DLF Project Managers: Smithsonian Transcription Center's Agile Approach to Program & Community Mgmt.
Channel: CLIRDLF
Date: 2021-07-09

Created in 2013, the Transcription Center (TC) features digitized historical collections from across the Smithsonian’s museums, and invites the public to help us in making these materials more accessible, readable,  and findable through collaborative transcription and review. Thanks to the hard work of colleagues from across the Institution and over 50,000 worldwide digital volunteers, more than 850,000 pages of diaries, field notes, ephemera, scientific specimen cards, and more have been fully transcribed. Management of the Transcription Center’s internal and external communities, web platform, digital projects, technical development, and outreach initiatives is led by two full-time staff members- the TC Program Coordinator and TC Community Coordinator, alongside one external developer. Through agile project management, strategic campaigns, and a focus on adaptability, the TC team successfully sustains and furthers platform engagement. This presentation will explore the TC staff’s approach to program and community management and the ways in which strategic initiatives have evolved to meet the needs of new users during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.

Caitlin Haynes is the Program Coordinator for the Smithsonian Transcription Center, where she collaborates with staff around the Smithsonian and worldwide digital volunteers to improve accessibility to the Smithsonian’s digitized historic collections. Caitlin holds an MA in U.S. History, with a special emphasis on the 19th century South, and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland, College Park; as well as a BA in History and Anthropology from Emory University.

Learn more about DLF's Project Managers Group: https://www.diglib.org/groups/pmg/

Recording transcript: https://www.diglib.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/07/DLF-Project-Managers-Group_otter.ai_.docx