iSchool Capstone

StorySite: Giving The Gary Greaves Oral History Digitization Project Geographical Context

Project tags:

archives & special collections

data science & visualization

ux & interaction design

Project poster

StorySite is an interactive Google map designed for the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections: Gary Greaves Oral History Digitization Project. StorySite connects digital oral histories with their geographical locations and displays them in an accessible and user-friendly manner. Using historical interviews collected by Gary Greaves (d. 2009), an aspiring journalist and author, the project involved interview deselection (choosing from over 153 available recordings), audio editing (cutting,amplifying, and reducing background noise), metadata development (for arranging and displaying the stories by subject), icon selection, website consultation, and Google map implementation (via JavaScript). The recordings selected for this interactive map were cut into 1-3 minute story clips to echo the most important lessons reflected in the complete collection. These interviews, collected in the 1990s, describe multiple perspectives of the development Seattle went through during the 1950s-90s. This information provides an untold perspective of the history of Seattle that deserves our attention.

Project participants:

Savannah DeHart

MLIS

Neal Parker

MLIS

Erin Speaks

MLIS

Vicky Villalobos

MLIS