The Growth of Democracy in Tennessee: A Grass-Roots Approach to “Volunteer Voices”Boone Tree Library AssociationMarch 13, 2007

Volunteer Voices Project• 1.8M project• Partially funded by IMLS and partner

institutions• 10,000 digitally accessible items• Document the growth of democracy in TN• Four primary audiences

– K-12 Teachers and Students– TN Citizens and Lifelong Learners– Researchers and Scholars– Information Professionals

• Statewide TEL

Partner Institutions - Grant• University of Tennessee• Tennessee State Library & Archives• Memphis Public Library & Information

Center• Middle Tennessee State University• University of Memphis• Blount County Public Library• Knox County Public Library System• East Tennessee Historical Society• Tennessee State University• Vanderbilt University • Brentwood Public Library

Audiences and Goals• K-12 Teachers and Learners

– Integrate into Social Studies curriculum– Grades 4, 8, 11, 12– Increase information literacy and use of

primary resources• Tennessee Citizens/ Lifelong Learners

– Provide information about TN history– Genealogical connections

• Researchers and Scholars– Primary resources– Searchable database

• Information Professionals– Digitizing workshops– Standards–for institutional digitization

Project Plan 2007• Production Focus

– 10,000 by October 2007• Regional Travel• Training Sessions

– Information Professionals• Librarians – Feb 2007• Curators – TBD• Additional TBD

– Teachers - Fall 07• Digitization Blitz

– TLA – April 2007– Regional Libraries

• Students Statewide– Project – Digital Libraries Class– Practicum – SIS – Employed – UT, MTSU, UM

Project Plan 2008• Project to Program Focus• Integration of Additional Institutions• Secondary Regional Digitization

Centers• Training & Assessment

– Teachers – Spring 2008– Lifelong Learners – TBD– Evaluations & Reports

• Web Presence– Website & Wiki– Digital Library Collection– Lesson Plan Integration

Vision

• Premier site for primary resources on TN history– Integrated lesson plans for K-12

social studies teachers– Interactive elements for lifelong

learners– Online training in digitization

practices for Information Professionals

– Searchable database to meet the needs of historical researchers, scholars, and genealogists

Volunteer Voices & Libraries• Visibility of rich collections• Online presence for historical

materials• Training opportunities in

digitization & metadata• Hosting of digital materials at

no cost• Regional digitization center