The Barbara Stuhler e-Library - News From M Street

The genesis of the Barbara Stuhler e-Library dates back to the Vision 2000 Campaign when a group of women decided to honor Barbara Stuhler by naming a library at the national office in Washington, DC, after her. They envisioned a library that would preserve and house the League's historic and contemporary collections and provide CD-ROM and online (www.lwv.org) accessibility to League members, donors and researchers. The goal was to ensure that these collections could be used readily and fully to tell the story of the League and historically trace how women have been involved for so many years with the issue of full and active citizen participation.

Barbara Stuhler resides in Minnesota and is a retired dean of Continuing Education at the University of Minnesota. She served the League of Women Voters for many years on the state board of directors, and has been an inspiring model in women's leadership for women of all ages. Stuhler has also been quick to honor others, through the establishment of the Hope Washburn Award, her writings and her campaigns such as the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Memorial Garden.

Stubler is a prolific writer as well. Among her works are Gentle Warriors: Clara Ueland and the Minnesota Struggle for Woman Suffrage (1995), a moving story relating the final phase of the struggle by women from Minnesota to win the vote, and For the Public Record: A Documentary History of the League of Women Voters (2000).

A committee established by the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters made the following recommendation in October 2000: "To establish the Barbara Stuhler Library as a virtual library with materials accessible by computer rather than a traditional library. A virtual library would give access to a much wider audience than a physical library ever could..." With board approval, implementation of the project began in April 2001.

As of this writing, the League's videotape collection is being converted to digital formats so it can be played from the web and from compact disc. The League selected The Public WebWorks, a nonprofit organization in Washington DC that specializes in multi-media production for the web, to undertake the important task of capturing the audio-video from original analog tapes and converting it to a variety of digital formats that can be used to produce compact discs, DVDs and streaming media. The archive copies are being preserved in the mpeg-2 format, the same compression algorithm used to create DVDs.

Another compression algorithm is being used to create audio/video files small enough to be played on most computers equipped with a compact disc player and speakers. That means 12 hours of debate, i.e., all presidential primary and general debates from one election cycle, can be packed into a single CD.

The collection of analog tapes represents a treasure trove of historic footage that include public service announcements, presidential debates and news accounts dating back to the 1970s. The conversion will preserve this historic collection of media assets because the life expectancy of videotape can be as little as 15 years, while digital media on optical discs is expected to last many decades. Digital media can also be searched more easily than videotape.

The Stuhler Library will also be hosted in the two most widely used streaming media formats: Real Media and Windows Media. These files will be offered from the League's website, where users can simply click on the format of their choice and watch the historic footage.

RealImpact and WebActive, a division of Real Networks of Seattle, has contributed an entire year of streaming media hosting. This incredible gift, valued at thousands of dollars, will allow us to bring this information to users in the Windows Media AND Real Media formats, a practice followed by the Library of Congress.

The Public WebWorks has also supervised the conversion of 100 rolls of microfiche into digital files that will be converted into .pdf downloads. These files include important documents from the suffragist movement, the Depression, the Gold War, and modern times.

We are in the process of selecting additional important documents, currently in paper format, for conversion into digital form. Also, we are in discussion with other experts on the possibility of converting historic photographs and three-dimensional items into digital format.

Work on the library is ongoing. Completion of the first phase (debates and some PSAs) is expected at the end of 2002, at which time the Barbara Stuhler e-Library will be unveiled.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Board of Trustees of the League of Women Voters Education Fund is pleased to recognize the following individuals who contributed $1,000 or more to the Education Fund between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002.

DONORS

Anonymous

Virginia Abbott

Hilary Bates

Eleanor M. Bissell

Virginia Blacklidge

Elspeth G. Bobbs

Ruth McLean Bowers

Peter R. Broner

Judith M. Buechner

Mary Ann Burtt

Willie Grace Campbell

Lois E. Chaney

Helen Delicate

Ruth T. Don

Ann Sheldon Duff

Shirley W. Eberly

Catherine S. England

Judith Fisher

Jan Flapan

Marianne Gabel

Jethran Guinness

Eleanor M. Hadley

Larry Harris

Ruth G. Hinerfeld

Betty Hoffenberg

Patricia Kind

John E. Kooiker

Julia M. Marsden

Alice Buckley McCauley

Mary Sue Robinson Morrill

Janet H. Malone Morrow

Virginia Nugent

Dorothy S. Ridings

Doreen Spitzer

Max Stolz

Barbara Stuhler

Virginia S. Tarika

Onnolee Trapp

Irene Vogt

Frederick J. Von Dollen

Joan M. Warburg

BEQUESTS AND PLANNED GIFTS

Bessie Berg

Esther Buechner

Janet Allen Cancell

Leo A. Crispi

Vivian Haire

Keith E. Jensen

Sue Burnett Panzer

Bertha C. Potts

Natalie Shepard

Hilda Watrous

FAMILY FOUNDATIONS

The Ettinger Foundation, Inc.

Chambers Family Fund

Brian Cox and Laurie Wingate and the Cox Family Fund

Friedlander Family Fund

Middle Passage Foundation

Katherine and David Moore Family Foundation, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 League of Women Voters
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