Grindle Point Lighthouse
TEAM ISLESBORO’S PROCESS
From the start, Islesboro stressed student participation and community involvement.
We held a community-wide meeting in August 2008 to ascertain which exhibit topics we should focus on. We felt that the topics needed to be specific to Islesboro and tied with current events (a link between past and present). This meeting consisted of representatives from the Islesboro Historical Society, the Alice L. Pendleton Library, teachers, students, and community members.
We chose five broad categories: Education, Recreation, Land Use, Transportation, and Settlements. Within those five broad categories, many topics came up. We then chose one exhibit topic within each category; Schools (Education), Summer Resorts (Recreation), Businesses/Cottage Industries (Land Use), Water Transportation (Transportation), and Early Settlements (Settlements).
Students from the Islesboro Central School United States History class (fifteen total) were divided into five groups (one group for each exhibit topic) and assigned an exhibit topic. They were given a tour of the historical society and shown the archives and collections storage areas. The students were also given a brief lesson in museum practices, such as how to handle artifacts properly and how to photograph objects without causing damage.
The student groups then researched their exhibit topic, searched the Islesboro Historical Society computer data base for archives and artifacts relating to their topic, found the items in the collections storage, filled out an information sheet on each item (including a defense for why they thought this item should be included in this project), and digitized (either scanned of photographed) the twenty items they selected for their topic (five groups selected twenty items each, totaling 100 items for the entire project).
The 100 Digitized Items were uploaded onto the Maine Memory Network by team members.
Five students from the US History class volunteered to fill in the catalogue records for each item (each student was assigned an exhibit topic to focus on, so each student catalogued approximately twenty items). The information was then uploaded onto the Maine Memory Network.
Community members representing the three Islesboro Team partners (historical society, school, and library) wrote the text for the five on-line exhibits. That text was uploaded onto the Maine Memory Network. Team members then selected corresponding uploaded images from the Islesboro Historical Society to create the Five On-line Exhibits.
A team member worked with an Islesboro Central School high school senior to write the Narrative/Historical Overview about Islesboro’s history. They selected from the 100 uploaded items to illustrate the narrative.
Team members created the Islesboro Maine Memory Website that illustrates a year's worth of community collaboration and showcases Islesboro's rich history.
Representatives from the three team partners (historical society, library, and school) brainstormed about resources in our community to create a Community Resources Inventory for our Website. The information was compiled by a library trustee and a student.
Our Community Celebration took place on Thursday, June 4th at Islesboro Central School. Students gave presentations on their roles in the project, and demonstrated the Islesboro Maine Memory Website. Another celebration took place at the Islesboro Historical Society Thursday, July 26th.
IHS Archivist Bunny Logan
The Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP), a partnership between the Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library, is an innovative program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies, and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. The MCHP grows out of the Maine Memory Network, the Maine Historical Society’s nationally recognized statewide digital museum. The Maine Memory Network features a constantly growing online collection of more than 15,000 historical items contributed by over 200 historical organizations around Maine; nearly 100 online exhibits that explore a diverse range of themes and topics in Maine history; lesson plans; a gallery of student history projects; online tools that allow site visitors to create and share their own albums; and much more. This project is supported by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
