Frequently Asked Questions

Early users of The HistoryMakers Digital Archive have asked a number of questions. Here are those questions and answers, i.e., a frequently asked questions (FAQ) list to help you make better use of the Digital HelpArchive.

Is there more data?

Yes, there are thousands of interviews, and the Digital Archive only showcases 310 as of September 2010 (although this number will grow). The HistoryMakers currently holds many more interviews that those being tested within the "Digital Archive" in 2010. For details on The HistoryMakers current status, visit The HistoryMakers home page. Please visit back to The HistoryMakers Digital Archive in order to check current status.

How does one register?

You must be registered in order to use The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. You must also be using a supported web browser with cookies enabled for this site, as cookies are used to note that you are a registered user. You must have JavaScript enabled for this site, because JavaScript is used to check what browser you are using, to embed the Flash application in the web page at full 100% size, and to support better browser navigation and bookmarking (via the open source projects SWFObject, SWFAddress, and swffit). If you meet these prerequisites, you should be able to see a link "Not registered yet?" on the login screen that greets you when you first access The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. This link takes you to The HistoryMakers Digital Archive New User Registration. You must provide a valid email address, as email will be sent to the address you provide that you need to read and follow a link from in order to complete the registration. Your password must be at least seven characters long.

Why do I need to provide a valid email address to register?

This registration process guarantees that people with an email contact are using the archive. While captchas and other techniques could be used to guarantee that people rather than automated programs are trying to register, The HistoryMakers was interested in having the email contact during this beta test run, in exchange for opening up access to the Digital Archive. The process requires that you take action on an email sent from auto-reply@idvl.org, which may require you check your spam or junk email folder depending on the strictness of your your email filtering.

What about my privacy?

Registration is done with https and secure communication channels. Please see The HistoryMakers Digital Archive Privacy Policy.

What are the terms and conditions of use?

Please see The HistoryMakers Digital Archive Terms and Conditions.

Is there help on using the Digital Archive?

Please see The HistoryMakers Digital Archive Video Tutorials for some examples of use.

Are there any publications about the Digital Archive?

Please see The HistoryMakers Digital Archive Foundation Work for further background on the project, including giving credit for our NSF sponsorship.

Who makes this work possible (acknowledgements)?

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant No. IIS-0705491, research project "III-CXT: Enhancing Digital Video Libraries through the Evaluation and Transition of Automated Techniques for Visual Processing, Indexing and Access." It builds from Carnegie Mellon University Informedia Research that received funding from a number of sources over the years. The first collaboration between The HistoryMakers and Informedia was made possible through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, IMLS Grant LG-03-03-0048-03. The online web Digital Archive benefited greatly from a workshop held at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) under the direction of Randforce Associates, in the UB Technology Incubator. This workshop started off a multi-year beta test of a stand-alone .NET oral history interface with the University of Illinois, Drexel University, Carnegie Mellon University, and others. Randforce Associates, led by Michael Frisch, in 2009 contributed to the development of the inferential indexing framework supporting the "Search Tags" capability in The HistoryMakers Digital Archive.

Why www.idvl.org?

The NSF sponsored work is attempting to create tools and interfaces for digital video libraries using Informedia technology: hence "idvl" for Informedia digital video library" with The HistoryMakers Digital Archive as the archetype for the enhanced accessibility offered through synchronized metadata and full transcript search.

How can I contact someone regarding the archive?

Within the introductory page of The HistoryMakers Digital Archive, there is a Comments button. Please use it to comment on the interface and archive. Should you have other questions or concerns about the Digital Archive, you can also send us an email to the following contact address (but we cannot guarantee a timely response due to limited staffing; our hope is to keep updating this FAQ to address the most common queries):

info@thehistorymakers.com

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