City of Memory - Web Review

City of Memory

http://www.cityofmemory.org/map/index.php

Created and is maintained maintained by City Lore. Reviewed June to November 2009.

"In life, it's always seemed to me that the true gift that each of us is given is consciousness. Our quest is to use that consciousness to create meaning."¹

^{Created and maintained by City Lore, the City of Memory website encourages a spatial understanding of New York City and empowers the public to take ownership over the historical significance of their own community. When City Lore began the project in 2001, City of Memory was simply a twenty-foot long map of New York City on which New Yorkers could write their memories and stories. With the help of funding by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Rockefeller Foundation, City Lore took their project to the web and launched the official City of Memory website in 2009.}

^{Content: Content of the site is both user-generated and supplied by City Lore curators. Assessing the scholarship of the website is a challenge because of the user-generated content of the site. The vetting process for such content is negligible and can lead to an imbalance of stories in various boroughs (Manhattan receiving the most user-generated content). The strength of this type of content, however, is the fact that the public is the ultimate creator and owner of New York’s history. The City Lore curated content rests on a stronger academic foundation. A number of the curated stories are actually excerpts from local PBS programs, while most of the curated stories were produced by City Lore.}

^{Form: Overall, the site was very easy to navigate. When the site initially loads, a pop-up box provides a site introduction. Memories can be accessed in two ways. The user can search the map for memories in specific locations or users can also browse the "story directory" which provide a small text excerpt about the story.}

^{Audience/Use: City Lore states that the general public is the beneficiary of the site. The website is free to access and any user can contribute content as long as the memories are confined to New York City. Yet, City Lore excludes an important population from their project: those without internet access. This excludes a wide section of the public most notably those with limited resources.}

^{New Media: The strength of this website is its presence on the web. The digital version of this project allows for greater multimedia mediums including text, video and sound. Also, the map framework highlights how interconnected people in a city can be while allowing freedom of exploration. City of Memory does not present memories in any sequential order and users can “travel” throughout the city jumping between neighborhoods at whim or participating in a themed tour focusing on culture, ethnicity, and even recreational activities.}

^{Even with its usability and accessibility shortcomings, City of Memory is successful at present a personalized account of New York City culture and history. The site attempts to give importance to the everyday happenings allowing for a re-imagining and democratizing of New York City history.}

^Notes:

^{1 Steve Zeitlin, "City of Memory", Voices, vol. 34 (2008). Steve Zeitlin is the founding director of City Lore, a New York City based non-profit organization which attempts to preserve the cultural heritage of New York City.}