Sharing our Knowledge
Part 10: Our Internet Presence

Sharing our Knowledge is a series of articles about the Historian Archives Project and how you can become involved.

The more I think about the Historian Archives project, the more I realize that our Internet presence is key to making the project work. How do we find people interested in helping? How do we find people with knowledge or expertise to share?

Get the Word Out

We use the Newsletter and the Web site to get the word out, just as we always have.

• The Newsletter targets our existing membership, many of whom make very little use of computers or Web sites.
• The Web site is available to our existing membership, but is our primary means of reaching potential members, and particularly the younger generation.

Show Interesting Results

Our Web site allows us to do far more than tell about what we plan to do. We can show things are actually happening!

Even though they are not a direct part of the Historian Archives project, we can and should enhance our online presence with the following:

• Photo albums and slide shows – family reunion photos, historic photos, other items of Association interest
• A message board, allowing people to immediately begin interacting with the Association, post Historian queries, discuss the upcoming Reunion, and so on
• Begin a Digital Library, demonstrating the value of what we’re after
• Make some sort of information available on CD and instant download as soon as we can
• Various colorful charts and diagrams. They are easy to generate, and can show such things as our relationship to Notable Relatives
• Essays and excerpts from our published material

These “interesting results” are key to getting the Historian Archives project off the ground in the first place! An interesting project already in progress is far more attractive.

A second key, after showing interesting artifacts, is to show early results from the Historian Archives project. The more essays, manuscripts, and historical information that we can show online, or as available for purchase, the more we gain momentum and additional interest.

Please share your ideas!

• Click Here to visit the project message board
• Click Here for the complete list of articles
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