Author: Odyssey Preservation Software
On-Demand Webinar: Strategies to Boost Your Digital Museum’s Reach
On-Demand Webinar: Metadata Magic
Webinar: Metadata Magic
Thursday, April 25
1:00pm ET
While sometimes pigeonholed as an organizational tool, metadata can be incredibly powerful when strategically implemented in digital collections. Discover the magic that can connect every item and has the potential to create meaningful access.
Register to reserve your spot in Metadata Magic.
Details:
As organizations establish and grow their digital collections, building a thoughtful metadata strategy needs to be at the forefront. Simple descriptions can become channels to dive deeper. When developed with all end users in mind, a modern metadata strategy can significantly enhance the accessibility of digital collections.
Join our resident metadata expert, Dana Barron, PhD, as she addresses the challenges of stepping outside our industry’s standard approach to metadata and developing new methods. She will provide solutions for incorporating terms and phrases that open access to collections beyond researchers to everyday curious individuals, such as those conducting Google searches.
What You’ll Learn:
- Steps for developing an inclusive metadata strategy
- Tips for building an effective metadata structure
- How to bring your metadata to life
- Receive metadata strategy toolkit and sample metadata plan
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On-Demand Webinar: Odyssey Open House
In this webinar recording, you’ll get to dive into the details that make Odyssey unique. With a backend and frontend showcase, see why it’s a “spa day” for CMS users.
Learn more about how Odyssey helps users manage and share their collections with ease.
Details:
Odyssey was designed by professional historians and innovative developers. Every decision was made with industry-insider insight — from UI design to bulk updates and built-in digital museum tools.
In this 30-minute webinar, explore the streamlined and intuitive backend with a highlight of some of our most powerful features. Learn more about how Odyssey helps users manage and share their collections with ease.
Have questions? Bring them! We love digging in and creating space to hear what others in the field are asking.
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2023 Feature Release Recap
In 2023 we added 476 Odyssey features. From backend UI updates to new curatorial tools for digital museums, every change stemmed from our mission to support your work to save and share history.
As we close out the year, we’re excited to share a few of our favorites.
OCR for Handwritten Documents
OCR can quickly transcribe materials to improve search capabilities, but it’s often limited to text-only documents. No more!
Odyssey users can now apply OCR to handwritten documents — making your day more efficient and your collections more accessible.
Microsoft Integration
Microsoft Office fans can rejoice!
Odyssey now includes an integration that allows users to conduct bulk imports and updates using Excel online.
Multiple Exhibits Landing Page
You have so many stories to tell! We want Odyssey to help you do just that.
Odyssey users can now create and share multiple exhibits at once on their digital museum. Check out how the Muhammad Ali Center is utilizing this feature here.
Digital Museum Customization
We saw a need for Odyssey users to further customize their digital museums. So we made it happen.
You can now select font size, modify menu order and add submenus to help your digital museum visitors have the best experience possible.
Restrict Item Type Fields
If you want to make your collections accessible, but don’t need to share all the details — we’ve got you covered.
With item type fields restriction, you can keep specifics, such as location and condition, to yourself while publishing the rest.
If you’d like to learn more about Odyssey’s complete suite of features, you can do that here.
If you have any questions or would like to see these new releases in action, drop us a line. We’d be happy to give you a quick demo.
Book Demo.
We’d love to share how Odyssey can manage and share your materials. Please fill out the form and a member of our team will reach out to schedule a demo.
Not looking for a demo, but have some questions? Feel free to contact us.
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Misconceptions of Digital Preservation
Digital preservation provides the opportunity to prevent the loss of archival materials and open up the doors for discovery. While it’s an exciting time, there are some misunderstandings about what it means to digitally preserve an archive.
We’re sharing some top misconceptions we hear when talking about digital preservation. Let’s dive in and provide some clarity.
1. We can get an intern to scan things.
We often hear about organizations setting up interns or volunteers with a flatbed scanner to “digitize” their archival materials. While the intention is good, the effort functions more as a bandaid than a long term solution.
Digital preservation requires careful consideration and a team of experts.
Before diving in, you need to first establish a strategy. You’ll need to audit your materials to determine how many items you have, the type and the condition. It’s also best practice to set up stakeholder interviews to assess audience needs, storytelling opportunities and frequently used terms.
With a strategy in place you can then begin digital preservation imaging, but be aware that the process requires training and experience. To ensure the files produced are “preservation quality” we recommend following the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI). You can find our quick guide here.
Our preservation imaging team strives to exceed the FADGI guidelines. The HQ studio is equipped with all the tools necessary to capture high resolution images with precise lighting, levels, color and more. These are designed to withstand evolving technology and protect the intellectual value of the item should the original be lost.
An intern with a scanner often results in low resolution files that could become obsolete in the future. JPG and PDF formats are already starting to be questioned. An intern also lacks the institutional knowledge and training to structure digital assets in a way that makes them accessible and therefore useful to the organization.
While we understand the pressure to start digital preservation initiatives, taking time to do things properly will prevent redundant work, or worse — loss of institutional knowledge.
To learn more, you can access our digital preservation imaging guide here.
2. If we’ve imaged them, we’re set.
Organizations that want to check a digital preservation box sometimes take a “scan it and forget it” approach. While this takes a step toward protecting the original archival materials should they be lost in a disaster, it falls short of preserving them.
Digital preservation requires thoughtful creation and implementation of a metadata strategy. Metadata is the “data about data.” It serves as a structured way to describe, manage and organize digital assets. This is the special sauce that makes them more accessible and understandable now and in the future.
Ever come across an old photo without any information written on the back? Digitizing materials without metadata is exactly that. Fun to look at, but difficult to extract any useful information.
With descriptions, names, dates, locations, themes, events, etc. tagged, you have the potential to not only preserve your organization’s history, but to also make new connections. You’ll be able to find items with relations that perhaps you didn’t know existed. There’s incredible potential for new storytelling opportunities.
If you want to see us wax poetic about the magic of metadata, you can dive into those details here.
3. We can back up our files on a hard drive.
This one gives us shivers. We’ve heard tragic stories of archives “digitizing” materials, maintaining a database on a physical computer or hard drive, then losing both the physical and digital copies in a disaster.
Any digital preservation effort needs to include secure cloud storage. Preferably using a collections management software that supports proper organization, cataloging, tagging and sharing of your digital assets.
Odyssey Preservation Software was developed to protect your digital assets. We utilize AWS, so you get all the guarantees and security that Amazon provides. Our bank level encryption ensures your assets and data are safe and sound — stored in multiple data centers.
We also designed the software to maximize accessibility internally and externally. All of your metadata becomes active links, allowing you to conduct global searches for relevant content across all collections and item types. That same searchability extends to the public-facing digital museum that all Odyssey users have the ability to build.
You can see Odyssey in action on the Muhammad Ali Center’s digital museum here.
4. Digital Preservation is for museums and archives.
You may hear about the push for digital preservation within the museums and archives industry. However, the value of digital preservation extends beyond these officially recognized repositories.
Each and every organization has a story to tell. Preserving that story for future generations is critical.
Digital preservation, when done properly, is the only way to ensure your archival materials stand the test of time. By committing to digital preservation, your team is investing in the stability and growth of your institutional knowledge.
Sharing your history transparently and using it to consider our shared future has never been more powerful. Through digital preservation, you’ll gain access to the materials you need to share your value, experience and impact.
So while it’s incredibly important that museums and archives are making materials accessible and future-proof, it’s a process that’s valuable for anyone with history. (That’s everyone.)
5. We’ll deal with digital preservation next year.
Wildfires burned the Hewlett-Packard archives destroying the records of the founders of Silicon Valley’s first technology company. Record breaking flooding swept through Kentucky devastating the archives at Appalshop, an arts and media center dedicated to documenting Appalachian culture.
Decades of history were lost. A fire at Universal Studios destroyed 500,00 records. Original recordings from Aretha Franklin, Nirvana and Snoop Dogg were lost.
The disaster in Lahaina this summer took out four museums. The fires burned countless artifacts, including an original native Hawaiian kingdom flag.
Outside of the growing number of disasters, there’s the threat of natural decay. Magnetic tape’s lifespan is only 30 years. Those DVDs we stored precious memories on can degrade in about 10–20 years. With heat and humidity rising, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to maintain proper archival conditions.
We say all of this not to induce panic.
Digital preservation needs to be an organizational priority. As time passes, your risk of decay and disaster increases — your missed opportunities for connection pile up. Taking action prevents that.
What to Do
Now that you know what not to do, let’s talk about what to do.
Our parent company, HistoryIT, has the steps for building a digital archive outlined here. Take a look to better understand the process and needs to preserve your materials and share your stories.
It’s a big task to take on internally. It can be thousands of hours of work. We’re here to help. Digital preservation strategy, digitization, metadata and modern software — we’ve got you covered.
Reach out, ask questions. Save history!
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5 Tips for Grant Writing
Grants provide the resources often necessary to fund new programs, community initiatives and digital preservation projects. However, the process of writing a successful grant proposal can be daunting, but also very exciting! To make the process a bit easier, we’ve put together five tips that will help you navigate the grant writing process effectively and increase your chances of securing funding to save your organization’s history.
1. Define Clear Goals & Objectives
Before diving into the grant writing process, it is essential to clearly define your project’s goals and objectives. Identify the specific outcomes you aim to achieve, whether it’s preserving a specific collection, digitally preserving historical documents or conducting research on a particular historical topic. Clear goals will demonstrate your project’s focus and help grant reviewers understand the impact of your work.
Put these goals on paper (or in a Google doc)! We often think our goals are defined, but when we challenge ourselves to write them out, we gain clarity. Meet with your team or find a colleague to brainstorm and/or review the goals you’ve written. This will provide direction as you search for grants and begin the formal writing process.
2. Thoroughly Research Grant Opportunities
Invest time in researching and identifying grant opportunities that align with your project’s objectives. We’re seeing a growing number of foundations, government agencies and non-profit organizations offering grants in the digital preservation space.
Each grant has its own requirements and preferences. Carefully review the eligibility criteria, funding priorities and submission guidelines to ensure your proposal meets the expectations of the grantor.
If you’re unfamiliar with the organization, take some time to understand their mission and culture. Even if it’s a group you’ve heard about previously, check to see if any major changes have taken place. Tailoring your proposal to fit the specific goals and values of the granting organization will significantly increase your chances of success.
We’ve done some of the heavy lifting for you and compiled a list of available grants that can help save your history here!
3. Develop a Compelling Narrative
Craft a narrative that clearly communicates the importance of your project, its potential impact and why it aligns with the grantor’s mission. Introduce the historical significance of your topic, highlight how it relates to broader themes or contemporary issues and discuss your work’s long term impact.
Use persuasive language to convey your passion, expertise and commitment to the field of history and digital preservation. Supporting your narrative with relevant data, case studies and/or community or industry testimonials will further strengthen your proposal.
Here’s a quick persuasive writing guide from Grammarly and another from the University of Minnesota. Even if you’re an expert wordsmith, a refresh can be helpful to get in the *write* headspace.
4. Create a Detailed Budget
Develop a detailed and realistic budget that clearly outlines how the grant funds will be spent. Identify all the necessary expenses, including personnel, equipment, supplies, travel costs, third party vendors and any other relevant expenses. Be sure to align your budget with the specific guidelines provided by the grantor. Justify each expense, demonstrating how it contributes to the successful completion of your project. A well-constructed budget will enhance the credibility of your proposal and showcase your ability to manage funds effectively.
If you’d like to include specific figures for costs associated with digital preservation imaging, metadata work, collections management software and online curation, feel free to reach out. We are here to help you save history.
5. Collaborate & Seek Feedback
Grant writing can be an iterative process. Seek input from colleagues, mentors or experts in your field. Be sure to remain open to feedback and thoroughly consider opinions. New perspectives and insights can help you refine and strengthen your proposal and address any potential weaknesses.
Additionally, consider partnering with other organizations that share similar interests and goals. Collaboration can not only enhance the impact of your project, but also show your ability to work well with others which can increase your chances of being awarded funding.
Facebook groups or listservs can be great resources to find organizations to collaborate with or individuals willing to grab a coffee and brainstorm. By all means, build your grant writing network!
Next Steps
Writing a successful grant proposal requires careful planning, meticulous research and effective communication. No small task! Remember, grant writing is a skill that improves with practice. Be persistent, learn from each experience and keep refining your approach. Best of luck in securing the funding needed to make history accessible!
We have that list of digital preservation grant opportunities for you here.
As always, we’re available to provide more information about how we can support your project and any details needed for your budget proposal. Drop us a line anytime.
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Why Metadata Magic Matters
Data about data — it’s so meta. Metadata are terms used to describe an archival asset — names, dates, location, condition or any relevant information about the item. Traditionally, historians use metadata to index and organize their collections. But in digital preservation, with a proper strategy in place, metadata becomes a magical tool that connects every element of your digital collections and creates an interactive experience.
Making New Connections
Imagine stumbling across an image of your favorite local park from the 1950s. You start to wonder more about the history of your neighborhood greenspace that has become so central to your community. You might take a few minutes to Google here and there, but you have to physically visit your local historical society’s archives to dig deeper. Even our passionate history savers can admit that’s not going to happen.
If the image had been digitally preserved and tagged with relevant metadata, that experience would shift dramatically. Within a digital archive you could click on the park’s name and access images, objects and documents about its history. You could then click on a “greenspace” tag to explore information sharing the complete history of parks in your area to better understand the impact they have on their surrounding communities. If you wanted to get really crazy with your deep dive, you could then filter for the 1950s to compare your local greenspace to other parks in the city during that period. And these are only a few examples of journeys you could choose to take from the comfort of your couch.
Endless Opportunities to Discover
Now consider what it would be like if every metadata detail assigned to every item in a collection led to a similar experience — the opportunities for self-discovery are endless. Using metadata to make digital collections accessible is an invaluable process. It creates limitless connections between various item types in collections and allows visitors to explore what they want, when they want and to draw their own conclusions. This turns collections into not just a tool for professional researchers, but also the average curious individual.
When you start to think about all the details you can tag for a single image then multiply that by every item in your collection, that workload can be a tad overwhelming. That’s why HistoryIT starts every client relationship with strategy development. Our team of experts conduct thorough research for each project, which includes interviewing a suite of stakeholders ranging from board members to archivists to volunteers. One of our primary goals here is to identify metadata terms that the target audience commonly uses.
Creating Access to History
Making history accessible means meeting the visitors where they are — physically and mentally. Building a digital museum allows users to explore from any location in the world. Using metadata terms that fit their natural language, as opposed to terms developed for and by professional researchers, allows for the average individual to quickly find the information they’re looking for — no specialized training required. When researching online the average individual expects to have a similar experience as they do with Google, so we develop metadata that fits their vernacular. This not only improves a user’s onsite experience, but it also ensures that your materials populate Google searches, which helps attract new visitors.
In addition to making your history accessible to the general public, a well thought out metadata strategy has internal organizational benefits as well. Including terms frequently used by your colleagues, such as “group photo,” “fundraiser,” or “training,” you can create customized searches for your development, marketing and education teams. This streamlines your internal workflow, giving teams what they need, when they need it.
Next Steps
Your brain may be going a little crazy with all the potential opportunities that metadata provides, but that’s why we’re here to help. Our team of has thousands of hours of experience developing and implementing metadata strategies. We focus on consistency and sticking to the plan to ensure our clients receive a powerful tool that opens up their archives and shares their story. Our metadata specialists have this down to a science, which enables our team to scale quickly for large projects and takes a weight off our partners’ shoulders.
In addition to our talented team, our powerful digital collections software combined with quality metadata strategy makes for a seamless digital interactive experience that not only makes your collections accessible, it gets users excited to dig in. Odyssey is the tool that connects all the metadata and allows visitors to click tags to explore more. It also makes our lives easier with features like bulk updates, which allows for updating or adding terms as we learn how the public interacts with a digital museum once it’s live.
We know we’re history nerds, so there’s a bit of bias here, but we truly believe that metadata is magical. It’s what makes a digital archive truly accessible and allows for the average individual to explore history in order to draw their own conclusions. And that is how you save history.
If you have any questions about how to make the most of your metadata, feel free to reach out!
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The Real Cost of Open-Source Collections Management
If you were to take some time to walk around and ask people if they believed anything is free, the overwhelming majority would answer no. Most of us understand that there really is nothing free in life. Everything comes at a cost, yet there is one idea that persists — open-source software is free.
I’ve worked on both sides of the table. I’ve been the client who has implemented a customized open-source solution and I’ve been the vendor who has implemented our own proprietary software solution for clients. I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way.
Many organizations get off track early in the process of identifying a new software solution because they begin by looking for “free” or “low-cost” software that can be adapted to their current workflows rather than looking for software with a good business process that can transform their legacy workflows. I understand why many organizations start here. Budgets are tight and change is hard, especially for long-term employees. The reality is that a software solution with a good business process will streamline your team’s daily workflow and free up time to finally squash that pesky backlog. While this transition is an uphill journey, once you’ve crested that peak, the benefits will be seen across the organization.
If you have worked in digital for any organization (especially within the museums and archives industry), you can probably relate to how I describe my job on a daily basis — 10% technology and 90% unlicensed psychotherapy.
Open-Source vs. Proprietary Software
Cost of Ownership
It is easy to get distracted by the upfront cost of many proprietary solutions, but in the long run, it will generally save you money. The low initial cost of implementing an open-source solution could present some savings, but the long-term costs will generally outweigh that perceived advantage.
One of the biggest benefits of proprietary softwares is that they come packaged with setup and migration services, training and ongoing tech support. Your time is valuable and that support can save you hours of struggling to piece things together, not to mention a few headaches along the way.
If you are seriously considering an open-source solution, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do the decision makers understand that “no upfront costs” for a software license doesn’t mean you won’t need funding for other costs associated with open-source?
- Have you considered the cost of any new hardware that may be needed to run the software?
- Do you have the internal expertise to set up and configure the software?
- Do you have the internal expertise to extract your data from your current system, transform it to meet the requirements of your new system and then migrate it to the new system?
- Do you have internal expertise to train users on the new software and to handle their support requests?
- If any immediate problem occurs, do you have the internal expertise to solve these? If not, you will need to pay a premium for expedited support.
- Do you have the internal expertise to maintain your software — updates, patches, testing and deployment?
- Do you have the internal expertise to make sure that all systems are secure?
- Thinking about security, are you “Eating from a Dirty Fork”? Even though this article was written in 2017, it sheds light onto the security gaps in open-source software.
- Most importantly, even if you do have the internal expertise, do you have time to manage all of the above in addition to your daily tasks and that hefty backlog?
Usability
Open-source solutions can offer deep functionality, but will sacrifice usability. You need to consider the usability for your internal and external users. Is the interface user-friendly enough that you won’t end up frustrating your colleagues? If you are trying to share your digital collections with a wider audience, do you really want the interface to be akin to Windows XP?
I’ve seen many organizations adopt an open-source solution, invest significantly in feature customization and end up with an outdated interface that frustrates team members and the public. If you want to continue to only serve researchers who reluctantly accept whatever is provided, that legacy library interface will do just fine.
Technology
I’m not here to say that open-source software doesn’t have benefits, but I think it’s important for everyone to understand the inner workings of an open-source community. One of the biggest benefits of open-source is the development community, a resource for software engineers.
If you aren’t happy with the current functionality and have some decent development chops, you can take the old source code, create a new project and build a solution that works for you. But what happens when that single product has been forked into multiple projects? This is when you start to see community infighting that will spiral into a single product becoming multiple products. When this happens, the developer community also splinters, and resources become spread too thin. The worst-case scenario is that the original open-source solution you adopted is abandoned.
Customization vs Configuration
Let’s quickly define customization and configuration in the context of software development.
- Customization: To write new code in the software that meets specific requirements that core functionality doesn’t address.
- Configuration: Use the built-in functionality of the application to meet specific requirements without additional custom code.
When we implement Odyssey preservation software, we rely on configuration as much as possible. We can customize when a requirement can’t be met, but we will never customize the core application. Customizations made to the core application will cause the custom code to break during software upgrades. But as I said before, my job is 10% technology and 90% unlicensed psychotherapy, so let me share a bit of insight.
Don’t be fooled, if your supervisors, colleagues or the general public believe that your chosen solution can be infinitely customized to meet their perceived needs — you will never find peace. If allowed, the end users will want to continually customize the software as a bandaid to avoid the intimidating, but invaluable task of transforming legacy analog workflows to more efficient digital ones.
Our mission at HistoryIT is to #savehistory. One of the core components of that mission is to be sure our clients start with strategy. That strategy needs to inform every single part of your project — from planning, imaging, metadata creation and software. Ultimately, the decision is yours to make, but we want to be sure our clients have enough details to make an informed decision.
Like I said, I’ve been on both sides of the table and so have many of my teammates here at HistoryIT. We’ve integrated decades of experience and built a true digital preservation platform that’s an affordable, flexible and extensible solution that can transform your organization and support the care of your digital collections for the long term.
Next Steps
If you’re looking to explore alternatives to open-source, feel free to reach out with any questions you have. We’re here to be a resource in your preservation journey.
About the Author
Donny Lowe joined the HistoryIT team as our Chief Technology Officer after serving 5-plus years as the Director of Digital Strategy at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In addition to overseeing the museum’s digital preservation efforts, Lowe managed all Hall of Fame branded online portals. Before that, he spent 10 years in television production for Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group.
During his time at HistoryIT, Lowe has overseen the development and management of Odyssey Preservation Software.
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Ali Center Launches New Digital Museum and Archives as Part of Ali Festival
First Online Exhibit Entitled “Ali and Neiman: A Friendship in Art” Launched Today in Recognition of What Would Have Been LeRoy Neiman’s 100th Birthday
Digital Archives Will Expand Global Reach of Ali Center’s Collection
In Partnership with HistoryIT and Made Possible Through IMLS Grant
LOUISVILLE, KY (June 8, 2021) — For the first time ever, the Muhammad Ali Center is able to open up its archival collection and offer online exhibits for the world to experience as a way to extend Muhammad Ali’s global reach. The launch of the Center’s new digital museum and archives was specifically planned to be introduced during the annual Ali Festival, and on what would have been the birthday of LeRoy Neiman, a longtime friend of Muhammad Ali’s. “Ali and Neiman: A Friendship in Art” is the Ali Center’s first ever digital museum exhibit which opened today. “Ali and Neiman” will highlight artwork created by both men and will also feature candid photographs and notes written by Mr. Neiman. It is linked to the Muhammad Ali archival collection, made available to the public, and is accessible through the Ali Center’s website, at muhammadali.historyit.com. While the digitization of the Ali Center’s archival items is an ongoing process, this new offering will roll out initially with items from its: Permanent Collection, Greatest of All Time Collection, and Oral History Archive. Eventually, the digital archives will include items from other collections.
The digital museum and archives was launched in partnership with HistoryIT, which was responsible for creating the website and for the migration of some of the items, and was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences through a $50,000 grant.
“Because Muhammad meant so much to so many people around the world, it has been our dream to make available items in our collection to online audiences everywhere,” said Laura Douglas, President and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center. “Having HistoryIT as a partner in helping us achieve this goal will create an accessible, searchable, and meaningful experience for anyone interested in knowing more intimate details about Muhammad’s life and legacy. Because LeRoy Neiman was part of Muhammad’s legacy for decades, we are delighted to honor both of these greats through our first ever online exhibit. Our thanks go out to HistoryIT and the IMLS for their support, and the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation for donating the majority of the artwork to the Center.”
Artist LeRoy Neiman is known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events, including official posters for the Kentucky Derby, Ryder Cup, and the Ali Center’s grand opening. LeRoy and Muhammad met in 1962 while Ali was preparing for a match against Billy Daniels in Harlem, New York. The fight took place in Neiman’s neighborhood, so he quickly found his way into the press section, and eventually into Ali’s dressing room. This chance meeting in Harlem sparked a friendship that continued through the entirety of the two men’ lives. Ali and Neiman remained friends until LeRoy’s passing in 2012.
Kristen Gwinn-Becker, Founder and CEO of HistoryIT, said, “We are thrilled to partner with the Muhammad Ali Center and support their new digital museum on our Odyssey platform. Our mission is to save history. Digitally preserving and sharing Ali’s legacy ensures that his life, achievements and core principles reach an even broader audience. Perhaps most importantly, the Ali Center’s effort to digitally preserve their collections secures these lessons for future generations.”
Credit for Photo: Photo on Loan to the Muhammad Ali Center Courtesy of the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation.
About the Muhammad Ali Center
The Muhammad Ali Center, a 501(c)3 corporation, was cofounded by Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The international cultural center promotes the Six Core Principles of Muhammad Ali (Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, Respect, and Spirituality) in ways that inspire personal and global greatness and provides programming and events around the focus areas of education, racial and gender equity, and global citizenship. The Ali Center is formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, and in 2020, became one of the newest stops on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. The Center’s headquarters also contains an award-winning museum experience. For more information, please visit www.alicenter.org.
About HistoryIT
HistoryIT gives history a future. We offer a comprehensive set of services and software that transform archival materials, from whatever state they are in, into a 21st Century digital collection. Odyssey, our proprietary digital preservation software, enables any organization to not only manage their archival and collections assets, but also make their history easily accessible via a best-in-class digital museum. For more information, please visit historyit.com.
About IMLS
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Ali Festival
The Ali Festival, a community-wide celebration that marks the anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s passing and celebrates his legacy and love for Louisville, occurs annually in Ali’s hometown of Louisville. Presented by the Muhammad Ali Center, and in collaboration with community partners, the Ali Festival features events and activities that highlight different facets of Muhammad’s life in ways that unite and inspire the Louisville community and beyond. Ali passed away on June 3, 2016. The 2021 Ali Festival runs from June 3-13.
Contact
Jeanie Kahnke
Muhammad Ali Center
(502) 992.5301 or (502) 640.6077
jkahnke@alicenter.org
Tori Collins
Muhammad Ali Center
(502) 992.5338 or (502) 645.5929
tcollins@alicenter.org
HistoryIT Media
207-699-4222
media@historyit.com
