#archives are very useful and important and preserving a space of the internet for works created out of joy and passion

[fleursdesmorts]

every year people get angry when ao3 requests donations but honestly in a world where almost all spaces online are slowly being eaten by corporations which censor the content on those sites, having a fan-run fan-sponsored place where people can create gay art without fear is great

[aroaceacacia]

HI!!!! sorry if you've already posted about this before, but i'm aware you help maintain a vod archive - we're trying to do this for another server and were wondering if you had any tips for useful tools or ways to go about this? thanks and sorry for bothering !!

yes ok!!! here r my tips

1. Have some sort of location where all the VODs are accessible from, for people who may want to find them. For us, we have a spreadsheet, with dates & labels; this could also take the form of a YouTube playlist or an archive.org collection

2. Having only one way to download VODs probably wont be able to cover every scenario you encounter. Here's a list of a BUNCH of resources and tools, many of which you might never need, and most of which I've never heard of. In terms of programs to download VODs, I personally use a mixture of three: Twitch Downloader, 4k Video Downloader, and Twitch Recover. (I use Downloader to access most Twitch VODs, 4k for YouTube videos/streams - although it also does Twitch - and Twitch Recover for when a VOD has been recently deleted*.)

3. TWITCH DELETES VODS !!!! unless a vod is saved as a highlight, those suckers go KABLOOEY at a certain point! the exact amount of time will vary, depending on whether ur streamer is affiliate, partner, or not, so knowing your streamer's status is very helpful. I think non-affiliates and affiliates have a week, and then partners have 60 days. Note that Twitch Recover does not work on VODs older than 60 days, so this time limit is REALLY IMPORTANT.

4. If you're able to get in touch with your streamers in some way, that is really cool and epic! Not necessary at all, but sometimes it's nice being able to remind streamers theres a demand for an official VODs channel, or asking if they have any spare VODs lying around

5. HAVE FRIENDS TO DO THIS WITH !! you said "we" so I assume theres probably a team of some sort already, but division of labor is HUGELY helpful for VOD archiving, because those GB start adding up fast. (It's about 2.5 GB per 1 hour of video at 1080p quality, and generally you want the highest quality possible, so VODs can get pretty chunky.) Oh yeah I guess storage space is useful too. Remember to do spring cleaning also every now and then and make sure you dont delete anything that isnt already backed up elsewhere 👍 but yes. Teamwork. Communicating with the group about who will do what, being able to mobilize in a potential crisis, and making occasional public calls for additional hands on help are all super important, I've found.

6. YouTube is a copyright bitch! While it's better for watching vods back on, it will occasionally block a vod for copyright. YouTube is great, I upload all my MCC vods there unlisted, but I also recommend getting familiar with archive.org. archive is a little slower to upload but it won't hide a VOD worldwide because it had a copyrighted song or three in it. Having mirrors of uploads is a good tool for peace of mind - one of my friends has been on a kick of double mirroring VODs lately, even ones that will eventually be up on a VODs channel, but that's also a lot of uploading and slows him down

7. Being aware to at least some degree of the contents of what you're archiving is a good thing. Sometimes you need to censor out an accidental doxxing or worry about an IP leak, and I find it makes me feel more confident in my work if I know what I'm preserving. Like, I archive plenty of MCC POVs I havent necessarily watched, but they're all MCC, and I know what happens, and I sometimes hear details from other people - but a random server VOD from a guy I don't watch much of could contain anything. Sometimes I worry I've accidentally stuck deeply personal information into the internets biggest document repository. And maybe I have. But having some familiarity helps the peace of mind

8. Have fun with it and take pride in your work! You're helping to prevent something you love, the hard work of others, from becoming lost media! That's sooooo epic and sexy and cool of you, actually, and more people should do it - either on their own for their own personal purposes, or in the context of a larger project, like me and you

tl;dr its work but it boils down to communication, having the right tools, and having a team that is willing to adapt and cooperate in order to get stuff done! best of luck in your efforts

[science-fiction-is-real]

I am re-reading Homestuck

Here are my thoughts.

>> Digital culture isn’t what it used to be.  How many 13-year-olds do you know who chat with friends through desktop apps or even use desktop computers?  When was the last time you played a computer game using a CD?  This came out just a little more than a decade ago, and so much of the story already feels vintage.

>> Our internet is so very precious, guys.  It really is.  And if we don’t treasure it, if we don’t archive it, if we don’t take active steps to keep it accessible, we will lose it.  Homestuck’s early chapters are difficult to read from a technical point of view due to the passage of time.  I had to install a browser extension to access the Flash content.  (The one I used is called Ruffle.  It works perfectly on both Firefox and chrome-based browsers.)  There are links in the text of the comment that don’t work.  There are images that don’t load.  Homestuck isn’t some artistic masterpiece, but it is an important piece of ambitious digital art that broke a lot of interesting ground and it deserves to be preserved long into the future.

>> It’s weird that this was written about 13-year-olds, and weird the main audience was teenagers.  Not necessarily because of violence or sex, but just how complex the story is, how much higher level vocabulary it uses.  I learned so much vocabulary reading Homestuck the first time around, and even as a 20 year old reading for the first time, I still didn’t really get it.

>> It’s interesting reading a story about people whose primary social lives exist in a digital space.  Friendships aren’t any less real just because they don’t exist in meat-space, but it’s sad we live in a world where in-person friendships are being whittled away by alienating forces, where more people than ever report they don’t have real life friends.  Homestuck was produced by a culture that suffered those problems.  This isn’t to say Homestuck is bad because of this.  But it is interesting that a very popular piece of media treats this social isolation as being completely normal.

>> Another social norm that finds its way into the story: Consumer culture.  Consumer culture isn’t just people wanting to buy a lot of things.  It’s when we take it a step further and begin to identify ourselves with the things that we consume.  When we meet several of the characters, the first things we learn about them is what type of movies they watch, what type of books they read, what type of decorations they get for their houses, what type of stuff they have.  Who would John Egbert be without his love of bad 80s and 90s movies?  I’m not saying Homestuck sends a “bad message” or “promotes” consumer culture, it merely reflects the consumer culture that exists in the society that produced this story.

>> Class identity is presented in an interesting way which also reflects modern western culture.  In the modern western world, we are taught to view ourselves as consumers first, and as working class people never.  The kids don’t view themselves as belong to any type of economic class.  They don’t ever talk about what they want to be when they grow up.  We only get some vague ideas of what their guardians do for a living.

When characters are rich or poor, their wealth of poverty is just considered to be a characteristic of them or their families, not as a result of a social relationship.  

And once again, an ever-present problem in media, the middle class, professional-managerial life style is viewed as a default.  John Egbert, your quintessential every-man character, lives in a fairly large suburban home, has a dad who works a white color job, and seems to live fairly comfortably, which is something that a pretty large portion of Americans don’t have.  This is a problem in a lot of American media, not just homestuck, of course, but I thought I’d add it to the list because it struck me as interesting.

[calumaai]

REMEMBER INTERVENTION

My intervention with remember was an expiration of the inception of art identity in the Internet. I’ve been aware of their practice since they graduated since Saint Martins in 2015 as they asked me to be part of their final project so I have a lot of historical knowledge of their practice from a firsthand perspective. To change the methodology, I asked remember to draw that picture of digital space before we had a discussion so that I didn’t lead them with our conversation, but we came to analyse it at the end

I explained how whilst they didn’t define themselves as queer I saw that practice as queer and fugitive because they subverted capless and oppressive systems to subvert which remember her done by not using their name when creating their practice and networked presence

We explored our remember had started as a physical magazine a massive exhibition and digital manifestation and remembered always been about balancing online off-line aspects of their work and maintaining control over digital identities as they navigate the digital world through modes of non-ownership

Remember exposed the role of digital archives and the importance of memory in preserving experience. They spoke a lot how they recognise early in social media. The people were using images to create persona from moments where they had not been yet we’re still making these images work for their identity production in the present.

They also spoke about how the non-gendered modes of image making had allowed them to create softer images but hadn’t been aware of how people would project upon them. Furthermore, they said they’d also chasing it because their birth was unique and not Gable so they wanted to do something that was more SEO appropriate.

It was incredibly interesting to speak to practitioner who have been so aware of the role of images and then new digital and networked reality. remember artwork shows a very formula format that’s being navigated fugitive by a more organic curved circle. This simple affective path shows the navigational needs of users and how it is possible to break out of the network experience.

[bettsfic]

socknography: the importance of preserving fan creator biographical data

i wrote earlier on utilizing collections and bookmarks to boost the archival power of ao3, and in that post mentioned how i wish authors would fill out their bios so we can preserve fanauthor information as well as we preserve the fics themselves. so, here is my rant about WHY WE ARE SO IMPORTANT.

for my masters thesis i wrote about the layered pseudonymity of fanfiction authors, and after doing a ton of research, i find myself still thinking of the pseudonymous/anonymous divide as it pertains to fic. we have authors we consider “famous” and ones whose followings eclipse that of traditionally published authors, but unlike traditionally published authors, we don’t put a handy bio at the end of our fics. in fact, if you want to find out about the author, you have to hope they’ve linked somewhere to their tumblr or twitter or dreamwidth, or they have consistent pseuds across platforms. and from there, you have to hope they have an ‘about me.’ but most, myself included, don’t.

unlike traditional publication -- where amazon and goodreads and even the back of the book contains biographical info -- and even unlike the rest of fandom archival etiquette -- which, despite having virtually no committed rules still maintains its organizational structure -- there is no standard etiquette on fanauthor biographical data. 

i speculate the reasons fanauthors are hesitant to write their own biographies is very complicated: 

there is no “ask” for it or existing standard. when i publish stories under my real name, i’m required to provide my bio, which contains my accomplishments, where i got my degree, where else i’m published, and my website. all literary author bios follow this formula, so they’re pretty easy to write. other than this post, i have never seen a request for fanauthor bios. so without an editor demanding it, and without a standard formula or platform to draw from, a total lack of information becomes the norm, and almost any info other than the standard “name. age. pronouns. ao3 name. list of fandoms and/or pithy one-liner” of tumblr or occasional ask game is seen as a deviation from the norm. even ask games get a bad rep sometimes, and they’re transitory, a post you see as you’re scrolling through to somewhere else, not static, like a dedicated profile page.

pseudonymity veers too close to anonymity. an anonymous author cannot have a biography. a pseudonymous author can, but biographies may be seen as defeating the purpose of writing under a pseudonym, or multiple pseuds. a sock account is a sock for a reason -- you don’t want it associated with your main. moreover, i believe fandom creates an environment in which to acknowledge your accomplishments and promote your own content is seen as narcissistic. fanfiction can sometimes be seen as a genre of selflessness, donating time and energy into a community centered around a shared canon, not personal gain. to acknowledge the self publicly is to invite attention, and attention is contradictory to anonymity.

shame and humility. the more information you have on the internet, the easier you are to find. very few fanauthors use their real names, or feel comfortable connecting their fan identity to their real one. i hear pretty constantly how often fanauthors hide their fannishness from their coworkers and loved ones, how only the people closest to them know they write/read fanfic. moreover, you might think “my most popular fic only has 10 kudos and 1 comment, nobody wants to know about me” (which is so not true, but i’ll get to that in a minute).

fandom is constantly changing. with a central archive for fanfiction in place, it’s easier now to be in multiple fandoms at once than it ever has been. if you want to read all sugar daddy fics, there’s a tag for that, and if you’re not picky about canon, you have an entire buffet of fandoms to choose from. communities are growing and shifting and changing shape. i move fandoms, and i keep my friends and readers from previous fandoms. i get dragged to new fandoms frequently. my interests and inspirations change, but i don’t erase my history or identity every time i move, i only add to it. i am always betts whether i’m in star wars or the 100 or game of thrones. but if you only read my fic, you don’t know the stories behind it. many people don’t know i entered fandom in the brony convention community in 2012, or that i was sadrobots before i was betty days before i was betts, or how fandom changed my life and led me through a path of personal trauma recovery, or that i co-founded wayward daughters, or ran the fanauthor workshop, or all these other things about fanfic that is not fanfic itself. 

if you are a fan creator, your fannish personal narrative matters. telling your story helps preserve the metatextual history of our genre.

i think constantly about what our genre will look like in 30 or 50 years, if it will be like other genres that began as subversions of the mainstream: comic books, beat literature, science fiction. genres that, at the time involved groups of friends creating stories for each other, bouncing ideas off of one another, experimenting with or distorting other genres, and which became, over time, well-regarded forms with rich histories. 

maybe one day, like the MCU, we’ll have a dedicated production company that churns out adaptations of longform coffee shop aus written between 2009 and 2015. maybe “BNFs” will be read in high school literature curriculums. maybe our work will end up on the real or virtual shelves of our great grandchildren. and if that happens, if fanfic goes entirely mainstream, how will fanfic authorship be perceived? how will fanpeople in 2080, if humanity is still around by then, interact with the lexicon we’ve created and preserved? what would you do if you found out Jane Austen wrote under five different sock accounts across three platforms over the span of twenty years? how would you, a fan of Pride & Prejudice, even begin to find all of her work?

we have so many social constraints pushing against us. there’s purity culture, which encourages further division of identity -- fanauthors may write fluff on their main and have various sock accounts for underage/noncon fics. if you’re a scarecrow, you’re much harder for a mob to attack. there’s misogyny, which dictates women/queer ppl shouldn’t be writing about or indulging in or exploring their sexuality at all. there’s intellectual property and a history of DMCAs, which, although kept at bay by the OTW, may still have influence on the “illegal” mentality of our work. with social armies against us, it’s easier to exist in the shadows, on the fringe. we change URLs based on our moving interests, and split our identities a million different ways, and keep sarcastic “me” tags full of self-deprecating text posts. we are difficult beasts to catch, because we have not been allowed to exist.

i spent a lot of time today googling the word for “pseudonymous biography” and came up empty-handed (if someone knows of an existing word, pls let me know. “pseudography” is apparently a fancy word for a typo; “pseudobiography” is a fake biography), so for lack of anything better, i’ve come up with the term “socknography” because 1) it’s funny and doesn’t sound intimidating, and 2) it encapsulates the sensitive and complicated way fanauthor identifying conventions work. and also i think “fanauthor biography,” “bibliography,” and “profile” just doesn’t cut it for the actual work of these pieces. they don’t necessarily include IRL biographical data, they include more historical/community context than a bibliography, and the words “profile” and “about me” don’t really inspire interaction, or acknowledge the archival importance of this work.

astolat’s fanlore page is my go-to example. astolat writes under multiple pseuds and has major influence in the history of fandom. she’s also a traditionally published author, but you notice, her ofic novels are not mentioned, nor any other real-life identifying information. fanlore has a really good policy on this in place, for those concerned about doxxing. 

(moreover, i am not suggesting you centralize your socks. they’re socks for a reason. but most everyone has a main, and that main identity has a story.)

there are 2 existing spaces to preserve socknographies. 

fanlore, a wiki owned by the OTW, you can make an account and create a user page (which is different than a “person” page) using a user profile template

ao3′s “profile” page, which is a big blank box in which anything goes

(i’m not including tumblr on this list because i don’t think it’s a stable platform.) 

fanlore’s template is straight to the point and minimal, which doesn’t really invite narrative the same way a literary bio would. ao3′s big blank box leaves us with the question -- wtf do i say about myself? how do i say it? how much is too much? and because of that, most profiles are either blank or only include a policy on translations/podfic/fanart, and maybe links to tumblr and twitter. but let me tell you, if i have read your fic and taken the time to move over to your profile, you better believe i am a fan. and as a fan, i want to Know Things.

here are the things i want to know, or

a potential template:

introduction (name/alias, age, location, pronouns, occupation)

accomplishments (degrees, personal history)

fan history (fandoms you’ve been in, timeline as a fan, how you were introduced to fandom/fanfiction, what does fandom mean to you -- this is where your fan narrative goes)

fandom participation (popular fics/posts, involvement in fan events/communities, side blogs, interviews, etc. 3 & 4 might be one and the same for you)

spotlight (which of your fics are most important to you/would you like others to read and why? what are the stories behind your favorite fics you’ve written?)

find me elsewhere* (links to tumblr, twitter, insta, etc.)

policies on fanart, fanfic of fic, podfics, and translations

*you cannot link to ko-fi, paypal, patreon, or amazon on ao3/fanlore per the non-commercial terms of service

i’ll be working on filling this out for my own profile as an example, but you can also see how my @fanauthorworkshop participants filled out their fanauthor spotlights, and the information they provided. obviously, you should only share that which you feel comfortable sharing, and as your fandom life changes, your narrative will change too. it’s not much different than updating a CV or resume.

tl;dr the goal is to provide a self-narrative of your fan life/identity for posterity. who are you and why are you a fanperson? why do you create fan content? what are you proud of and what do you want to highlight to others? who are you in this space?

[thelifedocumentor]

Azania Forest on honouring her heritage through art

Azania Forest is a multi-disciplinary artist who expresses herself through visual art, photography, and fashion. Azania Forest draws inspiration from her multicultural background, traditional European fine art, and African heritage – she tells these stories through her lens and adds her interpretations. True to her name, Azania meaning emancipation of Africa post-1994 and Forest being an infinite place of possibilities and exploration, she addresses various issues that plague our society such as South African inequalities, black women’s liberation through all facets, and preservation of culture.

She opens up critical conversations through symbolism in artworks such as Mbona Lisa and Lady Liberty, whilst still empowering us to own our narrative and tell stories that highlight the beauty of black women. Azania Forest intelligently intersects the impact that apartheid had on South Africa and encourages us to reflect to move forward with purpose. Azania enquires about her identity and makes sense of it all through every artwork she creates.

During our catch up over coffee, I learned about how she nurtured her calling, the themes central in her work, and how she uses her voice to create her legacy.

1. How did your experience of growing up in a multi-cultural family play a role in forming your identity? I am sure you are still drawing in so much knowledge from both your families?

My mum is Xhosa and then my dad is Tswana. My dad was raised Tswana but he doesn’t know his mother’s culture because she doesn’t know her father. They only know the mother's side. Those two are very different cultures because my mum is from the Eastern Cape and then my dad is from Gauteng. Just go going back home to my mom to visit her family is a different experience – even the scenery is different it’s not like visiting someone here in Gauteng like visiting my mom there in Soweto or my dad’s family. I have to go to the Eastern Cape frequently because she also has to see her family. It has made me so open and receptive to someone different from me. I don’t have a narrow view of a way of living or lifestyle. I have two contrasting cultures that don’t even sound alike – cultures that are not even dialect of each other. If someone is way different from me, it is very interesting for me to learn from them. It has made me open and receptive to identities, to other people who are not like me. I can say it has made me affluent culturally.

2. That is so beautiful. And you are probably still learning things about them from both sides.

I really am. I recently found out that my mom’s clan actually come from Khoi San. I realized even where they stay, is very dessert-like. It made sense, their landscape, and her lineage. So it was very interesting to find out where do they come from and how colonial the Eastern Cape and how influenced by colonialism the place is. With my dad’s side, I have a very shallow knowledge. I don’t go to where his great grandfather or grandfather grew up in. I always hear them talking about it – it’s in the North West, it’s also very dessert-like. Tswanas have a very Khoi thing about them. I am trying to trace both my mom’s and dad’s side. I am more fond of my mom’s side. It’s a responsibility I guess to search into that.

3. Why is preserving culture so important to you?

Preserving culture is important to me because if you don’t know where you come from, you don’t know your people, who birthed you – you have no sense of reference as to who you are. Your mother is you, your aunts – those are a part of you. You share DNA. If you don’t know where your people come from – there is a lack of knowledge about yourself. If my grandmother was an excellent teacher or nurse in her time, it gives me knowledge as to, “Oh if my grandmother could be a nurse, I can be a nurse as well because she’s a part of me, I’m a part of her.”

I get a sense of structure knowing who were the people that brought me here. That is why it’s important for me to preserve the knowledge that our great grandparents passed onto our grandparents and even to us. There are some traditions that Western medicine or technology can never truly grasp. Concepts, emotions, and the English language can’t describe them in the way your culture can. It is extremely important to preserve things like that. That makes who we are as a people.

4. I love that. It’s so important because I also feel like it’s so hard to trace back work that documents African spirituality, rituals, and customs. Whereas in the Western world that is so well documented in terms of philosophies and religions. When you come here, it’s so hard to access that.

It’s not in books, it’s not documented. That is our responsibility right now because we have access to printing books, writing books, language, education as opposed to our grandmothers who that was taken away from. It is our responsibility to preserve.

5. Congratulations on launching your fashion brand and being signed to an art agency in France. What inspired your decision to study fashion and how did you find that journey?

I have always known that I like creating. I like making things and also at that time, I liked fashion a lot. There was a change here in South Africa – the Braam culture and Neighbourgoods were forming, fashion was just so different. We had access to the internet, we could see what other countries were doing and how we can interplace ourselves in the world as Africans but in global people. That’s when I fell in love with fashion but as you grow you find yourself. What I realized is that I like telling stories so whether it be photography, painting, designing – l like to tell a story. That is why even when I do fashion, it mixes with art because I like to tell a story. I am not necessarily an aesthetic person (like beauty) I love that but I would rather have a beautiful story. Even if things don’t look good, but the story makes sense. If things look good and the story looks good – then wow, amazing!! [Laughing] I am trying to get there but my priority is the story. Telling stories through clothing and visuals – it’s a calling I could say, it’s my vocation.  

6. Which themes are central in your art, photography, and fashion work? And how do you find navigating all of these mediums simultaneously?

The basis of all these 3 things is that they are visual things. It is things we see, and things we touch, things that exist. They are not only digital. That is my basis for connection for these things. If I make a dress, then I have to shoot. Then now photography comes in. And then now I want to exhibit it. Now take this creation into an art level. What makes it art is the story that you have about it. If you create something, you have a reference, you are communicating, you are expressing. That can translate into art. That’s why these things don’t live separately in my brain as different things. They live as one thing. I can’t separate them in my mind. If I’m telling a story, whatever medium I am using – it is still the same story. It’s just gonna look different physically. But the story in itself exists. So that’s how I join the 3.

7. I love the documentation of culture in Camagu studio. You incorporate all these diverse identities of black African womanhood into art. May you please tell me more about how it began?

I started Camagu Studio with Lulama Wolf. Camagu means to honor. The purpose of everything we do on that platform is to honor. To honor the people that came before us, to honor ourselves, and to honor our journeys - where we are going. It’s being present whilst acknowledging and appreciating all the things that have brought us where we are. Camagu is about that. You can see it in the aesthetic of our work – we mostly reference African images. What you said, unlike Western culture, documentation for us has been a very political thing. Taking pictures in the 1950s was political. White people would take pictures of us but through the colonial gaze, not to humanize us but to want to deconstruct us. It’s a double-edged sword because what they thought they were doing is destructive but they created archives for us to go back, analyze, and re-interpret today. So that’s what we do. We are self-reflective of where we come from and how we can materialize our thoughts and ideas. If it’s through art, we can do that. If it’s through photography, we can do that. It’s about honoring people and honoring our people.

“Camagu Studio is a concept company that focuses on cultural research and artistic expression. The word ‘Camagu’ meaning ‘to praise’ or ‘to honor ’ in isiXhosa is the foundation of our cause. We learn from our own cultures and in turn, exalt how our heritage has given us the wisdom to pursue our modern identities as Africans. We are students of art and life, therefore, each product or service we produce will come from a place inspired by knowledge and appreciation. The heart of our studio comes from the ideation process. Each product or service comes from a story that is conceptualized and manifested, as a result, there is the intention behind what we offer. We are researchers, students, and storytellers.”

- Camagu Studio on Tumblr

8. Which would you say are your favorite works that you have produced?

Wow, that’s a difficult question because I have never actually looked into that. I do like my current works with Lady Liberty. I like Lady Liberty. I like Mbona Lisa which is an ongoing series, I am still working on it and expanding on the topic. Lady Liberty is also ongoing because it’s so layered and it needs to breathe and be spaced out with time. Currently, those are my top 2 because they are very personal to me. They are personal because I’m a woman, I’m a black woman trying to find my place in the world. I am growing as well. The world is treating me differently than when I was a teenager. Things are different now. I am also looking at the other experiences of other black women and merging that into one story. That is why this work is very important to me, and it’s a continuous thing.

9. Lady Liberty was such an iconic piece of work and packed so much meaning that is important to unpack. How did you feel about the way it was received?

People will always have something to say and I understand. I just wish people would talk to me and communicate what their frustrations are so that I can help out where I can. But if someone is shouting, shouting, shouting, I can’t hear anything.

10. In terms of your photography, what qualities must a subject have for it to be captivating enough for you to capture it?

I was talking about this to a friend of mine. We were having this chat about photography and I realized something about the way black women are captured for magazines and media, thinking about athletes like Serena Williams. They are hyper-stylized, they are captured in what they do in the cover – “I’m an athlete”. If you look at how white women are captured – she could be an athlete or an actress, they will just style her basic: white t-shirt, hair, beautiful and nothing extravagant. I find that to be very interesting. I am trying to move away from how the media portrays black women. They never portray us as just women, I could be an athlete but I’m just an athlete. If I’m shooting this, maybe I could just comb my hair and wear a white shirt, that’s it Black women are always stylized, you must look extravagant, you must look like a goddess. All the time we are looking to make things extravagant for black women. For me, that’s a bit of a problem. It’s like the strong narrative – you remove that this is a person who is also vulnerable. Maybe they are not strong. We don’t portray things as they are when it comes to black women. What is interesting for me in photography is capturing black women as they are – nothing more, nothing less. The way they want to be perceived – that’s it, simple.

11. I have never thought about that before. When you say it, it makes so much sense. That is deep.

But you get to see it. We are always powerful. It’s a racial thing if you look at it deeply.

12. If you ever feel a creative block during a project, how do you reconnect and channel your energy?

I’m in such a creative space right now. I’ve been creating this entire lockdown, I’ve been making stuff. Which I guess, is how I got the agent because I was creating catalogues, and when you put in so much energy into something it just goes. When I have a creative block, I do have those days, I channel that creative block itself. If I feel demotivated, I use the demotivation. I don’t think I have experienced a block to be honest, because a block is when you’re not even sad or happy, nothing is coming to you. I haven’t experienced that, it’s going to happen maybe sometime. I just have pent up energy, I want to release all the ideas in me. I can’t say what to do in a creative block because I haven’t experienced it so far.

13. Which creative materials inspired you on your overall journey? It could be a film, book, exhibition, documentary, or anything?

A camera. That’s been my tool. That has kept me going and it started everything. When my mom bought me a camera, it changed everything for me. It saved my life. It’s the most potent weapon for me.

14. Which brands and artists would you like to collaborate with in the future?

A brand that I would like to work with is Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo. I’d love to work with them with all my heart. I love Comme des Garçons and Alexander McQueen. These are fashion brands mainly. In terms of other brands, I really like Adidas. I like how they allow creative versatility. I would love to work with Adidas but on a real thing like designing a shoe together - not necessarily influencer only. But to create art and collaborate it with the shoe or t-shirt. So far I admire everyone doing art. The thing about doing collaborations is so tough because I am trying to find my voice and my place in the art world. I’m not really in a space of wishing to collaborate with any artists right now. However, I would love to collaborate with anyone who is not in visual art. Maybe someone who does music like instrumentals or dj’ing – that would be nice. As much as I do fashion, I would love to collaborate my art with someone else who does fashion like another designer or brand.

15. And lastly, which words of advice would you give to young artists who aspire to manifest their multi-faceted dreams in this industry?

As much as we take references on the internet, we see everyone’s work. We want to be like them, we want to copy them and we are inspired. I would advise everyone to take time to find the things that mean a lot them. Go offline, find inspiration outside of Pinterest. Look to your family album. Find the resources around you. Use what you have. Stay true to who you are. As much as there is education and all these beautiful references but there has to be a sense of grounding within you. You have to find what you like. Do I like it because everyone likes it and this has 2 million likes, now I also want it? It’s so easy to be swayed because everyone likes a thing but sometimes you find that I actually don't like it. I like it because someone else likes it. It’s that interrogation of finding what you like apart from the influence and then that gives you a platform to tell your story. When you are influenced by something else, you are guided by yourself. So if I’m going to be influenced by Coca-Cola which is something external from who I am, I will bring myself into Coca-Cola. That is my advice for any artist because, in the end, art is a story.

Image sources: https://outsidein.org.uk/galleries/lesego-seoketsa/, https://azaniaforest.tumblr.com/, https://icamagustudio.tumblr.com/, https://www.instagram.com/azaniaforest/ 

[mathom-house-curator]

Focus on the Fan-mily: Community Archiving and the Archive of Our Own

A five-part series on AO3 as a community archive, considering how archival theory and fandom history meet to create a ground-breaking fan archive experience like no other, and the possibilities this has for the archival profession moving forwards.

Full essay (with citations) here

Part I   |   Part II   |   Part IV   |   Part V

Part III - Chasing the Ephemeral: An Overview of Fan Archival Activities

To understand AO3’s insistence on enabling the creator with full power over their works, it is important to understand the fan culture and context that AO3 developed out of, as well as the complex history of fan archival activities.  Since the early days of modern fan culture, with Star Trek fans in the 1960s, fan spaces have been a place of sub-culture and secrecy, with transformative works and fan fiction —the dominant form of record on AO3— being particularly revolutionary.  Fan academics such as Abigail Derecho often identify fan fiction as a form of societal criticism, predominantly created by women and people from minority groups.  Using fan fiction, fans from marginalized groups create content for themselves that reimagines the hierarchical and societal norms reflected in the original media and wrests control of storytelling and creativity away from mainstream capitalist studios and publishers.  This content often contains themes and subjects considered counterculture or radical by mainstream society — for example, until very recently (and arguably in some corners still), this included any queer interpretations, feminist discourse, or erotica.  At the same time, fans use the spaces in and around this content —the writer-reader relationship, the aggregation of stories with similar subjects, the use of particular tropes and specialized lingo— to create a community and culture that reflects their own, often marginalized, experiences.  Particularly with the connectivity of the Internet, Abigail De Kosnik observes that digital fan fiction archives become “safe spaces” where fans with similar experiences can “come together, sharing ideas and experiences without fear of silencing.”

This “fear of silencing” has long plagued fan spaces and has come both from within and without communities.  Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, fans largely shared their content through zines and amateur press associations, relying on conventions and meet ups to come together with other community members and distribute their work.  With the advent of the Internet, fan communities —known as fandoms— began to attract a new and wider scope of members.  Now younger fans, international fans, and even people who had never heard of fandom before, could connect with existing communities so long as they had access to an Internet connection.  A fan scholar by the pseudonym of Versaphile observes that early digital sites were particularly ephemeral in nature — posts and discussions on forums had a lifespan of days or weeks, and it wouldn’t be until the mid-1990s that sites began retaining user content.  Major archives dedicated to fan fiction began emerging in the mid 1990s, usually centred around stories from a single fandom.  These early archives would perhaps be more recognizable to archival professionals — users posted their content or submitted them to the web archivist, who would format, file and preserve the materials they received in order to make them available to archive users.  Creators could request that their content not be archived, or that their previously archived materials be deleted, but generally, archives retained their materials until they were dissolved or deleted.

While there were technical issues with these early archives, such as poor accessibility and search functionality, one of the greatest threats to these archives was the loss of their archivists.  Once an archivist lost interest in the fandom, or was no longer able to manage the archive, the entire site could disappear as maintenance ceased, domains expired and were not renewed, and reorganization destroyed years of existing structure and links.  This is a common concern with community archives, particularly those of the Do It Yourself variety — as Rebecka Sheffield observes, the loss of interest from archive members or the inability to maintain the existing collection has led to the disappearance of many archival projects.  With the disappearance of each archive, years of fandom discussion, content, and community were lost forever, unless individual members made a special effort to preserve certain elements on their own ends.  Fans began to learn an important lesson that would continue to shape fandom for years to come — their communities, the stories they created and shared, the unique fandom cultures and relationships that they had developed, even the shared memory of their own history, was only as stable and permanent as the whim and will of the site administrators.  

As fans explored different methods of communication and content sharing into the early 2000s, the role of the administrator remained a question.  Mailing lists centred around a particular theme, genre, or relationship provided a decentralized and highly tailored fandom experience at the cost of accessibility.  Links to content were closed to non-members, who had to apply for membership with the list’s moderators just to access a single story, and moderators had the power to delete entire lists whenever they pleased, thereby deleting all the works preserved within.  The popular journaling website LiveJournal dominated fandom communities through the early 2000s, granting creators seemingly exclusive control over their own content.  Creators could make their journals public or private, and rename, hide or delete them altogether.  Accessibility remained an issue: content was poorly and inconsistently tagged, the search function was nigh non-existent, and users had to develop through experience a knowledge of which journals might contain content they were interested in and what terms a creator might use to describe their work.  Although some users began developing general guides for creators to describe and tag their work, compliance with these guides depended on the individual creator.  With the rise of the creator’s autonomy over their own work came issues of organization and management, and the ever-present question about the preservation of content. 

While fans wrestled with the question of intracommunity preservation, outside forces began emerging as threats to fandom communities and creators, as litigation, censorship, and commercialization began targeting fan spaces.  In the late 2000s, LiveJournal saw several waves of migration to other sites as website staff began banning users en masse and taking down content which they judged to be immoral or illegal.  These takedowns, supposedly aimed at sexual crimes, could affect any content that involved sex — from age-restricted adult fan fiction journals, to sexual assault survivors’ spaces, to queer fan fiction, which was seen as inherently sexual regardless of content.  Similar censorship restrictions affected other popular fan hosting sites, such as Fanfiction.net, which was in many ways a precursor to AO3.  As a centralized, multi-fandom site with a relatively organized structure, Fanfiction.net provided fan creators with the ability to format and post their own stories in one place, and enabled users to find and access those stories with comparative ease using a controlled vocabulary with its descriptive elements.  However, throughout the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, the website began imposing restrictions on the kind of content that fans could publish.  Adult fan fiction was banned, as was any content which could potentially result in litigation from a studio, publishing company, or author.  Creators issued lengthy disclaimers with each post, making it clear that they did not own the original media or characters on which their fan work was based.  It was vital that no one could argue in court that they had given any impression of owning the intellectual material, as there had been high profile cases of authors suing and harassing fan writers.  Works containing quotations of more than a few lines, such as a stanza of a song or a paragraph from a book, ran the constant risk of sudden deletion by administrators.  Users became increasingly disgruntled with the censorship and the constant fear of deletion by site staff.

The intrusion of mainstream capitalism also began to challenge the sub-culture of secret community that many fans had become used to.  As “fandom” became increasingly prominent, corporations saw fan communities as a potential resource.  For media companies, fan content produced through free fan labour increases the presence and reach of the original media.  Popular fan sites were also profitable places for ads, and web servers and companies benefitted from the increased traffic.  In the eyes of many fans, this was nothing short of exploitation.  Coming from a strongly decentralized period in fan history, fan spaces were seen as personal and counterculture — fans made the content they wanted to consume for their communities, not for their own profit, and certainly not for the profit of large corporations.  The increasing presence of commercial ads on fan sites such as Fanfiction.net was insulting, and the creation of the notorious FanLib.com in 2007 was even more so.  If the presence of ads on sites like Fanfiction.net —where users feared that failing to write a clear enough disclaimer could be interpreted as an intent to profit by lawyers— was controversial, then FanLib, which was designed to profit off of fan fiction and which boasted paid promotions from media companies, was intolerable.  The FanLib debacle was the last straw, and outraged fans, frustrated with censorship and corporate intrusion and the loss of communities and cultures over the years, began to organize.

It was against this backdrop that the OTW formed, and it was in light of these discussions around the preservation of fan culture and history, the questions of censorship and profit, and the rights of fans, that fans created AO3 in 2008, with the site going into open beta in 2009.  Their rallying point was the idea of “owning the servers,” creating a centralized space controlled by fans where their communities and creators could exist in safety and stability, creating the content that they wanted without fear of deletion, censorship, or exploitation, which by its long-term preservation would help keep alive the fan cultures and communities that produced it.  With personal experience in fandom and previous fan archival projects, AO3’s creators were familiar with what fans needed or looked for in an archival space.  Accessibility was a must.  To that end, AO3 maintains a highly sophisticated descriptive tagging system, with volunteer “tag wranglers” interpreting and linking unique creator tags with larger related tags, preserving the creator’s descriptive intent while facilitating access to their works.  Autonomy was balanced with archival preservation — creators can submit and describe their works however they feel is best, and retain rights of deletion and anonymity, while leaving the archival work of preservation, management and accessibility to site volunteers.  Crucially, and sometimes controversially, AO3 permits fan content containing any subject without fear of censorship or deletion.  While users may submit complaints about individual works, and creators must still abide by the laws of their jurisdiction, AO3 enforces the rights of creators to create without fear of censorship or arbitrary deletion.  AO3 also operates entirely as a noncommercial and nonprofit organization with no ads or user fees, relying on a fan volunteer staff and annual fundraising drives.

Despite all the answers AO3 proposes to issues such as fan preservation, censorship, accessibility, and rights, many questions remain from both an archival and a fannish perspective about AO3’s role and functions as a community archive.   Just who is included in this community “of Our Own?”  What kind of cultural memory is being preserved, and how?  What is included and what is left out?  How does AO3’s commitment to freedom of the author relate to offensive content?  If the subculture being documented in these records is, by nature, counterculture, why seek legitimacy from mainstream institutions?  And in what ways does AO3 actually serve its users as a community archive, apart from making it easier to find a good read for a few hours?

Part III Sources

De Kosnik, Abigail. Rogue Archives: Digital Cultural Memory and Media Fandom. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2016.

Derecho, Abigail. “Archontic literature: a definition, a history, and several theories of fan fiction.” In Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, edited by Hellekson K and Busse K. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Quoted in A. Lothian, “Archival Anarchies: Online Fandom, Subcultural Conservation, and the Transformative Work of Digital Ephemera,” International Journal of Cultural Studies 16, no. 6 (2013): 545. Accessed December 10, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912459132

Johnson, Shannon Fay. "Fan Fiction Metadata Creation and Utilization within Fan Fiction Archives: Three Primary Models." Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 17 (2014). Accessed December 10, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2014.0578.

Lothian, Alexis. “Archival Anarchies: Online Fandom, Subcultural Conservation, and the Transformative Work of Digital Ephemera.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 16, no. 6 (2013): 541–56. Accessed December 10, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912459132

Sheffield, Rebecka. “Community Archives.” In Currents of Archival Thinking, 2nd ed., edited by Heather MacNeil and Terry Eastwood, 351-376. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, 2017.

“Strikethrough and Boldthrough.” Fanlore. Accessed December 10, 2020. https://fanlore.org/wiki/Strikethrough_and_Boldthrough

Versaphile. “Silence in the Library: Archives and the Preservation of Fannish History.” In "Fan Works and Fan Communities in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," edited by Nancy Reagin and Anne Rubenstein, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 6.  (2011). Accessed December 10, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2011.0277.

[stevishabitat]

I had a very random dream last night and it brought to mind a very particular fanfic - which I probably read at least a decade ago, possibly more like 15 years ago. I didn't think I'd find it, but I went searching anyway.

Back in the days of slow, unreliable internet, and unforseen fandom purges / archive shut-downs, I used to download fics like a hoarder. Some I would read and re-read, others I probably downloaded and never looked at again. But every time I had a new computer or harddrive, I copied them over.

At some point, I moved most of those to my Google Drive, and pretty much forgot about them. So today, I did a search. And found my stash of BTVS fic.

Holy moly

I haven't yet found the specific fic I'm looking for, but it took me very little time to find myself completely immersed in this trove of Buffyness. Because, once you've had a hyperfixation, it's easy as hell to fall back into it.

Anyway, I was up to my ears in a particular fic, when I realized that either I hadn't actually downloaded the whole thing, or the file had gotten corrupted during some move from one harddrive to another.

I thought I was certainly doomed, there's no way that fic is still out there. These fics weren't from FF.net, and existed before AO3 was even a thing. They were stored on little archives, maintained by fans who have no doubt moved on with their lives and stopped paying for server space or domain names.

Boy was I wrong. One of my very favorite BTVS archives is still going strong. And some of my very favorite authors are still active and writing.

So if you like BTVS fic, particularly of the Spuffy variety, please please go check out Elysian Fields. Because some amazing superhero fans are still doing the good work and keeping the little ship afloat...

As any true fan knows, Buffy was 15 years old when she Called as a slayer. But some of our members may not know that this year on the 28th of October our beloved Elysian Fields celebrates its 15th birthday. Combine the two and what do you get? Our next site challenge them. Welcome to your intro post for the Called Challenge.

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DISCLAIMER:

J*W*’s work was (and continues to be) important in my life, but I no longer want to support or listen to him, provide any financial support to any of his projects, or promote his opinions.

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I support these organizations that are doing amazing work in the fields of supporting abuse survivors and workers in film and TV.

National Domestic Violence Hotline -  1-800-799-7233

Since 1996, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has been the vital link to safety for women, men, children and families affected by domestic violence. With the help of our dedicated advocates and staff, we respond to calls 24/7, 365 days a year.

National Network to End Domestic Violence

The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) was founded more than 25 years ago to be the leading voice for survivors of domestic violence and their allies. NNEDV was formed in 1990 when a small group of domestic violence victim advocates came together to promote federal legislation related to domestic violence.

MeToo Movement

The ‘me too’ movement supports survivors of sexual violence and their allies by connecting survivors to resources, offering community organizing resources, pursuing a ‘me too’ policy platform, and working with researchers to add to the field and chart our way forward. We believe that the movement begins with connecting survivors to resources for healing, justice, action and leadership.

Motion Picture & Television Fund

The Motion Picture & Television Fund’s mission is to protect and preserve the health and quality of life of those who devote so much of their lives to the industry. MPTF offers a variety of services that can provide emotional and financial relief to industry members and their families during times of need. Whether the hardship is personal or the result of an entertainment industry-wide event, MPTF is here when you need us most.

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[shirlleycoyle]

How Can We Convince Big Companies to Leave Iconic Websites Online?

A version of this article originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Look, I’m not going to tell you that Yahoo Answers was the height of cultural artifacts.

But the thing is, it had value. And the reason it did was because of the amount of time that it was online, the sheer number of its answers, and its public-facing nature. But sites do not stay stationary, encased in amber, and there is significant financial motivation for large companies to only play the hits. After all, it’s why Top 40 radio isn’t all Dishwalla, all the time.

But after seeing yet another situation where a longstanding Yahoo-owned website is shutting down, I’m left to wonder if the problem is that the motivations for maintaining sites built around user-generated content simply do not favor preservation, and never will without outside influence.

How can we change that motivation? In a follow-up to an argument I made about historic preservation as Yahoo Groups was getting shut down, here’s my attempt to see the issue of preservation from the corporate perspective.

“I understand your usage of groups is different from the majority of our users, and we understand your frustration. However, the resources needed to maintain historical content from Yahoo Groups pages is cost-prohibitive, as they’re largely unused.”

— A statement sent to an archivist in 2019 as Verizon took steps to shut down the vast majority of the existing Yahoo Groups, the last major element of Yahoo’s user-generated content apparatus that was dismantled, with Groups meeting its maker a little over a year ago. It’s worth keeping in mind that at the scale Verizon works—making billions of dollars per year, on average—the costs of continuing to host such content would have been relatively minimal—especially given the fact that, uh, it owns a big chunk of the network through which that content is distributed.

The problem with corporate motivations is that they aren’t the same as the user’s, even when the user made the content.

Whether Google, Verizon, Disney, Nintendo, or Sony, the corporate motivations for keeping content available online for long periods differ greatly from the motivations that drive external visitors.

Users very much have an expectation of permanence just as they did with physical media, but in the context of online distribution, these companies have competing interests driving their decision-making that discourage them from not taking steps to protect historic or vintage content.

And in the case of user-generated content, there might be outside considerations at play. Perhaps they are concerned that something within an old user agreement might come to bite them if they leave a website online past its sell-by date, opening up to liabilities. Perhaps the concern is old, outdated code that may look novel on the outside but is effectively a potential attack surface in the wrong hands. After all, if they’re not keeping an eye on it, who’s to say someone can’t take advantage of that?

And then there are reasons that are a little more consumer-hostile. Nintendo recently ended sales for a bunch of old Mario content in both digital and physical form. It evokes the old gating of home video releases that Disney used to do in an effort to keep its old content fresh and make more money from that old content.

When it comes to websites, though, much of that content is user-generated, even if a technology company technically maintains it. I have to imagine that there’s an expectation that a company only has limited capability for maintenance costs, and the motivation for doing so is limited.

But on the other hand, as digital preservationist David Rosenthal has pointed out, in the grand scheme, preservation is not really all that expensive. The Internet Archive has a budget—soup to nuts—of around $20 million or less per year, around half of which goes to pay for the salaries of the staff. And while they don’t get all of it (in part because they can’t!), they cover a significant portion of the entire internet, literally millions of websites. They have a fairly complex infrastructure, with some of its 750 servers online for as long as nine years and petabyte capacity in the hundreds, but given that they are trying to store decades worth of digitized content—including entire websites that were long-ago forgotten—it’s pretty impressive!

So the case that it costs too much to continue to simply publicly host a site that contains years of historically relevant user-generated content is bunk to me. It feels like a way of saying “we don’t want to shoulder the maintenance costs of this old machine,” as if content generated by users can be upgraded in the same way as a decade-old computer.

One thought I have is that this issue repeatedly comes up because the motivations for corporations naturally lean in favor of closure when the financial motivation has dried up. Legislation could be one way to manage this to sort of right the axis in favor of preservation—but legislation could be difficult to pass. (This was the crux of my case for trying to make the existing legislation for the National Register of Historic Places apply to websites.)

In my frustration about this issue recently on Twitter, I found myself arguing for legislation that balances liability in favor of preservation of public-facing content. But I’m a realist—a law like that would have many moving parts and may be a tough sell. So, if we can’t encourage a law, maybe we need to build strategies to make maintaining a historic website easier to lift.

2012

was the year that the genealogy platform Ancestry.com launched a new site, Newspapers.com, to offer paid archives of newspapers to interested parties. The company, which charges about $150 per year for access to the archive, has helped maintain access to the historic record for researchers who need it. (I’m a subscriber and it is worth it.) With the exception of paid services for Usenet like Giganews, this model has not really been tried for vintage digital-only content, which seems like a major missed opportunity for companies raising concerns about financial costs for maintaining old platforms, like Yahoo/Verizon. Certainly I would prefer it to be free, but if I had to have a choice between free and non-existent, I’d pay money to access old content. Just throwing that out there.

Image: Ethan Hoover/Unsplash

A middle ground: An “analog nightlight” mode for websites

In some ways, I think that part of the motivation for taking down old or outdated websites is the expectation that the internal systems must also stay online.

But I think archivists and historians would be more than happy if public-facing content—that is, content that appeared on search engines, or was a part of the main experience when logged in at a basic level—was prioritized and protected in some way, which would at least keep the information alive even if its value was limited.

There’s something of a comparison here that I’d make: When the U.S. dropped the vast majority of its analog signals in favor of digital tuning, it led to something called the “analog nightlight,” in which very minimal, basic information was presented on analog stations was presented during the period before it was turned off. A TV host parlayed basic information to viewers about the transition, and told them what to do next. It didn’t entirely work—TV stations in smaller markets didn’t actually air the analog nightlight—but it helped give a sense of continuity as a new medium found its footing.

This approach, to me, feels like a path forward that could minimize the crushing pain of a loss of historic content while taking away much of the risks that come with continuing to host a site that may no longer be popular in the modern day but still continues to have value in a long-tail sense.

In the case of an “analog nightlight” equivalent for websites, the goal would be to essentially shut down any sort of attack surface through good design and planning. Before the site is taken offline in its original form, users are given the chance to download their old content or remove it from the website over a period of, say, 60 days. This is not too dissimilar to the warnings that site operators offer when they shut down currently—and looks like what Yahoo Answers is doing.

But once the deadline is hit, the site operators launch a minimal version of the original platform, with no way to log in or comment. The information is static, and there’s no directly accessible backend. That’s actually the important part of this—the site needs to be untethered from its original content-management system so no new content can be added. Instead, the content would be served up as a barebones static site (perhaps with advertising, if they roll that way), so as to minimize the “attack surface” left by a site that is not actively being maintained.

This reflects relatively recent best practice in the content-management space. Platforms like Netlify have gained popularity in recent years because they actively separate the form of distribution from the means of production, meaning that security risks are minimized. This is a great approach for live-production sites, but for sites that are intentionally meant to stay static, it removes one of the biggest risk factors that might discourage a content owner from continuing to maintain the work.

As far as liability concerns go, language could be included on the page to allow for users to remove old content if they so choose, along the lines of the “right to be forgotten” measure of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), though that measure includes a carve-out for purposes of historical research, which an archived version of a website would presumably cover. But the thing is, sites that are driven by user-generated content are generally protected by Section 230 in the United States anyway, so the onus for liability for the content itself falls onto the end user.

And if, even after these steps, a company still feels uncomfortable about hosting a dead website, they should reach out to librarians and archivists to donate the collection for maintenance purposes—perhaps with a corresponding donation to said nonprofit so they can cover the hosting costs. The Internet Archive actually offers a service like this!

The one site that makes me think that a model like this could work is Gawker. The news and gossip site, which was taken offline by the combination of a lawsuit and a corporate asset sale that specifically excluded it, remains online nearly five years after its closure in a mode very similar to this. Comments are closed and not visible to end users, which is a true shame as those comments often fed into the writing. But the content—the part that was truly valuable and important—is still out there, accessible and readable, even if you can’t do anything with it other than read it.

There are no ads. It’s a shrine to a platform that a lot of people cared about, even if others found it controversial. And there’s no reason what Gawker did couldn’t work in an equivalent way for Yahoo Answers.

Look, I’m going to be the first to fully admit that the motivations for protecting publicly accessible user-generated content simply remain only if the owner of that content feels “nice” about it.

And even then it feels like a bit of a surprise.

It’s still online, but it moved.

Recently, Warner Bros. got a little bit of flak for replacing its long-online Space Jam website, which dated back a quarter-century in its original form, with a site for the sequel. But I think what the company did was actually shockingly noble. They not only left the old site online, but they made it accessible from the new one. The work done to maintain this was not perfect—I think they should do archivists a solid by putting in 301 redirects on the old URLs of the vintage site, so they go to the new place—but the fact that they showed the initiative at all is incredibly impressive given what we’ve seen of corporate motivations when it comes to preservation.

Honestly, part of this was a result of people who were associated with the website’s creation still being at the company years later and being willing to speak up for preserving it—a 2015 Rolling Stone article explains that the site actually briefly was taken down after it went viral in 2010, only for employees involved in the creation of the site (now with leadership roles in the company) to swoop in and save it after some executive made the call to shut it down.

“If we had left the company, the site probably would not exist today,” said Andrew Stachler, one of the employees involved with saving the effort. “It would’ve gone down for good at that time.”

But imagine if they weren’t there. We’d be telling a different story right now.

And perhaps that’s what many companies need—someone who is willing to go to bat for the purposes of archival and protection of historic content.

In the digital age, preservation is the act of doing nothing but minimal upkeep and being comfortable with that fact. As proven time and time again, companies are more than comfortable with killing services entirely rather than leaving well enough alone.

Perhaps the way to save user-generated content is by making it as painless as possible to keep the status quo.

How Can We Convince Big Companies to Leave Iconic Websites Online? syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[post-ephemeral]

Archiving the Internet: Media vs. Material

“Print technology created the public, electronic media created the mass.” Although written over half a century ago, Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is The Massage” has remained relevant for it’s analysis of mass media and the widespread dissemination of ideas. At the time of writing, McLuhan’s idea of electronic media was limited to radio and television, but these channels of public access following print media acted as foundational building blocks for mass-communication. McLuhan’s juxtaposition between print technology and electronic media brings physicality and audience into question, paralleling discourse surrounding the internet, as well the use of the internet as a mass medium and the translation of its content into physical space. The online world appears ephemeral and everchanging, however, the social effects and material culminations are permanent. This dichotomy begs the question, how can we excavate, document, and archive the internet?

Prior to electronic media, communication relied upon the public having access through artifacts or word of mouth. In antiquity, these forms of communication were very limiting, requiring those who received the information to be physically present, either face to face with someone speaking or in close proximity to an object, such as a painting or sculpture. Even as written history developed, literacy was fairly uncommon, and only gained significant popularity through the production of paper, resulting in the reproduction of texts to be disseminated widely.  

Although print technology laid the ground work for the rapid spread of information, electronic media amplified this connection astronomically. Advancements such as radio and television allowed news of events to be documented, disseminated, and witnessed in real time. With the development of electronic media, specifically the internet, historical documentation has strayed farther and farther away from the bound book format, allowing for detailed accounts that engage more than one of the human senses at a time. Social networking platforms not only create history, but also amplify historical moments, documenting events from multiple perspectives at one time, no longer completely limited by a the biases of broadcasting stations or newspaper publications. Rather than having the most artistic craftsmen or literate scribes detail important historical events, the collective internet is typically able to provide accounts from all angles. However, with the lack of veneration for a single-sided story and the internet’s incapability to agree, this form of documentation has the potential to cause conflict rather than productive discourse. 

It could be argued that history is often written from the winner’s perspective, but who declares the winner when battles are waged behind a screen? Although the internet appears trivial and intangible, filled with entertainment and the ability to connect with others, it’s widespread accessibility has given rise to social movements. Social media allows users the ability to share information instantaneously, and because of this, online calls-to action can become physical gatherings; groups of people that share similar beliefs, having no direct relation other than their approximate location and access to wifi, are able to make history in real life, leaving behind digital breadcrumbs of how the event came to be. Whether peaceful or violent, the move from Twitter to the streets creates such a dramatic impact that information of the event is spread through other forms of media, such as television and news articles. The issue here is how the movement is documented,  how that documentation is spread, and how that documentation will be received by future historians. 

The biases of news sources can paint an entirely different picture than the Snapchats of protestors, and because of the drastic difference in accounts, the amount of eyes on particular story, and how it’s received by the public, it feels next to impossible to historically archive. Because everyone with a cellphone has the ability to document and disseminate events in real time, the retroactive archival work has to take technology into account, rather than what was said or how it was represented by a single source. This form of history-writing looks entirely different from the pre-internet world;  rather than relying on sources that had the ability to publicly broadcast, such as radio or television networks, the voices of the people are heard as well. With social media, historians can analyze the first person accounts that were made public almost immediately after an event, rather than waiting for something to be written or a news source to pick up the story.

 This brings us back to physicality; the artifacts of this moment are not only the devices we hold, but also what’s contained within them. Our collectively held reliance in electronic media comes with the assumption that everything recorded or posted is permanently saved, so there is less need to consolidate events down to a single retelling that you would typically find in a written account. However, historians of our age need to focus on the preservation of data, down to the most minute details, as our devices update and become discarded. Excavating a dead iPhone means nothing without the data inside of it; it’s up to digital archivists to ensure that electronic media can outlast us, in the same way that stone carvings have remained intact for thousands of years. On the web, everyone can make history, but how we choose to keep record is crucial, as the internet changes as fast as time itself. 

[aion-rsa]

How to Play Flash Games After the “Death” of Adobe Flash

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Though the news was understandably downplayed during what proved to be a turbulent year, December 31, 2020, marked the end of Adobe’s official support of the Flash Player. The end of their official support cast serious doubt on our ability to easily access a legion of Flash games that have, in their own way, carved a piece of internet culture and history.

As it turns out, the death of Flash was somewhat exaggerated. While it’s true that Adobe has ended their official support of the platform and that many websites are unable to run Flash Player and Flash-based programs as easily as they may have done in the past, there are several viable ways to continue to access various Flash-based games, Flash-based videos, and other content that relies on what will likely be remembered as a rough foundational element of the internet that was nonetheless vital to its growth.

So if you just want to play Crush the Castle, Warfare 1917, Canabalt, or thousands of other memorable Flash games one more time, then here are the best options available to you for accessing them following the “death” of official Flash Players.

Flashpoint

If you’re looking to (fairly) easily access as many Flash games as possible, then you have to check out BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint project.

Flashpoint is a massive archive of over 38,000 Flash games and nearly 2,500 Flash animations. It’s by far the most comprehensive preservation project of its kind. In fact, it is so comprehensive that you may have some trouble figuring out where you’re supposed to start with it.

Well, if you’re a Windows user who is feeling bold and has space to spare, you can download what’s called Flashpoint Ultimate. This download (which currently sits at 530+ GB) contains the entire Flashpoint collection and allows you to access every file in that collection (even when you’re offline.)

Alternatively, there is the “Flashpoint Infinity” option. This option essentially allows you to download games on a case-by-case basis. While you will need to be connected to the internet during the initial downloads, you’ll be able to access the downloaded files offline after that.

Mac and Linux users can also access versions of these downloads, but because Flash support for those platforms is still in the experimental phase, you may find that not every file works as intended.

While Flashpoint isn’t exactly a complete collection of every Flash game and project ever made, it is an undeniably impressive effort and the best way to find some of the Flash games that defined an era of the internet best remembered for the sometimes humble contributions of a group of creators motivated largely by passion.

Download Flashpoint Here

Flash Game Archive

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Flashpoint project, then check out the Flash Game Archives.

Flash Game Archives advertises itself as an emulator for the console that Flash games never really had. While its collection of titles isn’t quite as extensive as the one you gain access to via Flashpoint, the program is incredibly smooth and boasts a very friendly interface.

If nothing else, this program is an easy way to take a walk down memory lane.

Download Flash Game Archive Here

Ruffle

One of the more interesting potential long-term solutions to the “death” of Flash is a program called Ruffle.

Ruffle is a fascinating project. It’s essentially a Flash emulator designed to allow sites to upload Flash content the way it was “meant” to be experienced: through your browser. It’s still being developed, but Ruffle’s ability to run SWF files either online or offline makes it a surprisingly viable recreation of the basic Flash experience.

Infamous Flash content website Newgrounds already announced their intentions to use Ruffle to preserve as much Flash content as possible. While Ruffle isn’t necessarily the best “individual user” solution, it’s one of the more intriguing long-term options for the preservation of browser-based Flash content.

Download Ruffle Here

Flash Player Projector Content Debugger

The name leaves a lot to be desired, but this program is essentially Adobe’s official way to continue to access Flash files offline.

This simple program allows you to open SWF files or access them directly via web directories. Once you have access to the appropriate files, you’ll be able to run them just as you would have been able to do via an embedded online Flash player. It can also be used as a debug tool (as the name suggests), but the usefulness of that functionality will likely be limited to developers.

Again, the functionality of this tool is limited in the grand scheme of things (and other programs offer easier access to individual games and programs), but it’s one of the more reliable ways to run “Flash files” outside of web browsers.

Download Flash Player Projector Content Debugger Here

Game Boy

Flash game creator Anthony Lavelle (perhaps best known for his work on IndestructoTank) has made the unusual decision to preserve his Flash games by porting them to the Game Boy.

While you can play IndestructoTank via a web browser, it is possible to play Lavelle’s Flash ROMs on an actual Game Boy. Granted, the games aren’t 1:1 recreations of the originals (they’ve been redesigned to match the green/black color palette of the original Game Boy, for instance). It’s certainly an unusual way to preserve a Flash game, but some of the best Flash experiences actually feel at home on a platform that was all about maximizing the enjoyability of inherently simple experiences.

Don’t expect too many Flash games to make this leap, but definitely check these ports out if you can.

Download IndestructoTank for Game Boy Here

The Internet Archives

The Internet Archives (one of the best sources for online content preservation) has come through yet again by offering an extensive collection of Flash games via their website.

With help from Ruffle, the Internet Archive makes it easy to access an extensive collection of Flash games through your browser. While the Internet Archive’s interface leaves a lot to be desired, the site’s efforts are admirable and the collection of Flash games currently available via this site includes some of the best of all-time.

Play Flash Games via The Internet Archive Here

Flash Game Remakes

This is, by some measure, the least extensive way to access classic Flash games, but it’s undeniably one of the best ways to play some version of the most important Flash games ever made.

Titles like Trials, Alien Hominid, My Friend Pedro, VVVVVV, and Super Meat Boy began their lives as Flash games. While it’s possible to access some of the original Flash versions of these games via some of the methods that we’ve mentioned above, it’s quite remarkable that some of these titles happen to be worthy standalone “full” games despite their seemingly humble origins as Flash titles.

If nothing else, be sure to check out some of the better Flash remakes on markets such as Steam, Google Play, and more if you want a glimpse at how Flash games ultimately changed the industry.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post How to Play Flash Games After the “Death” of Adobe Flash appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3omy2P4

[paninibrot]

Week 9 - Online Museums

From Malraux's Imaginary Museum to the Virtual Museum, Antonia Battro in Museums in the Digital Age, ed. Ross Perry, Routledge, 2010, pp.136-147.

Battro starts by introducing Malraux’s questioning of how a work of art and its meaning transforms once it is exhibited in a museum: when “a crucifix becomes a sculpture, an image of the Virgin is a picture, a sacred effigy a statue” (136).  The “imaginary museum” that Malraux refers to is one of a great world collection of images reproduced by modern technology, such as by photographic reproduction that brought forth a new format on an accessible universal platform. The “virtual museum” is thus the evolution of the imaginary museum brought upon by the development of digital technology.

Battro explains that one of Malraux’s central ideas is that museums create a “change of function” for the original artwork because it has been moved to an environment that has been especially designed to show it off. At the time of creation, the subject of the painting was more important than its creator, but the modern museum has produced a radical change in the history of art, namely the “transmutation of an esthetic value” (138). Battro’s analogy of likening the visitor entering the museum to entering an atelier empty of its models, where there is no one posing, not a flower or a wine cup on the artist’s table (138), particularly illustrates this point.

“The museum never knew a palladium, a saint, or Christ, or object of veneration, of similarity, of imagination, of decoration, of possession; only images of things, different from the things themselves, deriving from this difference its reason for being” (138). I think that this quote captures Battro’s argument, for the function of the museum as a collection of pieces whose commonality is an eternal question, perfectly. Battro continues to claim that whilst there exists museums of all different kinds they have one thing in common: that “the art they keep acquires a new life “because it is shared”’ (139). Does Battro claim this because sharing work allows for a breadth of different perspectives, opinions, and meanings prescribed to the work? Or does does art continue to acquire a new life because it is shared between museums, crossing the borders of nation-state and entering a new curatorial and cultural space?

Speaking about the value of reproductions Battro states that whilst the work of art in museums has an admirable quality in it that invites reproduction, in the mind of the observer the mental process of recollecting work is not a copy but a “reconstruction” (140). Yet if this is happening in the mind of the observer, and it is a reconstruction based off of memories, how reliable are these reconstructions? Has this changed now that there are pictures of almost all works in museums also available online to view, so that it is no longer memory-based reconstruction but rather a digital reproduction or duplicate even? Battro mentions that it is these “digital format reproductions” that constitute the imaginary Museum, extending into the virtual Museum today (140). Thus, it is the computer that is the “printer of the new digital era, of the new virtual culture” (141). I understand that the computer and the digital world has opened up a new understanding of reproduction, but how does “Art printing” help confront the “original reality” of the works of art if it is now an even more accurate depiction of the original (141)?

The manipulation of scale in reproductions of works is another interesting topic that Battro discusses, claiming that in some respects the original artwork is enriched as it provides a new vision. I agree, because changing dimensions of the original allows for a different perspective, all of which is now easier than ever to achieve in the imaginary Museum where “style transcends form and matter,” creating “fictitious art” (142) that allows for new meaning to be discovered.

Throughout the reading it is evident that the concept of the imaginary and now also virtual Museum hinges upon the concepts of being both a “bespoke museum” as well as a “portable museum” that contains an infinite number of works of interest to us (143). Simultaneously, the digitalization of museum works creates a whole new world of possibility and digital make-believe, as “fictitious” works and reproductions of art objects that would be impossible to execute in real life become commonalities. Thus, museum objects are given a second, digital life.

 Behind the scenes of the museum's website, R.J. Wilson, Museum Management and Curatorship, 2011.

I found the concept of ‘digital heritage’ interesting, as it pertains very much to what Battro was explaining Malraux’s vision of the imaginary Museum (i.e. the ‘online museums’ that Wilson mentions, 374) meant. Including the term ‘heritage’ implies sociopolitical, historical and philosophical implications of these virtual displays and collections of museums that have changed the original relationships between visitors and their mediate interactions with the now digital objects and a digital heritage. Wilson argues that this “point of alterity” (374) results as the virtual museum experience constructs a different set of relationships to objects, texts, and knowledge, and uses the online catalogue of the British Museum as the subject of analysis.

Markup language: a means to ‘annotate’ information to detail how it should be presented by the Internet browser. The most prevalent markup language, and the one which has been used by website designers is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). A markup language, such as HTML, controls the ‘static’ elements within the webpage, such as the logo or menus. (376)

Programme language: provides the dynamic elements within a webpage – the interactive features which enable the user to manipulate objects, contribute to forums and search databases. The most common programme languages used in website design are Java, JavaScript, C, C++ and PHP.

Although computer languages were once the preserve of the technician and programmer, a growing awareness within the humanities = the development of ‘critical code studies’: a field of enquiry which analyses and interprets how computer languages interact with, and frame knowledge and experience, within society à  The ‘hermeneutics’ of computer languages, as analysts have described the metaphors, relationships and allusions present within computer codes (378)

Intertextuality: a means of analysing how discourses are situated within a nexus of social, political and cultural concerns, and highlights the assumptions that discourses are drawing upon to underpin their position (What exactly does Wilson mean by this?) à Wilson argues that in this perspective, HTML and other markup and programme languages are considered to both induce and exhibit a high level of intertextuality (379).

Throughout the paper Wilson examines how markup and programme language structure the reception of digital heritage (specifically looking at the British Museum’s catalogue source code and the categories of genre, discourses, and style), as there is an increasing drive towards greater technical ability and the utilization of information technology within the heritage sector (museums, universities, training facilities). This very much relates to the Museum4Punkt0 Project happening across Germany, as it is becoming obvious that digital technologies and software applications for museums and archives are a vital means of expanding and delivering information and resources to a wider public audience and an engaging online/digital presence.

Wilson labels the relationship between markup and programme languages (HTML, XHTML or JavaScript etc.) used to construct the online catalogue or the virtual exhibition as one of an “intertextual nature” which corresponds to the physical site of the museum and the museum website. Wilson argues that this intertextual correspondence cannot be ignored, since these technical aspects are no longer merely data but also provide the framework for the digital lives of visitors and museums, and thus must be used in studies “hoping to engage with how information technology is used within the museum sector” (387).

As a framework for the study of ‘digital heritage studies’ Wilson proposes 4 main areas of investigation (379):

- Concepts of dialogue: the relationship between programme languages and other forms of discourse within the museum/heritage sector

- Functions of genre: examines the function and form of programme and markup languages and their representation of digital objects and digital heritage – considering how programme languages frame and place the viewer’s experience of the online museum landscape

- Chronotopes: how markup and programme languages produce specific temporal and spatial concepts to represent digital objects and digital heritage

- Carnivalesque: the emergence of different voices and a disruption of the traditional museum object and heritage structure – how visitors can arrange and rearrange online sources to suit their own narratives, perspectives and experiences

Through breaking down specific parts of the British Museum’s online catalogue source code Wilson underlines how museums use websites to reaffirm a specific agenda or perspective for the view, to liken the real experience of the museum. However, I think that rather than attempting to liken the real experiences of visitors of the physical museum, museums should be attempting to create a digital experience that is not separate but supplementary and yet different to the ‘real’ experience. Digital museum experiences offer a whole new world of possibility.

[ralphlayton]

Your B2B Marketing Book of Life: 10 Inspiring B2B Marketing Tips From Family History

What can B2B marketers learn from family history research? Family history research offers a surprising number of valuable lessons for marketers looking to hone existing skills and build new ones. For starters, genealogy research can teach us about:

Knowing Your Marketing Roots

Sharpening Your Research Skills

Building Enduring Passion

Citing, Celebrating & Honoring Your Marketing Sources

Learning & Networking With Fellow Professionals at Industry Events

Adhering To Guidelines & Goalposts

Publishing & Preserving For Posterity

Sparking Interest For Future Marketers

Breaking Through With Hyper-Personal Relevance

Peering Inside Your B2B Marketing DNA

Aside from childhood school family history projects, I first stared researching my roots in earnest in 1994, and a decade later for several years I worked as a professional genealogist. It's still a passion, and a pursuit that has for millions of people of all ages around the world become not only one of the fastest-growing pastimes — spurred on by popular shows such as Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., Who Do You Think You Are and others — but a multi-billion dollar industry. [bctt tweet="“Learning to sing one's own songs, to trust the particular cadences of own's voices, is also the goal of any writer.” — Henry Louis Gates Jr. @HenryLouisGates" username="toprank"] Let’s open your own B2B marketing book of life, with 10 tips genealogy offers marketers.

1 — Know Your Marketing Roots

Family history gives researchers newfound understanding, insight, and appreciation for the very real people who form our own personal ancestry. Marketers too can gain a great deal by learning more about marketing through the lens of the people who played instrumental roles in marketing. Genealogy reminds us to take the time to learn about the origins of our particular marketing specialty. Are you involved in B2B influencer marketing? Learn about the professionals who first innovated B2B marketing by applying the strongest aspects of influencer marketing — people like our own TopRank Marketing CEO and co-founder Lee Odden. At its root the underlying truths of influencer marketing aren’t new at all, as I took to its ultimate conclusion in “10 Tips From Influencer Marketing’s Hidden 1,000-Year History,” with insights to help inspire your marketing from the likes of Hildegard von Bingen through Phineas Taylor “P.T.” Barnum and David Ogilvy. Invest some time learning about people such as Edward Louis Bernays, the father of public relations, or even the early pioneers of the Internet and the web, who had such a profound effect on how marketers — and pretty much everybody else these days — perform work. Last year when the Internet turned 50, I wrote a celebration in "Classic Marketing Insights to Celebrate the Internet’s 50th Birthday," and took a look as some of the key pioneering figures. [bctt tweet="“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” — Winston Churchill" username="toprank"] Take-Away: The more you know your marketing roots the better your own marketing will be.

2 — Sharpen Your Research Skills

At the heart of genealogy sits sharp research skills, to such an extent that many genealogists have to force themselves to occasionally stop researching in order to dedicate time to publishing the results of all that work. Marketing generally doesn’t involve nearly as great a percentage of time researching as genealogy, yet the benefits of strong research are undeniable, and are often what sets apart run of the mill promotional efforts from those that lead the industry and win awards. We've explored original research in various forms, and you'll find helpful information in the following articles from our archives:

How to Optimize Original B2B Research Content For Credibility and Impact

What You Can Learn from Competitive Research to Improve B2B Content Marketing Performance

Always-On Influence: Why B2B Needs Brand Research

10 Smart Question Research Tools for B2B Marketers

[bctt tweet="“You have to know the past to understand the present.” — Dr. Carl Sagan" username="toprank"] Take-Away: Research is vital in marketing, so try incorporating more time to research in your marketing efforts, and to improving your research skills — because the smarter you are when it comes to research, the more efficient the process becomes.

3 — Build Enduring Passion Into Your B2B Marketing

Are you being the best marketer you can be? Are you creating the kind of marketing your descendants will be proud of in 200 years, or at least be able to understand and feel some sense of compassion for? One key ingredient of successful and genuine marketing is the passion of the person creating it. Share your unique voice to tell compelling stories in your marketing efforts, and when possible humanize your work using anecdotes and history from your own journey. One curious similarity between B2B marketing and family history is the lengthy duration both usually entail — with the B2B buyer journey being significantly longer than in B2C efforts, as our own Nick Nelson explores in "How to Educate, Engage, & Persuade Buyers Over Lengthy Sales Cycles." To help inspire your marketing passion and spark new digital storytelling flames, here are several articles we've written on these key topics:

Your Guide to Effective Storytelling in B2B Content Marketing

Break Free B2B Series: Zari Venhaus on How to Scoot Your Way to Martech Transformation Through Storytelling

Becoming a Better Marketer by Embracing Your Passions Outside the Office

Once Upon a Time: Storytelling in Today’s B2B Content Marketing Landscape

[bctt tweet="“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana" username="toprank"] Take-Away: Let your marketing efforts make your descendants — and your ancestors — proud, by including enough of yourself and your own story to bring out the passion in your work.

4 — Cite, Celebrate & Honor Your Marketing Sources

In both marketing and genealogy, quality research involves citing your sources. In genealogy those citations are almost always included in the final report or accompanying source material, while in marketing direct citations are more often included only when quoting people or sharing study data. In genealogy the goal of source citation is to allow anyone who uses yours to locate the original record you saw — not only in the immediate future but also as long into the future as possible. Professional genealogists can take source citation to extremes, and I sometimes have to chuckle when I come across a page in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly that has more space dedicated to source citations than report narrative. Even if your research won’t be including citations in a final publication, strong research technique dictates that for your own records and those of your business, your notes should always include the citations you or others could use to find your sources again. The same research practices that make good genealogical research translate directly into top-notch marketing research. Take-Away: Use citations to both personally and professionally document all material you’ve used in coming up with new original work.

5 — Learn & Network With Fellow Professionals at Industry Events

I remember the first genealogy conference I attended — the 2003 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FSG) event — which took place before the web-based family history boom became a multi-billion dollar industry. Back then I recall being by far one of the youngest attendees. Thankfully today the family history boom has infused genealogy with a massive influx of younger people with a passion for learning more, and before the pandemic hit large conferences such as RootsTech drew over 25,000 in-person attendees along with over 100,000 remote participants. Today’s genealogy conference audiences tend to look a lot more like those of marketing events, and not just the sea of gray hair I saw back at my first family history conference. B2B marketers can reap the same benefits as genealogists do by attending conferences — now nearly all conducted virtually due to the pandemic — to help you with:

Keeping Up-To-Date on the Latest Research

Learning From the Best in the Business

Networking From Fellow Professionals

Sharing Knowledge with Peers

You can take a took a look at some of the top virtual marketing conferences through the end of 2021 in "17+ Top Virtual Marketing Conferences for Summer 2020 & Beyond," and be sure to catch Lee Odden presenting on October 13 at Content Marketing World, on October 15 delivering a Pubcon Virtual keynote, and on November 5 at MarketingProfs B2B Forum. Marketers can also benefit from joining professional organizations just as genealogists do. Take-Away: Utilize marketing conferences and professional organizations to become exposed to new methods, ideas, and inspiration.

6 — Adhere To Guidelines & Goalposts

In some ways genealogists have it easier than marketers, as the guidelines and goalposts for the family history game don’t change frequently the way they so often do in marketing, where nearly constant change is ubiquitous. Family historians do need to keep abreast of newly-discovered historical records or existing physical records than have just become available to search online, and also have to deal with how to cite information contained in all of the new formats people use to communicate today, from TikTok to Reddit and beyond. There are, however, fundamental truths in marketing, and smart marketers owe it to themselves to learn the underlying principles of advertising. It's important to adhere to the use of industry standards such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the U.S., the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the E.U., and regulations including the Federal Trade Commission's "Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.” Adhering to your company's style and usage guide, as well as those of client organizations, is another similarity between marketing and genealogy. Take-Away: Know the laws in your area of marketing practice and adhere to the style and usage guidelines of the businesses you work with.

7 — Publish & Preserve For Posterity

Don’t allow your life’s work in marketing to fade away as social media platforms and apps come and go as the sands of time shift — which in social media time can happen in dangerously little time. Through the use of proper backup plans, digital asset management systems, publishing on a variety of media platforms owned by multiple companies, and submitting to digital archiving efforts such as those of The Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine, your marketing efforts don’t have to be relegated to the digital dustbin of Internet history. Take-Away: Preserving your marketing efforts makes future campaigns stronger, as you can easily consult and learn from your smartly-archived previous work.

8 — Spark Interest For Future Marketers

As we’ve explored, one of the advantages to looking back is the newfound insight we gain for successfully making the most of the future, and we can do a great service to future generations by sharing our insight with aspiring young marketers. If we can spark an interest by mentoring a younger colleague, client or associate — or even a family member — we'll contribute to a future of marketing that is more robust with your own personal knowledge passed along to the next generation. Two people ignited my love of genealogy back in 1994 — my grand-aunt Solveig and an older in-law, Ed. Solveig was the older sister of my grandmother Lilly, who is alive and well and living on her own in her own house at 103, and Solveig gave me a family history book written by a cousin in Norway in the 1950s. Ed shared with me his fascinating hand-drawn genealogy charts, and between the two of them I was inspired to set out entering all the information I could find — including everyone in that book — into my 1994-era genealogy database program. Take-Away: Inspire and mentor young marketing talent by imparting your own passion.

9 — Break Through With Hyper-Personal Relevance

One of the ah-ha moments in genealogy comes when a researcher suddenly realizes that their very own family history is vitally intertwined with a history that they hitherto only knew as something utterly distant and probably considered quite boring. When a family history researcher discovers a Civil War or Revolutionary Way ancestor, or one who overcame great obstacles of any type, history comes alive in a new and much more personal way. In marketing, unlocking a similar key comes by breaking through messaging that goes from boring-to-boring B2B to hyper-relevant personal digital storytelling with heaps of passion and purpose. We've made efforts to do that in our video interview series including Break Free B2B Marketing, and our new Inside Influence series — each episode featuring a leading B2B marketer who is making a difference. Make that vital connection that brings far-off dusty history or marketing alive with hyper-personal relevance, by learning as much as possible about your audience, and making efforts to connect personally with those who express interest in your campaigns. Take-Away: Create ah-ha marketing moments that make hyper-personalized connection through passionate storytelling and break free of boring B2B marketing.

10 — Peer Inside Your B2B Marketing DNA

Is there a marketing equivalent of DNA? DNA has helped expand interest in family history and its ability to help solve many types of genealogy questions, from “Who was my real father?” to “Where did my ancestors like 2,000 years ago?” While marketing doesn’t have scientific DNA, some similarities can be drawn between DNA and the early efforts into neuromarketing and other attempts to improve marketing through a greater understanding of how the brain works. Now fairly well-established, neuromarketing faces additional challenges as brands and marketers ask whether it’s worth shifting ad spend to, and the Harvard Business Review took a look at how consumer neuroscience is meeting those challenges head on. Take-Away: Keep tabs on neuromarketing and similar efforts to hone in on some of the universal truths that make for successful marketing.

Create Amazing Marketing To Make Your Ancestors Proud

via GIPHY We hope that our look at the lessons B2B marketers can learn from family history research has provided you with at least a few helpful tips to implement in your own amazing marketing efforts. One powerful way to combine many of these top marketing elements is by leveraging B2B influencer marketing, as we outline in our all new 2020 State of B2B Influencer Marketing Report, featuring insights from hundreds of marketers surveyed as well as expert analysis by the TopRank Marketing team and contributions from top B2B influencer marketing professionals from SAP, LinkedIn, AT&T Business, Adobe, Traackr, IBM, Dell, Cherwell Software, monday.com and more. Contact us today and find out why TopRank Marketing is the only B2B marketing agency offering influencer marketing as a top capability in Forrester’s “B2B Marketing Agencies, North America” report, and discover how we can help create award-winning marketing for you.

The post Your B2B Marketing Book of Life: 10 Inspiring B2B Marketing Tips From Family History appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Your B2B Marketing Book of Life: 10 Inspiring B2B Marketing Tips From Family History published first on yhttps://improfitninja.blogspot.com/

[histoiresdarchives-blog]

Call of papers pour un colloque international sur les féministes et leurs archives

Je relaye ici!

Les féministes et leurs archives (1968-2018).

Militantisme, mémoire et recherche

Colloque international bilingue (anglais-français)

Université d’Angers

Maison de la recherche Germaine Tillion

Lundi 26, mardi 27 et mercredi 28 mars 2018

APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS ici

Feminists and their Archives (1968-2018).

Advocacy, Memory and Research

International and bilingual symposium

University of Angers, Maison de la recherche Germaine Tillion

Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 March 2018

Call for papers 

The fiftieth anniversary of May and June 1968 will be the occasion for numerous commemorations of the event, but also more generally on the “1968 years”, bounded, according to Philippe Artières and Michelle Zancarini-Fournel by the two dates of 1962 and 1981. During that period, feminist movements in France and other occidental countries experienced a renewal through activism, intense cultural production and high visibility in the public sphere and the media. To write the history of such feminist mobilizations and to question their posterity, one needs to engage with the issue of archives, written and oral, private as well as institutional, collective as well as individual, preserved or destroyed. This symposium aims to initiate a wide-ranging reflection on the constitution, conservation and use of feminist archives and to promote an interdisciplinary and international dialogue. Proposals will focus in particular on the following four areas:

1. Political and material conditions for the preservation of archives

Very early on, feminists pointing out the absence of women from national narratives and academic history decided to make up for what Natalie Zemon Davis called “the patriarchal silences of the past”. Convinced that the marginalization of women in history directly contributed to women’s marginalization in the present, feminists elaborated other narratives of the past, turning the writing of history into a political issue and an important dimension of their struggle. Their aim was to offer representations of the past that were not only alternative but also competing with those commonly conveyed in society in order to act against the occultation of women and feminists. To do so, they shed a new light on existing sources and discovered many documents that had been ignored, while they also became aware of the need to constitute their own archives.

Thus, from the emergence of organized feminist movements during the second half of the 19th century, feminists began to seek out, collect and make available unpublished sources. They constituted Archival collections and some donated them to public institutions for the purpose of conservation and promotion. This is the case of Marguerite Durand who donated her collection, during her lifetime, to the City of Paris in 1931. The donation resulted in the creation of the library of women’s history and feminism (Marguerite Durand Library), which is at risk today. It is true that not all feminists have the same resources to develop and maintain archival material. Many groups disappear from history because of a lack of preserved traces, and the existing funds are often vulnerable to changes of context. Dependency on institutions can also lead to the risk of being dispossessed of their archives. For example, it is the likelihood that Cécile Brunschvicg’s archives would not be deposited in a specialized structure, due to a lack of space at the Marguerite Durand Library, that prompted the creation of the Association Archives of feminism and of the Center for Feminist Archives (CAF) in the University of Angers in 2000 and 2001. Recent works have also highlighted the importance of local archives allowing new perspectives on feminist movements.

A first axis of the symposium will focus on the material and political conditions for the creation of archives. What are the reasons for the creation of a feminist fund? What political and organizational opportunities favor such initiatives ? What is the profile of the actors creating and animating structures for the preservation of documents? What negotiations exist between activism and institutionalization?

2. Transformation of archives since 1968

The symposium examines in particular the period from 1968 to the present day. Indeed, the relationship to archives seems to have been transformed during the “1968 years”. The use of anonymity, the insistence on the collective, the refusal of institutions, the ephemeral nature of groups, or the continuity of political activity until today seem to have been obstacles to the creation of archival collections of feminist activity.

Moreover, from the 1970s on, drawing from a more general movement of reflexivity in the epistemology of  history and from a new interest in the “voiceless”, the collection of memories emerged as a necessity for writing women’s history, as for other socially dominated categories. The question therefore arises of the conservation and promotion of oral archives.

Finally, from the 1990s onwards, the advent of the digital age has renewed the question of the preservation of traces. The Internet is a formidable tool for disseminating knowledge on the history of feminism, but highlights the complexity and difficulty of preserving digital archives.

The second axis of the colloquium will thus consider the historical transformations of the relationship between feminists and their archives since 1968 and will raise the question of the evolution of the forms of archives themselves.

3. Archives and memories

Keeping tracks of past collective or individual actions is one of the conditions for the passage to posterity. Initiatives for the preservation and promotion of archives help shape feminist memories, offering the necessary grounds to build memory. Thus, depending on the resources available to individuals and collectives to preserve their archives and make them known, they do not have the same place in the narratives of the past.

This question is all the more topical today that feminists of the 1970s are coming to the end of their militant career and are led to interrogate, more than ever before, the material or immaterial traces they wish to transmit to future generations. In addition, archives also provide the new generations with the material from which they can sort out the “feminist heritage” they want to endorse.

The political nature of the constitution of the archival collections is therefore obvious. For example, in Paris, the Lesbian Archives Research Cultures (ARCL), which, since 1983, has been conserving and promoting the archives of lesbians, has reserved their consultation for women only. In doing so, they define a specific perimeter of memory.

The third axis of the colloquium will examine the relations between archives and memories. Are conservation projects, as the first step in the process of re-examining the past, abstract gestures or forged by rivalries and cooperative relationships between feminist movements? How do the ideologies and resources of collective groups and individuals shape the relationship with archives and thus feminist memories?

In addition, other uses of the archives can be evoked, especially in the domain of the arts  (plastic arts, literature, theater, performances …) or the media. Cinema, video and radio make use of archives, as well as exhibitions, not without sorting and selecting according to criteria that deserve reflection. What can we say, also of the highly sought-after feminist audiovisual and iconographic

resources? How can we analyse the commodification of feminist archives?

4. Research issues

Archives are at the heart of the scientific knowledge of the past. In France, the creation of the Center for Feminist Archives in the University of Angers owed a lot to the development of the academic history of women and feminism, and favored it in return. The work on archives therefore raises a number of epistemological questions. For example, how can we apprehend certain events or groups that have not left immediate traces? By encouraging the preservation or production of archives, do researchers contribute to create a bias in the way history is written ? How to deal with political conflicts modeling collections and possibly restricting access to archives? And what about the threat of self-censorship preventing from the donation of personal archives?

A final axis will therefore focus on the specificity of the archives relating to the history of feminism, in line with reflections on the specificity of the archives for the writing of women’s history.

The international dimension of the colloquium will not only allow new comparisons, but also the study of feminist actions and networks in the field of libraries, archives and the collection of testimonies (published, recorded, filmed).

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

You are invited to submit your proposal by December 1rst 2017 to pauline.boivineau@univ-angers.fr  in the following format (in French or English)

Title of intervention

Name, first name, status and institutional affiliation

E-mail address

Summary of 3000 signs max. presenting the main ideas and materials of the intervention.

Organizing Committee

Christine Bard, Université     d’Angers

Claire Blandin, Université     Paris 13

Pauline Boivineau, Université     d’Angers

Marion Charpenel, CSI     Mines-ParisTech

Hélène Fleckinger, Université     Paris 8

Alban Jacquemart, Université     Paris-Dauphine

Audrey Lasserre, Université     Catholique de Louvain / Actions Marie Curie

Sandrine Lévêque, Université     Lyon 2

Bibia Pavard, Université Paris     2

[abstruseness]

Canon MX492 Scanner Driver Download Normal Option for Contemporary Landscaping Artist

The Wedding photographer

David Anthony Hallway ideas his shots weeks, at times even years upfront. In order to capture the perfect shot, he visits locations numerous times to get just the right natural lighting conditions. To the self-professed nature devotee, using panoramic photos of arrestingly gorgeous scenery is hardly an difficult project. "Whenever you enjoy what you do, you'll never need to function each day in your lifetime." claims David. His images are large not only in dimensions but in the amount of content they are and express filled up with a enthusiasm he conveys so vividly together with this sort of wonderful depth.

Delivered in Dublin in 1969, he initially uncovered his passion for photography at school when he packaged a few of his father's aged disadvantages for the class undertaking. He qualified as being a image artist then researched photography at Dun Laoghaire University of Design and Art (now the Institution of Art). His first role was being a continue to lifestyle digital photographer after visiting United kingdom in 1990. He then create his very own industrial business in Western side London, uk in 1994. A few years in the future, soon after managing a profitable photographic firm, Photohall Ltd, he made a decision to focus on his own operate and passion like a landscape designer.

The Artwork

While using method of photography and big file format print out to capture his expansive character shots is undoubtedly a really particular route to adhere to. Yet mixed they merge properly; fusing impressive photography, printing and design methods smoothly to provide breathing using panoramic expression. David's images are hardly ever limited from a viewfinder. He shoots a series of pictures that he later draws collectively to capture the vista he desires to show. The absolute size of his job gives by itself to huge formatting printing at its very best. David's sells a graphic every year for charitable trust, a d 2.7m broad and 1.5m substantial called 'Autumn Light', was sold for charitable trust in 2009, rearing a wonderful £7500. The image was imprinted in the 12 colour Canon MX492. The earnings in which split among, Malignancy Analysis, McMillan Cancers Assistance and Bart's Medical facility East Wing, and committed to the memory of David's all-natural dad Antonio Senezio, who died of cancers in 2007. They have considering that generously donated numerous a lot more images to numerous charitable groups, which include PhotoVoice and Marie Curie Cancer Care. In The Year 2011 he presented a fantastic impression eligible 'Bluebell Woodland' which offered for £10,000 for your Children's Acute Carry Services Pet cats.

David creates around 12 done parts each year, frequently going to spots many times to draw out the proper picture. He will sometimes waitdays and weeks, or even months for the right lighting conditions. He usually takes into consideration the numerous trajectories from the direct sun light as the the planet orbits throughout the season, as well as lunar tidal rhythm to acquire the very best photo.

Using his Canon EOS-1Ds Label IIl, David shoots the images using lens which range from his preferred 50mm to your 100mm and even a 300mm. By using a range of spectacular methods he can capture a series of graphics that he later on weaves together in their electronic darkroom.

David makes use of an even more conventional procedure for his picture taking, since he could have as soon as with a motion picture digicam. Even though he considers a digital technologies have allowed professional photographers to speed up the method, also, he feels it produces a tendency to hurry the results. Appearance accomplishment is normally made the decision by what is uncovered inside the monitor and not just exactly what the digicam is capable of doing. For David the set up in the photo is as much an important component of the procedure, as being the digicam by itself. Reducing everything straight down, getting his time and creating 'breathing space' enables him to capture greater results. "You shouldn't speed taking photos: the key is taking, stopping and slowing your time. There's low self-esteem from the photographic sector making photographers believe that they need big digital cameras to become a far better professional photographer. But if you're not in the right spot at the right time it won't work, whichever digital camera you have! "

The Stamping

Till just recently David's partnership with Canon possessed never extensive over and above his usage of their video cameras. Following viewing the grade of his charitable trust item 'Autumn Light' created by the Canon representative Velmex Submission, David was very very happy to take shipping of his new printer a, 44" 12 colour Impression PROGRAF iPF8100, sizeable file format printer, immediately after the event. "What smacked me initially was only how calm the Canon was. My prior A1 gadget wasn't a Canon product or service; it had been extremely slow-moving and surprisingly loud".

Before using the Canon MX492, On account of the flexible the outdoors in the iPF8100 he or she is now able to produce a complete size cut of his printing (emulating a dark room fashion crop) so that you can match it at any point. "This alone is preserving me three times as much multimedia." He said. The reason why you could do is caused by an original Adobe plug-in that comes with the printer. "The Adobe plug-in is fantastic! It's very simple to quick, convenient and use. It gives me complete power over the colour production I create. It saves me a lot of press and i also don't ought to mess around with customized sizing, plus I could produce from Photoshop with no reason to resave records first."

The outcome is a reduce quality result, whilst the printer can create a higher quality impression. The Canon Photoshop connect-in can instantly change a 16 tad impression in Photoshop, to some 12 little interpolated picture for the printer, recording the maximum high quality accessible. The eye struggles to distinguish the visible difference between 12 little and 16 little, nevertheless in between an 8 little bit and 12 little bit result the visible difference, even going to the inexperienced eyes, is visible. "16 little offers superb gradation on my a few meter graphics, it will make a huge difference to my kind of operate. Now, from picture record to productivity I have the ability to printing at the highest quality. The visible difference is obvious if you ask me, specially in the sharpness of depth I recieve in blue skies or the details of greens, in which usually the 8 little variation can appear flat." The inspiration powering David's picture taking is to record the outdoors in their purest type.

The pictures are all picture in RAW formatting creating image styles any where from 150 super pixels to 200 mega pixels, creating a level of sharpness and depth vital when printing at this particular scale. Upwards of 4GB, having an 80GB hard-drive is invaluable, "Because the size of my files are so large. Before the file has completely downloaded, the files download straight to the printer freeing up my desktop and the printer will start to print even. The dual print out-heads offer you me fast publishing. Paper-heads are semi long lasting characteristics that don't will need swapping with each ink cartridge transform plus I will swap the print heads me personally. This gives me a cost preserving I'd not anticipated, and with no lower time. The printer ink cartridges can be bought in 300ml and 700ml tanks and can be hot swapped although the device is working, rendering it unbelievably versatile when printing my 3 metre images. The printer even offers a reserve tank which retailers printer to guarantee the produce is completed with out preventing. This prevents any likelihood of having a dried out line by way of the middle of a produce. Some thing you don't require when publishing about three meter images! "

These huge structure printers may be managed by simply the 'Canon MX492 Scanner Driver Download' something that David finds very helpful when working his printing careers. "In the past I would personally estimate my ink cartridge costs by work as I didn't have a similar degree of detail I have now with 'Job Manager'. I can entry it through any internet browser empowering me to discover the ink usage on every print. I can also check ink levels, which document I've loaded inside the printer as well as the length and width from the roll. I am just now in full control of my generating charges, something that I surely didn't have just before".

Archival work

This process David utilizes to complete his printing is 'Face Installation to Perspex'. This is a process where the done print out is sandwiched among some Dibond and Perspex or perhaps an Aluminium backing page. The latest analysis by Wilhem-Analysis.com implies that a colour print from your Canon 12 colour Appearance PROGRAF iPF6100*, on gloss media within Perspex substrate could give you a light-weight fastness of 176 several years. "This really is 101 yrs more than my prior printer could claim providing my buyers an increased archival worth."

[jamesmincey]

Why Hire a Data Entry Company? 9 Types of Documents to Archive

 More and more aspects of our lives are becoming digital. We get digital bank statements and bills; we can even file taxes online nowadays.

But many documents still require actual paper. And that’s where data entry companies can help!

Here at River City Data, we’re committed to making your life easier and your business document system more manageable. Contact us to find out how we can get those filing cabinets out of your office — and still preserve all your important data.

What is digital archiving?

Digital archiving simply refers to the process of transferring your data to the latest digital format so that you can access it easily. 

The best part? Since it’s digital, you don’t have to deal with storage rooms, filing cabinets, or misplaced folders.

You can digitally archive any paper documents your company uses. Archiving is especially helpful for medical companies or any businesses that deal with confidential information.

River City Data can also help you upgrade any existing digital archives you have. For example, years ago, people saved things to floppy disks. Those evolved to CDs, which became DVDs, which became flash drives.

Nowadays, most data is stored in the cloud. If you have any data stored in old technology formats that you can no longer access, it might be time to switch to cloud storage.

Storing your data and documents in the cloud has another benefit, too. If you want them to have access, employees can view any required documents from any computer with an internet connection. 

In the modern-day, with many people opting to work from home, this can be a significant benefit to your team.

So whether your current system is 100% paper documents or you need to upgrade existing digital data, archiving with River City Data is the way to go.

These Are The Documents You Should Be Archiving

You can archive any documents you want, but there are some types of documents that are frequently archived.

Medical Records: Due to strict HIPAA regulations, medical information must be kept confidential. Violations can lead to hefty fines or even the loss of a medical license. Digitally archiving medical records decreases the likeliness they’ll wind up in the wrong hands.

Client Lists: In some businesses, client lists may be very carefully guarded. Of course, competitors would find the list useful, but it may also violate your client’s privacy, even if it’s not legally protected information. Getting the client list out of the office and into the cloud is an easy way to protect it.

Tax Records: Tax paperwork contains important personal data, like social security numbers of employees. Identity thieves would love to get their hands on your employees’ information! Reduce the likeliness of that happening by moving this information to digital. It also makes it easy to share if you change accountants.

Contracts: It can be very convenient to have contracts easily searchable with a computer. They also often contain confidential information. It’s best to shred the original and archive them instead.

Receipts: Whether at home or in the office, scanning your receipts can keep you organized. It will be easy to find proof-of-purchase for tax or warranty purposes. And because they’re often not normal-sized pieces of paper, they can be especially tricky to keep track of if you try to file the paper versions.

Bills & Invoices: After you capture bills and invoices for accounting, you’ll still want to hang on to them for a while. Moving them to digital archives can make it easier to organize them and make them searchable later.

Canceled Checks: Thieves have long used canceled checks fraudulently to access money in a checking account. Canceled checks can also be odd-shaped, making them difficult to file in standard folders. Solve both problems by digitally archiving your canceled checks instead!

Personnel Files: Employers tend to gather a lot of personal information about employees: social security numbers, birthdates, and addresses, for example. This detailed information makes the employee files a goldmine for identity thieves. Protect your employees by archiving and shredding these documents — while also freeing up space in your files.

User Guides: If your business has any user guides for frequently-used machines or appliances, it can be convenient to move them to the cloud. Digital archiving your user guides ensures they don’t get misplaced and makes them easily shareable with new employees as needed. (This is also an excellent tip for at-home user guides!)

How Digital Archiving Works

There are several incremental steps in the archival process, but River City Data can help you along the way.

Prep: Before documents can be scanned, they need to be prepared. All staples, paperclips, and sticky notes must be removed. Torn or folded pages can also interfere with scanning. Any irregularly sized documents must be resized.

Scan: Each document must be scanned, which is the process of turning it into an electronic image.

Index: In order to make the documents searchable in the future, we tag each electronic image with indexing terms that are useful to your specific business.

Archive: Your documents will need to be stored long-term, and there are many different options for this. You might choose cloud storage, private local hard drives, or something else. We’ll work with you to figure out what’s best for you.

If you have a lot of documents, this process can take a while if you do it yourself. River City Data can handle high volumes of paper records, so the job gets done quickly.

Ready to get started?

Creating, managing, or upgrading your business’s digital archive can feel overwhelming. If you don’t have a large staff who can dedicate many hours to the task, or if you have a basic use scanner, it can be a costly job.

Instead, many businesses use data entry companies to manage this task for them. We can help you with the entire process, start to finish so that you can focus on your business. 

Contact River City Data to find out how we can streamline the archiving process for you.

source https://rivercitydata.com/why-hire-a-data-entry-company-9-types-of-documents-to-archive/ source https://rivercitydata.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-hire-data-entry-company-9-types-of.html