The questions of sustainability and access are crucial for\nany content-driven digital project in the 21st<\/sup> century. They are\nalso some of the most difficult questions to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was toward the end of two long but fruitful days that we\nsat down to listen to and discuss several presentations on these two topics.\nOur moderator was Sybil Huskey, and our panelists were (in order of\npresentation) myself, Libby Smigel, Lane Czaplinski and Susan McGreevy-Nichols.\nThis particular combination of presenters reflected a wide range of experience\nand perspectives. As such, rather than simply reporting the events of the session\nas they happened, I have briefly summarized each presentation and identified key\npoints that were raised by various members of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sybil began the discussion by establishing a definition of sustainability and access. There are, of course, many aspects of access, and it is important to note that our session did not focus on access as it specifically pertains to ADA regulations, nor to open access of software, e.g., the shared development of code. She defined these various types of access and focused our conversation on several main objectives. A selection of these definitions and objectives included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Sybil\u2019s opening, my presentation focused on how\nsustainability is often where a digital project fails. Several factors are\nresponsible for this, including the omission of sustainability considerations\nin initial project planning, a frequent reliance on limited-term funding, and the\nchallenge of building audience use and demand. In light of these factors, I\noffered two suggestions: 1) to no longer think of sustainability as making\nsomething \u201cin perpetuity,\u201d and 2) to refresh content and interface in order to maintain\nrelevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Libby followed up with a perspective formed by years of\nworking with non-profit organizations. She suggested focusing on building\neffective partnerships with organizations that have good user networks, as they\nare in touch with what content the general public is interested in. Other\nimportant points included (1) rethinking accessibility in terms of technology, (2)\nfinding ways to measure the impact of digital dance repositories on community, and\n(3) learning to discuss uncomfortable collections, such as those that preserve\nart that has drawn on racial stereotypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the third presentation, Lane focused on the value of\nvideo as a primary form of performance documentation for the future and the\nneed for sustainable ways to create access to this documentation. For OnTheBoards.tv<\/em>,\nwhich he founded, Lane\u2019s strategy was to take an off-the-shelf mentality to\nstarting up their services instead of developing bespoke solutions. He also\nexpressed a particular interest in bringing attention to marginalized\npopulations, specifically artists whose work or stories are not often given\nexposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Susan wrapped up the session by showcasing the Online Professional Development Institute (OPDI) developed by the National Dance Educator\u2019s Organization. The OPDI could prove useful to the Dancing Digital Project as it distributes content to users who might not normally be able to access it. Pairing OPDI courses with new content from Dancing Digital could also help build enthusiasm for the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the presentations, the panel opened discussion to the\nother attendees. Some key points that were raised during this discussion were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the beginning, the Dancing Digital team knew that\nsustainability and access were going to be complicated. This symposium session\nclarified the complexity of sustainability as an issue and brought to light ideas\nthat we, as a group, may not have previously considered. Although there were no\nclear answers as to how to guarantee a steady stream of funding or increase the\nuser base, the additional issues raised in this session continue to help inform\nthe team\u2019s approach. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"