2017-2018 “With an Eye to the Past: Minnesota History about People with Developmental Disabilities”
The purpose of this project is to add to the existing digital archive of Minnesota history about people with developmental disabilities (With An Eye to the Past). This project will add up to 750 documents such as personal papers, publications, historical films and legislative reports. Up to 20 interviews will be conducted with people with developmental disabilities, families and subject matter experts and added to the online digital archive.
$55,000 the first year is for a grant to the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities to enhance and enlarge the historical digital archives collection "With An Eye to the Past" for oral history interviews and document collection, production, consultation, transcription, closed captioning, Web site administration, and evaluation.
- The primary outcomes will be to report the number of visitors, the number of documents downloaded and the number of videos accessed or viewed.
- In federal fiscal year 2016, there were 393,982 documents downloaded and 4,188 videos accessed. There were 412,213 visitors during this same time period.
- Upon completion of this project, it is anticipated that there will be at least a 5% increase in each of these indicators. The goal will at least 414K documents downloaded; 4400 videos accessed and 433K visitors from July 1, 2018 when the project is completed to June 30, 2019.
- User testing will be completed and the updated With An Eye to the Past website section will be rated at 4.5 on a 5 point customer satisfaction scale.
- Documents:
- Worked with the US District Court in identifying hundreds of "Jensen v. DHS" documents that are now posted on the website feature.
- Worked with the Legislative Reference Library and Minnesota Historical Society in identifying mandated reports that are now posted.
- Worked with the Olmstead Implementation Office to link to hundreds of Olmstead documents.
- Worked with subject matter experts to identify and post assorted Olmstead documents.
- The State Legislative Summaries from the Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid group will continue to be posted and updated.
- Interviews:
- Worked with videographers to capture the kickoff of this project at the August 2017 Grand Opening of the remodeled State Capitol. This feature included taped speeches by Justin Smith and former US Senator David Durenberger.
- Worked with media consultants to personally interview 23 dedicated disability advocates. These interviews were edited, transcribed, closed captioned, and posted.
- Reach:
- Within the first 20 days of launch (June 6 - June 30, 2018), "With an Eye to the Future" received 5,110 visits and 5,461 views. By comparison with other Minnesota disability sites run by state agencies, these numbers indicate that our site is viewed roughly four times more often than other state disability-related websites. Monthly numbers will continue to be collected and analyzed.