Newsletter: April 2009
Project Launch
The Craft Revival completed two major tasks this month: its official project "launch" and an evaluation. A preview event and teacher workshop-sponsored by the Hunter Library, HandMade in America, and the Southern Highland Craft Guild-were held at the Folk Art Center in Asheville. Using images from the website and database, Jeff Biggers, author of The United States of Appalachia, delivered a dynamic presentation on Friday evening. Leading the audience in a brief discussion of how and why historic craft ways are germane to our modern lives, Biggers noted that the project "revives the revival."
On Saturday morning 20 teachers and a handful of library, museum, and craft professionals participated in an interactive workshop. The goal of the workshop was to demonstrate ways to use the website in the classroom and for research. Four hands-on computer stations were set up and staffed by the Hunter Library project team who led participants through hands-on training. Several exhibits and a powerpoint presentation rounded out workshop activities. Overall, reactions to the website's content and organization were very positive; teachers were enthusiastic about the day's events. The event offered CEU credits to participating teachers.
Many thanks to WCU faculty-Beth McDonough and Mary Jean Herzog-for their help in assisting teachers, to Suzanne McDowell for coordinating the event, to Robin Hitch and Joel Marchesoni for their setup of the complex technical infrastructure, and to those who staffed the workstations: Jason Woolf, Serenity Richards, and Anna Craft. A special thanks to Norma Bradley, HandMade in America's teacher liaison, and to Deb Schillo, librarian at the Southern Highland Craft Guild.
Evaluation
The Craft Revival project contracted with R&L Consulting to assist in evaluating the project, and specifically to assess the usefulness and effectiveness of the project website for two target audiences: general users and teachers/educators. R&L Consulting developed outcomes, designed two questionnaires that could be linked to the Craft Revival website, and analyzed data. Their report, documenting the results of the evaluation, is on the Library Insider page for review. Overall, the response to the website was positive. Still, the team is will be acting on the report's recommendations; our first task will look at the Resources page and improve access to Lesson Plans section.
http://www.wcu.edu/library/libraryinsider/craftrevivalgrant/index.htm
Survey
Data for the above evaluation was gathered though an online survey, actually two surveys: one for the general public and one designed specifically for teachers. Evaluator A. J. Rhodes led Jason and Joel through the steps to develop and link the surveys to the site. You can see two links (and take the survey) from any page on the website. The linked buttons-Teachers Click Here and Tell us hat you think-will allow the project to continue to gather data over the next six months. In developing the survey, the project team gained experience in Outcomes Based Evaluation, a method sanctioned by IMLS.
To go directly to the surveys, click here for teachers
http://craftrevival.wufoo.com/forms/online-questionnaire-for-teacherseducators/
and here for general users:
http://craftrevival.wufoo.com/forms/online-questionnaire-for-general-users/
Database upgrade
This month we are in the process of learning about the newly upgraded CONTENTdm software. The Acquisition Station has been replaced by a new and different upload module, the Project Client. This month members of the project team have been taking time to learn about the new software and to tailor the upload process to it.
New on the database
Project uploads this month include items from all project partners. From Hunter Library we have the 1929 program for the Cherokee Indian Fair. This is an especially significant addition to the 1930s programs from Museum of the Cherokee, since the 1929 program is the earliest one we've found so far. This month we've added programs from the 1940s and 50s from the Museum of the Cherokee.
The Mountain Heritage Center contributed four short videos of weaver and gallery owner, Susan Leveille giving a talk about an historic loom. Penland contributed a few historical documents and photographs by Bayard Wootten. Qualla Arts contributed photographs and metadata of 20 Cherokee-made white oak baskets. From the Guild, we have new documents created by Louise Pitman.
We've also added six drawings illustrating the structure of white oak baskets by Allison Wieboldt. These are from the book From Appalachian White Oak Basketmaking: Handing Down the Basket by Rachel Nash Law and Cynthia W. Taylor. We thank the artist, authors, and publisher for permission to include these in the project. You can see one of the drawings at:
http://wcudigitalcollection.cdmhost.com/u?/p4008coll2,5684
Team work
In addition to uploads, this month the Home Team completed several updates to the database. Lucas Rogers re-formatted and cropped Allanstand images to correct image problems. Suzanne McDowell examined and revised metadata on weaving. Suzanne, along with Anna F. and Anna C., have come up with titles that group weaving patterns to facilitate browsing the database. The project team continues to examine the database and make corrections accordingly.
Web additions
Two new web pages have been added to the site. A page on the history and development of the Cherokee Indian Fair was written by Kate Carter. The Cherokee Indian Fair is accessible from The Story portal and can be seen at:
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/story/cherokeeindianfair.html
A page on Cornhusk crafts was written by Jason Woolf and can be found at The Crafts:
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/crafts/Cornhusks.html
We've also re-vamped the Contact Us page and are working on revisions to the entire About the Project section. You can see the new Partners page here:
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/about/heritagepartners.html
and the new Service Communities page here:
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/about/servicecommunity.html
Web revisions
Anna and Joel are going over the website, page-by-page making small improvements. On the Home Page, we've moved the Search and Browse buttons-along with the 2 new Survey buttons-to the top of the page, consolidating navigation in one place. We've moved the website tagline to the bottom of the page where it reads like a caption to the images. The entire team is meeting this week to review and revamp the Search page.
Craft Revival in the news
The showcase event was featured in an article published in the Smoky Mountain News and is now linked to the project website. "Made In WNC" by Suzanne Raether can be read online at:
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_09/05_27_09/art_made_wnc.html
The project was also pictured in this month's national American Craft magazine. We hope to be to get permission to post that piece on the website as well.
LSTA/ECHO site visit
We are still planning on a meeting with a team from the State Library and request that all Partners to be present. The meeting will be held on Friday, July 10th at Qualla Arts and Crafts in Cherokee. Meet and greet begins at 9:30. We expect to finish up by noon.
Anna Fariello
Hunter Library | Library Insider | Last updated: 5/4/2009 Joel Marchesoni