current eBooks: simply “glorified PDFs” with limited value-added features; retro-fit of existing book for the Internet

Q2: Dynamic eBooksWhat will the new generation of dynamic eBooks look like, and will they meaningfully enhance reader interactivity?

Dynamic eBooks: UNC Press to launch “Long Civil Rights Movement” digital pilot featuring multi-layered features:

author-generated source links and sidebar comments

reader-generated comments at paragraph level

community conversations connected to other books

What will dynamic eBooks look like? (My best guess. . . .)

Show comments

Comments:Reader1 wrote:-I’m struck by the gendered dynamics of this photo and am looking for other studies of women’s leadership roles in civil rights organizing.Reader2 wrote:-Have you seen this new book about Septima Clark?

Link to oral history interview segment with Juanita Adams

Link to biblio citation via library or Zotero LCRM group

Hide comments

What will dynamic eBooks look like? (My best guess. . . .)

Q2: Dynamic eBooksWhat will the new generation of dynamic eBooks look like, and will they meaningfully enhance reader interactivity?

Working examples of new eBook features elsewhere:

Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Planned Obsolescence using CommentPress peer review tool

Zotero bibliography tool and LCRM group citations

Q3: Born-digital eBooksHow will digital publishing opportunities inspire authors and readers to communicate in ways not previously feasible?

Q3: Born-digital eBooksHow will digital publishing opportunities inspire authors and readers to communicate in ways not previously feasible?

My current book project:

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

School districts

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

School districts

School attendance zones

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

School districts

School attendance zones

Mortgage redlining

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

School districts

School attendance zones

Mortgage redlining

Residential zoning

Q: What kinds of lines have shaped metropolitan life in US 20th century?

Municipal boundaries

School districts

School attendance zones

Mortgage redlining

Residential zoning

The Color Line

A metropolitan story of Hartford, CT & three divergent suburbs

In West Hartford, real estate firms marketed selected private home sales with access to more desirable public schools

1951

Hartford Courant, May 1, 1960

1951

In Avon, school leaders collaborated with real estate firms to transform rural town into an elite suburban district

1951

In Bloomfield, rapid decline was driven by real estate firms engaged in racial steering and block-busting through schools

Telling this story requires tools to help readers visualize historical change in spatial inequality and civil rights strategies

see interactive historical mapping demo

Elizabeth Horton Sheff, Hartford civil rights activist

Not only a “long” civil rights movement, but also a spatially “widening” struggle over time

Q4: Digital Publishing ModelsHow can authors & publishers identify new models that maximize access and quality, with fiscal sustainability?

Crucial for civil rights and public historians to push for broadest access possible to everyday peoples’ history

Q4: Digital Publishing ModelsHow can authors & publishers identify new models that maximize access and quality, with fiscal sustainability?

Open Access

Fiscally sustainable

Q4: Digital Publishing ModelsHow can authors & publishers identify new models that maximize access and quality, with fiscal sustainability?

Open Access- author self-publishes text & digital features on web

- publisher sells library subscriptions to ebooks- publisher sells conventional book

Fiscally sustainable

Q4: Digital Publishing ModelsHow can authors & publishers identify new models that maximize access and quality, with fiscal sustainability?

Open Access- author self-publishes text & digital features on web

- publisher sells dynamic ebooks (text & digital)via library subscription & direct to e-readers

- publisher sells library subscriptions to ebooks- publisher sells conventional book

Fiscally sustainable

Q4: Digital Publishing ModelsHow can authors & publishers identify new models that maximize access and quality, with fiscal sustainability?

Open Access- author self-publishes text & digital features on web

- can author make a deal with publisher to donate free access to dynamic ebook content to public & school libraries in the location of the case study?

- publisher sells dynamic ebooks (text & digital)via library subscription & direct to e-readers

- publisher sells library subscriptions to ebooks- publisher sells conventional book

Fiscally sustainable

Q1: Digital Archives

Q2: Dynamic eBooks

Q3: Born-digital eBooks

Q4: Digital Publishing Models

Your comments and questions. . .