TOMATOES COOKING, High Art
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alterclass's posterous
The Raconteur Algorithm
One of the objectives of Raconteur is to minimize the journey on all fronts to putting down an audio or video record. To test and further develop the minimalist nature of the encounter with Raconteur the “Raconteur Algorithm” was developed and remains in development. Raconteur, if it appears, will be dedicated to archiving audio (and/or video) content. See http://alterclass.posterous.com/dying-to-tell-a-story#.
The inspiration to do an algorithm for Raconteur is sourced in my work related knowledge of metabolite testing algorithms, by way of example see “Algorithm for diagnosis of the cerebral creatine deficiency syndromes.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK3794/figure/creatine.F1/?report=objectonly.
The algorithm has to pass muster for my Uncle Teddy, an ancient seaman, a constant teller of life stories and a very frequent library user. Uncle Teddy would take me along to his local public library, where he read the newspapers, talked to acquaintances in the cafe, and borrowed books on Canada, Cuba and Marxism. He occasionally checked newspaper websites. The computer terminals were most frequently occupied by someone of his generation (76 years) or someone from the ranks of the newer UK resident population.
So for my Uncle Teddy, can Raconteur substitute for me, the vessel for his life stories. I suspect the first step in the determination might be to create the shortest journey to putting down a record: the algorithm. By the way, the most pertinent question will always be: If you build it will they come. We are trying to build Raconteur such that my Uncle Teddy will come or someone, anyone will come, in numbers. Demand. Demand. Demand.
The Raconteur Algorithm:
Raconteur, a proposal for a Digital Public Library
The objective of the project is to create access to a means of long term digital archiving of user/visitor stories, primarily autobiography and biography. The project plays on the following construction: a [digital] library by the people for the people. The proposed system is a digital archival system accessible by a web based user interface to anyone (e.g., US based public library visitor, non US based internet visitor, ...) who wishes to put down a record in either audio or video format of their lives, the lives of others or any event of their choosing. This construction is sourced in encounters with storytellers, e.g., I wanted to tell of this, I wanted another to carry this story into the future, and I wanted another to know. In particular, the encounter (of the Archive) is with a storyteller wanting to put down a record.
A user of the website would have access to create their own archive (account) of their entries delivered to the Archive in audio and/or video format. The user would have unlimited opportunities to return to their archive to make entries. This resonates with unlimited diary entries with the user is aware that their entries are being archived in an account dedicated to them, which account is publicly available. The user's account will be the subject of long-term preservation incorporating the aspects of changing technologies and changing user communities. The focus is on digital information (audio or video) as the form of information held. The model does not at the present time accommodate non-digital information but does envisage the availability of imaging technologies to render a non-digital image, digital.
A work in progress, again.
