Contract for CRHC Project

CRHC Project Contract 

 

Mission Statement: 

For this project, we plan to develop an improved online presence for the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center (CRHC) using social media as a form of community outreach, including improving information about the physical location of the CRHC. We will create a collaborative site using Omeka that will allow members of the public to provide identification of photographs in the CRHC’s digital collections. To do this, we will digitize a selection of the CRHC’s collection and upload them online using Omeka’s metadata features. Additionally, we will create the beginnings of a social media presence for them on Instagram and Facebookgram and Facebook, posting a few pieces of content to get them started. We will also write an informative user guide for how to use these sources for CRHC volunteers, so volunteers will have the knowledge to use these digital tools after this semester. The project will be preserved by handing over permissions to Dr. McClurken at the conclusion of the semester and will be hosted on umwhistory.org. Our advertisement for the project is built into our social media campaign, but we will also post flyers around campus to boost engagement with university students. Ultimately, our goal is to give the Center a jumping-off point for their future needs; while ensuring we remain within our one-semester constraints. 

Audience:  

Our audience is not only the CRHC board, but also the greater Fredericksburg area. We want to engage multiple generations of visitors and ensure the Center is getting the visibility it desires. The goal is to encourage younger audiences to learn more about the center while appealing to donors with our feature exhibition. 

Tools We Are Using: 

• Omeka site hosted on umwhistory.org 

• Theme: Foundation or Big Picture 

• We want to make sure it’s accessible and easy on the eyes, nothing too complicated. 

• Because our main priority with the website is creating an exhibit that hosts the photos in the CRHC archive, we want a theme that can display the photos in a way that is easily navigable and aesthetically pleasing.  

• Proposed slug: crhc.umwhistory.org 

• Content Area: 

• Homepage: Landing page for visitors  

• About Us: A page with descriptions of us and our contributions to the project. 

• About Them: A page about the CRHC, what they do, and what visitors can gain from their collection. 

• This is where a link to their social media (our campaign) will be.  

• Browse Items: Page hosting pictures/collection with commenting capabilities for community users. The exact scope of the images will be determined after Grayson and Hannah’s meeting at the CRHC next Wednesday. 

• Image qualities to look for: images with visible people or locations, images that have some context (known donor, a part of an existing collection [family, location, event, etc.], known time period or date), within last 100 years but not all from one particular era. 

• Featured Exhibit: Information about the pictures in a more detailed and curated manner, contextualizing the choice to create the collections page 

• CRHC Instagram/Facebook to help them gain engagement 

• Using platforms like Instagram and Facebook will help boost engagement with the CRHC and the materials they have at the center with a broader audience. Creating and establishing an Instagram presence will help them to reach a younger audience, while Facebook is a platform they already have established, and will help engage the regular visitors. 

• Canva for social media posts/outreach  

• Creating posts for the CRHC Instagram and Facebook 

• Editing videos for the CRHC website, Instagram, and Facebook 

• These videos will be hosted in their respective repositories (website, Instagram, Facebook) and will be edited using Canva software to add subtitles, audio descriptions, and other accessibility features.  

• Legacy Page hosted on historylegacy.umwhistory.org 

• Archives from Central Rappahannock Heritage Center 

• We will source photos from the archives at the center to host on the Omeka site, and the size and scope will be determined following our meeting with CRHC partners. 

• Google Drive with an associated Google account to host all content materials that will be handed over to Dr. McClurken at the end of the semester. 

 

 

Schedule of Milestones:  

 

Everything in bold are class-official deadlines. 

 

Week 6 

• Project Contract due Tuesday Feb 17th, at the end of day 

• Video due on Friday, Feb 20th – create video on Thursday, Feb 19th, after class 

• Get microphones from DKC to enhance user experience and avoid a “hostage” video 

• Email Angie Kemp about Omeka organization 

Week 7 

• Revised Contracts due Tuesday, Feb 24th 

• Prep for 8-minute presentation 

• Creation of Omeka site and initial formatting (pages, theme, etc.) 

• Begin working on basic organization for digitized photographs 

• Feb 25th – Grayson go to CRHC to schedule future visits/gather sources for website 

• Feb 26th – 8-minute presentation 

Spring Break Week – rest and relax! 

 

Week 8 

• Continue working on the website – metadata, about page, further exhibit development 

• Prioritize digitization and uploading of exhibit materials, start brainstorming content for the exhibit 

• Prep for 3-minute presentation 

• Note: Caty won’t be here on Tuesday, March 10th 

• Mar 12th – 3-minute presentation 

• March 14th – potential group visit to CRHC during open hours (10-1) 

Week 9 

• Tuesday, March 17th – Begin building social media presence 

• Make an Instagram account/get Facebook login 

• Start by posting general information about the center 

• Videos showing how to find the CRHC entrance/what it’s like in the archives 

• We will consult with project partners to ensure they are on board with our choices 

• Continue building out Omeka site – ensuring metadata is formatted, and the collections are organized. 

• Continue with digitization 

Week 10 

• March 24th – 8-minute presentation 

• Keep working on the Omeka site and social media presence 

• Begin working on user guides for social media turnover 

• Practice for 10-minute progress report 

Week 11 

• April 2nd – 10-Minute Progress Report 

• March 31st – have Omeka site/exhibit done  

• Begin working on the Legacy Page, making sure the project is ready for turnover 

Week 12 

• April 9th – Project due before start of class 

• Finalize anything that needs to be done last minute 

• Final look-through for accessibility  

• See the Miscellaneous Section at the bottom of the contract for more details on how this will be done throughout the project. 

Week 13 

• April 16th – Present 1-page summaries and Legacy Pages 

• Turn over social media with user guides to project partners  

• Work on Project Reflection and Symposium Presentation 

• Practice presentation for Symposium! 

Week 14 

• April 21st – Final Revisions Due 

• April 23rd – Project Reflection due 

• April 24th – History/AMST/Sociology Symposium Presentation 

 

 

Division of Labor: 

• Everyone will work on metadata review and creation, Grayson and Caitlin will be primary leads on this. 

 

Caty:  

• Point of contact for: 

• Communication between the Center and Group 

• Social media 

• Accessibility 

• Project Contract 

• Secondary point of contact for:  

• Website design 

• About Us pages 

• Digitization  

Grayson:  

• Primary Writer of Legacy Page 

• Secondary point of contact for:  

• Social media and 

• Accessibility 

• Metadata 

Hannah:  

• Point of contact for: overall design and organization of website 

• About Us pages overseer 

• Secondary point of contact: 

• Digitization  

• Social media  

• Summary/Legacy Page 

Caitlin: 

• Point of contact for: 

• Digitization 

• File Upload  

• Secondary point of contact 

•  Website design 

•  

Miscellaneous:  

• Accessibility: 

• Accessibility will be a continuous effort at every step of the project. Towards the end of the semester, we will do a final run-through.  

• We will check this with accessibility plug-ins as advised by DKC supervisors and reach out to Angie Kemp for help if needed. 

• We will use WAVE to check as well. 

• Easy navigability of Omeka site 

• Legible fonts and font sizes 

• Color contrast 

• Photos clearly displayed  

• Metadata that clearly describes the photos on the site 

• Social Media 

• Captions and audio descriptions on all videos 

• Alt text for photo and video posts  

• Descriptive captions  

• Dr. McClurken will be given the logins for the Omeka site and Google Drive to preserve the files collected for the project 

• Guides will be handed down to CRHC members and volunteers to maintain the social media presence 

• Grayson and Hannah will write the summary page for historylegacy.umwhistory.org  

• We will not be using generative AI in any way as part of this project, as it is not necessary. The goal is to make this as easy as possible for visitors to navigate, and for center volunteers to understand, and AI will complicate that.