UCLA Library to launch project cataloging all forms of social media involving Arab Spring
INTERNATIONAL DIGITIZING EPHEMERA PROJECT
The UCLA Library recently received a $3.4 million grant to be used to fund a new project to digitally document the Arab Spring. The goals of the project are below:
"¢bull; Compile all relevant forms of social media and photographs involving the Arab Spring
"¢bull; Collect data from verified sources, such as the Twitter accounts of journalists in the Middle East
"¢bull; Partner with various institutes around the globe, including the National Library of Israel, to catalog the acquired data
"¢bull; Expand the project through partnerships with more institutions to allow data to be collected more efficiently through the technology UCLA provides
SOURCE: UCLA Library
Compiled by Naheed Rajwani, Bruin senior staff.
By Hirbohd Hedayat
March 19, 2012 10:38 a.m.
Scholars have begun to turn to social media as a source of data as sites such as Facebook and Twitter play an increasingly pivotal role in historical events like the Arab Spring.
To aid with such research, the UCLA Library announced last month a new project aimed at recording and cataloging all relevant forms of social media and photographs involving the Arab Spring, a wave of protests and demonstrations that have swept through the Middle East and North Africa over the past year.
The project, called the International Digitizing Ephemera Project, will work with a system used by search engines like Google and Bing to find and capture relevant information on Web pages.
“The shelf life of these materials is not very long, so it is important that we start our work while the events are taking place, enabling us to have a greater database available to us,” said Todd Grappone, associate university librarian for Digital Initiatives and Information Technology at UCLA.
Data will be collected from verified sources, such as the Twitter accounts of journalists in the region, and stored according to their content and subject matter.
In order to make the project move at a quicker pace, the library is collaborating with the National Library of Israel, Grappone said. Partnering with various institutes around the globe makes it easier for digital data to be cataloged, he added.
“UCLA is an international institute, and we are focused on projects that (build) stronger bonds with the international community,” said Sharon Farb, associate university librarian for Collection Management and Scholarly Communication.
With time, more partner institutions will be added to the project, allowing data to be collected more efficiently through the technology UCLA provides, Farb said.
All of the data will be made available as a UCLA website to give researchers access to the information in a centralized location, Farb added.
The program is largely funded by a $3.4 million donation from the Arcadia Fund, an organization that supports preservation and digitization projects. Libraries apply for grants from the fund and receive money based on the scope of their work.
“Considering the richness of material, the (Digitizing Ephemera) project is a value for scholars and has great implications for the future,” said Christine Borgman, presidential chair and professor of information studies. “Tweets and Facebook posts will begin to play an important role in the future of scholarship, and the aim of the project is to make sure the data is collected in one location for scholars to have easy access to material.”
Projects like this are important for scholarship, she said, because they reflect a trend toward the use of digital media as a means of research for current affairs in the Middle East.
The project does not have an official start date yet, Grappone said. The project is currently in its planning phase, he added.
