Defining Digital Public Spaces Pam Ryan & Alex Carruthers 10/16/2014 Netspeed October 16, 2014
Defining Digital Public Spaces
Pam Ryan & Alex Carruthers
10/16/2014
Netspeed
October 16, 2014
Outline
• What is a digital public space?
• How’d we get here and where are we
going
• EPL Local Music Project with examples
from other sites
2
The Challenge
3
Digital Public Spaces Intern
4
• Engage in research and community consultation
to define Digital Public Spaces
• Determine potential roles for EPL
• Investigate, recommend, and help plan EPL’s
next steps in developing digital projects that
meet community-defined needs
• Investigate the role of EPL in supporting Open
Data initiatives
Business Plan Goals
5
Business Plan Goals
6
Digital Public Spaces
Trendspotting Report
7
Goals of the Report:
• To meaningfully define the term “digital public space”
for EPL
• To identify trends in the development or improvement
of digital public spaces in libraries or other cultural
institutions
• To investigate specific digital public space projects in
more detail, learning about their successes,
challenges and technical and administrative
infrastructure
• To recommend service directions for EPL
8
Research Methods
9
76%
10%
14%
Library Websites Reviewed (n=81)
Urban American Libraries
Non-urban American Libraries
Canadian Libraries
23Interviews with
librarians
20
36
Libraries
Programs and
services discussed
26Additional
projects profiled
Who’s talking about digital public spaces?
• BBC Archives with their new digital platform, The Space
• The Creative Exchange, public/private research institute for civic innovation
• FutureEverything publications
“A digital public space is a wholly collaborative web through which anyone, anywhere, anytime can
access, explore and create with digital content.”
10
Trends
11
Crowdsourcing
NYPL Labs What’s On the Menu?
• ~ 1,304,533 dishes transcribed from
17,389 menus since 2012
• Menus arereviewed
and mapped
12
CrowdsourcingSeattle Band Map
Maps the
relationships
between over
2000 bands
13
Livestreaming Video
14
Online Book Discussions
15
Local History Apps & Civic Hacking
16
Civic Hacking and Open Data
17
The Helsinki Metropolitan Library System
Most Wanted Books
Ari Hamara
Data visualization
installation at the Seattle
Public Library George
Legrady
EPL’s Digital Public Space
Demonstration Project
18
Local Music Project
• Crowdsourcing project
• Appeals to an identifiable but non-exclusive community
• Other libraries are experimenting with similar ideas
• Other Edmonton groups and institutions have expressed interest in projects on the same theme
• How will we find out what the community is interested in?
19
20
• Unconference
• Planned with Populus Community Planning
• March 22, 2014
What is an unconference?
21
SOMETHING
NEW!
SOMETHING
NEW!
Why did we choose to host one?
EVOLVE OUR DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
22
OBJECTIVE 1:
EPL HAS DEFINED AND CREATED A DIGITAL
PUBLIC SPACE IN COLLABORATION WITH
COMMUNITY AND PARTNERS. DIGITAL
ONLINE SPACES ARE INTENDED TO
PROVIDE A VENUE FOR SHARING THE BEST
THAT EDMONTON HAS TO OFFER.
• Host a major event to engage Edmontonians in
developing digital public spaces and to inspire
demonstration projects
(2014)
23
How did we plan one?
The day itself:
World Cafe
24
The day itself:
Open Space Technology
25
What information were we able to draw from YEG BandCamp?
26
27
Celebrity
playlists – what
does Don Iveson
listen to?
Encourage
feedback,
but avoid
just being a
forum
Multigenerational
collaboration
Lots of tags – bands can tag
and users can too
Representation
of diversity
Contemporary Local Music Collection
28
• Edmonton music from the last
5 years
• Selected by small committee
of interested local music fans
• 100 new contributions a year
• Music available for download
and streaming
• Create playlists to stream,
save and share
• Direct traffic to options to
purchase content
• yaharamusic.org
Local Music History Archive• Crowdsourced
audio, video, images and stories related to local music history
• For streaming and download when relevant
• Audio content included in playlist tool
• History preserved and made accessible
• gdao.org
29
Transcription Tool• Digitized local
concert posters
• Posters contain info on who performed where, when and with who can – they show us local music history through time and space
• Posters offered to us from Union Events, Steve Derpak, Parker Thiessen, ‘Fat Dave’ Johnston and Beverley Jackson
• menus.nypl.org
30
Database
• Metadata from all three tools in one spot
• Accessible via API for the public to create visualizations, tools and games
• dp.la/apps
31
What We’re Working On Now
32
Questions
33