Meet the Blogger: Carla Bruni of “The Green Preservationist”

Carla Bruni is an historic preservationist, architectural historian, soon-to-be energy rater, and neurotic volunteer, and in this Heritage Blogger profile, she discusses how she combines her passions to create a hospitable environment to discuss preservation-related ideas in her blog, The Green Preservationist. Carla hopes to bridge the gap between historic preservationists and green building advocates…one [...]

Create your own heritage-themed social network in minutes with Ning

Sometimes the needs of a heritage group extend beyond the simple need to convey information. Blogs and Facebook fan pages allow limited interactivity. But for groups whose members are intensely passionate about a topic, a free social networking site like Ning could be the way to go.

Podcast: Dale Jarvis on the art of storytelling on the World Wide Web

Dale Jarvis is a member of a diminishing class: the storyteller. Yet, he is finding ways to share his art with whole new generation by reaching out to “use the media that they are using.” Whether it’s a podcast of traditional stories told by school children or telling stories 140 characters at a time on Twitter, Jarvis explores the web to find new ways to connect folks to their heritage. In episode of Voices of the Past, we talk to Dale about the online tools he uses and what kind of impact the Web will have on the preservation of cultural heritage.

Two days with a power blogger: learning the art of expression, connection and influence

By Bethany Frank

Last week, power blogger Lorelle VanFossen came to the National Park Service office where I intern and taught a day-and-a-half workshop on the art of blogging and its uses in the heritage field. Lorelle stood in front of us and asked, “what do you say when someone says they have a blog?” Without missing a beat, one participant responded, “ask if there is a cure.”

That sudden burst of laughter broke the ice as we all discussed our thoughts on how blogging could potentially help the organization. Some responded with, “I don’t know; I am here to learn the answer” or “Because my boss told me to.”

But then we started discussing how blogging could help us reach a wider audience.

David Connolly V-log: Archaeological humor

David points out some quarried stone near the tombs of Jerash and then takes us on a hillside tour of urban sprawl, Jordan style. Afterwards, events take a turn for the funny when the team takes a few moments to “de-sweat.” A game called “what’s my quarry?” turns slapstick. Who says archaeology has to be serious all serious?

Armchair tour of museums and Web 2.0

By Nina Simon

Confused about social media? Don’t know where to start? For the last two years, I’ve been hunting down great projects in and outside of museums that exemplify the themes of visitor participation, user-generated content, and flexible relationships between institutions and visitors. Here are some of my favorite museum projects that represent interesting, thoughtful experiments with Web 2.0:

David Connolly V-log: Who needs a drink?

In this installment, David explores the ancient water system in city of Jaresh. He and other archaeologists are finding a sophisticated water system that includes filtration, which is a first in their careers. The team also finds that archaeology is sometimes for the chickens!

Five ways to promote your heritage project and help Voices of the Past be successful

Voices of the Past is a partnership effort. As the person reading content on this site, YOU are one of those partners. We’re not asking for much. Just keep us in mind when you work on a heritage-based project and upload that content to the web.

So, what is "Voices of the Past?"

By Jeff Guin
Excellent question! And the answer is evolving with the web. For now, let’s just say it started as a dream–literally and figuratively.
We’ve been hearing about Web 2.0 for a couple of years now. Like a lot of folks, I sat on the sidelines to see if it really had legs. Spectating led to [...]