GILLIAN BROWNLEE JOINS VFP
Thanks to our funding from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), the VFP has now hired a Graduate Assistant to function as Project Manager, Ms. Gillian Brownlee.
Thanks to our funding from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), the VFP has now hired a Graduate Assistant to function as Project Manager, Ms. Gillian Brownlee.
A native of South Louisiana, Gillian grew up reading the early 20th-century travel books of Richard Halliburton, writing letters to Dr. Bob Brier about mummies, and in general developing a life-long love of things ancient and historical. After graduating from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, she moved to Texas, where she had been spending summers working on evacuation and preservation at the archaeological site Lubbock Lake Landmark. She completed her Master's Degree in Museum Science, Geoscience, and Biology from Texas Tech University, with plans to continue to the doctoral level once she could narrow down her subjects of interest a little more. She took a brief breather working at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, La., as a Library Technical Assistant, and added a love of Library Science to her passion for the conservation of artifacts.
During a meeting this past summer, she discovered the possibility of a new doctoral program offered jointly by LSU’s College of Design and the School of Library & Information Science. This fall she began her doctoral studies in the Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation program (with an emphasis in archival studies).
Summary of Lousiana News Coverage
The VFP received significant local press covered in July and August, 2019. Of particular note was a radio story distributed on the Louisiana Radio Network (including local NPR stations) and a feature article in The Advocate on August 19.
The VFP received significant local press covered in July and August, 2019. Of particular note was a radio story distributed on the Louisiana Radio Network (including local NPR stations) and a feature article in The Advocate on August 19. Citations with links to the coverage appear below:
Benoit, Edward, III. “Digital Reminders.” The Advocate, August 19, 2019.
Benoit, Edward, III. “Virtual Footlocker Aims to Digitally Preserve Photos, Videos, and Electronic Records of Time at War.” Louisiana Radio Network, July 2019.
VFP Receives IMLS Grant
BATON ROUGE – LSU School of Library & Information Science Assistant Professor Edward Benoit, III, PhD, recently received a $391,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Science, or IMLS, for the Virtual Footlocker Project, or VFP. This project was inspired by both Benoit’s personal experience as a veteran and as the son of a retired Air Force officer.
Press Release from LSU:
VIRTUAL FOOTLOCKER PROJECT PRESERVES VETERANS' MEMORIES DIGITALLY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2019
BATON ROUGE – LSU School of Library & Information Science Assistant Professor Edward Benoit, III, PhD, recently received a $391,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Science, or IMLS, for the Virtual Footlocker Project, or VFP. This project was inspired by both Benoit’s personal experience as a veteran and as the son of a retired Air Force officer.
Benoit inherited his father’s footlocker filled with letters, pictures, journals and other memorabilia.
“I began thinking about what items would mark my time in service and of current military personnel,” Benoit said.
For generations, airmen, sailors and soldiers documented their wartime experiences in personal diaries, photographs and correspondence. Veterans often kept those collections long after their service and handed them down to family members. Some items eventually make their way to museums. In archives, these treasured personal military service accounts serve a vital role in humanizing wartime sacrifices and experiences.
“With the shift towards digital technologies over the past 20 years, the contemporary 21st-century soldier no longer creates the same analog personal archives,” Benoit said. “That creates a critical future gap in the record.”
Having already completed research to determine how contemporary veterans and active duty personnel document their service, Benoit will use the IMLS funding to further investigate best practices and protocols for archivists assisting veterans and active duty personnel to preserve their personal digital archives.
To determine the best way to preserve veterans’ experiences for future generations, Benoit will conduct a series of focus groups, map technical requirements on existing standards, identify technical and policy-based challenges and propose a functional framework for protocol design. Using those findings, he will develop a series of workshops for archivists.
VFP has already received regional and national attention and accolades. The project received support from the United Service Organizations, Wounded Warrior Project, the Louisiana Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Louisiana National Guard Museum, the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project and the National WWII Museum.
Benoit, the Russell B. Long Professor in the School of Library & Information Science, received a LSU College of Human Sciences & Education Dean’s Circle grant in 2015 to conduct a preliminary study that explored how contemporary veterans and active duty personnel documented their time in service, the types of formats used and where they stored these documents, videos and images.
Benoit’s new award came from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which received 88 preliminary proposals requesting nearly $25 million. Thirty-seven finalists were invited to submit full proposals with the IMLS ultimately investing $8 million for the development of 24 projects.
“These grant recipients demonstrate the many ways that libraries are playing a central role in serving the diverse and unique needs of their communities,” said IMLS Director Kathryn K. Matthew. “Through programs serving veterans, inspiring lifelong learning and fostering the digital literacy skills necessary to thrive in today’s world, these funded grants will help communities all across the country flourish.”
ABOUT SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE
The School of Library and Information Science, or SLIS, awards the Master in Library and Information Science, or MLIS, degree and Graduate Certificates in Archival Studies, Records and Information Management and School Librarianship. SLIS also offers a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Library Science, undergraduate minors in Digital Studies and Library Science and a Communication-Intensive undergraduate general education course.
Visit https://www.lsu.edu/chse/slis/ for more information on the LSU School of Library & Information Science.
ABOUT CHSE
The College of Human Sciences & Education, or CHSE, is a nationally accredited division of LSU. The college is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development, the School of Library & Information Science, the School of Social Work and the University Laboratory School. These combined schools offer eight undergraduate degree programs, 18 graduate programs and seven online graduate degree and/or certificate programs, enrolling more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,120 graduate students. The college is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research and service and is committed to improving quality of life across the lifespan.
Visit https://lsu.edu/chse/ for more information on the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education.
-30-
Contact Alison Satake
LSU Media Relations
225-578-3870
Adrian Hirsch
LSU College of Human Sciences & Education
225-578-5110
More news and information can be found on LSU’s media center, www.lsu.edu/mediacenter.
Daily Reveille Article
LSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, highlighted the Virtual Footlocker Project as its cover story this week (written by Katie Gagilano). Here is an excerpt:
“In December, Benoit launched the first phase of his multi-year endeavor, the Virtual Footlocker Project, an application free to veterans and active-duty service members. The application will function similarly to a physical footlocker, encapsulating the digital memories of military men and women, Benoit said.
Image from Greta Jines
LSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, highlighted the Virtual Footlocker Project as its cover story this week (written by Katie Gagilano). Here is an excerpt:
“In December, Benoit launched the first phase of his multi-year endeavor, the Virtual Footlocker Project, an application free to veterans and active-duty service members. The application will function similarly to a physical footlocker, encapsulating the digital memories of military men and women, Benoit said.
The fleeting nature of digital communications lead Benoit to realize a developing critical gap in the records of service members from 2005 to 2015. Personal records and accounts previously held in letters, journals and photographs are being lost in the digital space, he said.
“We really have a problem now,” Benoit said. “Yes, there are still letters being written, and yes there are still photographs being taken, but we’ve moved into such a digital world now. That on one hand is amazing. But they’re relying on these third-party companies to maintain their materials.”
Key information can be lost when these third-party companies are consolidated or go out of business. Archivists and historians refer to this possible gap in information as the digital dark ages, Benoit said.”
LAUNCHING OF THE VIRTUAL FOOTLOCKER PROJECT
It all begins with an idea.
I am excited to officially announce the launching of my new research project, the Virtual Footlocker Project. In its entirety, the project focuses on the development of an open-source, cross-system platform system for capturing and preserving the personal communication and documentary record of the modern soldier.