My interests are twofold. First, I am interested in knowing how individuals have made oral histories available in a digital format. What programs have you used and found successful or problematic for audio files? What meta-data do you include with your recordings? How do you tag your materials to make the database useful to users? Have you had to make decisions to exclude certain materials from access to the general public?
My second interest is in discussing how we make digital databases accessible AND useful to K-12 instructors. In particular, I am interested in linking databased objects to State Educational Standards, so that teachers can quickly and easily find materials to supplement their curriculum. Are there other ways to make digital databases useful for K-12 classrooms? Should a certain level of contextual information be included with each object? I’d like to discuss successes and failures that others have had interacting with K-12 instructors while trying to make their digital databases useful to a varied public.
