1. Team updates
The Design team has been working on a front page for our public site. It will be handed over to the Development Team for implementation once the design work is completed. Karen Green, Chair of Design Team, showed the group a Power Point mock-up of the intended wire frame. The overall design in progress was well received. The major question raised concerned the color palette for the historic map. This had been altered to conform with logo and other page colors. The suggestion was made that the Design Team consider returning to the original color palette of the map and draw a key color from that for use in the color scheme of the logo.
2. Common thread in exhibits
We are all in agreement that the foundational phase of each contributor’’s chosen site or institution will be somehow covered or accounted for in each exhibit. Each exhibit can go on to focus on other aspects of the site or institution, as appropriate, but the foundational phase needs to be covered, since the site is about Morningside history and the development of the neighborhood. The date span covered by exhibits on the site will range from 1821 (for the earliest building, Bloomingdale Asylum) to 1950; but this does not mean that the site as a whole will provide an account of Morningside history for that entire time range. Each contributor will choose a meaningful time span to cover for her/his chosen site or institution.
3.Timeline to Initial Launch
It was agreed that launch date for public site should be extended to Monday, February 2, 2015. This is because Courseworks research guides need to be recreated in the LibGuides program by mid January.
ACTION ITEM: Each team member should block off on his/her calendar two full days to devote to his/her exhibit in January before Spring Semester begins.
4. Meeting schedule after public launch of site
Should we modify meeting schedule after initial launch? It was agreed that for now we should leave the schedule as is. After initial launch, we should move on to phase two and focus on learning new skills that would enable us to add new aspects or dimensions to the site, for example, Neatline. We will involve our new Humanities Research Librarian and our new Spring Semester Intern in phase two of the site.
ACTION ITEM: Each team member should send Barbara a list of skills they would like to learn that would be relevant to a phase two of the MHDH site.
5. Questions regarding exhibits. An open forum.
The requirement that the eight required items supporting each exhibit be open access is presenting a quandary. We are in agreement that printed items published prior to 1923 can, under most ordinary circumstances, be scanned, uploaded, and made available openly online. But what about items from that timeframe that we access in microfilm? What about items from that timeframe that have been made available by vendors in PDF format in commercial databases? A dialogue regarding this latter question has already been initiated with one of our vendors by Bob Scott. One of our exhibits, furthermore, would require the use of materials from outside of the pre-1923 timeframe–since it focuses on Riverside Church, which was built in 1930. Rina Pantalony, the new Director the the Copyright Advisory Office will meet with us at the start of our next H&H meeting. Barbara will email to her our questions in advance so we can hear what she advises.
