Folkstreams.net: Digital Video and Film of Traditional American Culture
Award Number: LG-03-04-0057-04
Period covered by this Final Report:
From October 1, 2004 to January 17, 2006
Project Director: Paul Jones, Director of ibiblio.org, Clinical Associate Professor,
School of Journalism and Mass Communication and School of Information and Library Science
Project Director Telephone: 919-962-7600
Project Director Email: pjones@ibiblio.org
Folkstreams.net
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There is a body of critically acclaimed documentary film created primarily in 16mm format
before 1990. Though these films are a valuable record of America’s regional, ethnic, religious,
and occupational cultures, they have never reached large audiences. The resurgence in interest in
American folk culture that has been taking place in recent years has created a demand for access
to such materials. There is a need to provide access to these films to a wider audience than they
have previously enjoyed.
Though they make up a cohesive group of documentation of folk and traditional culture, the
individual films are held by the filmmakers, with various levels of accommodation or concern for
archival preservation. There is a need to ensure the safe-keeping and preservation of these
valuable films for future generations.
Finally, most of these films remain in the 16mm format. Working with this format requires
knowledge that is itself becoming folkloric, as the people who know how to work with it age and
die. There is a need to capture the knowledge of working with this format so that the future
archivists and film technicians will be able to continue to care for and use the preserved materials.
Project purpose
The purpose of the Folkstreams.net project is four-fold. The first purpose of the project is to
collect and preserve 16mm documentary films on American folk and traditional culture. Thirtyfive films are covered by this grant. The second purpose of the project is to digitize these films
and stream them online so that they will be freely available to the largest possible audience. The
third purpose of the project is to educate archivists on how to work with and preserve the 16mm
film format. This will be accomplished through the creation of an educational multimedia website
about working with the 16mm format. Finally, Folkstreams.net will serve as a model for future
special-interest film digitization and preservation projects.
Three classes of people will be served by these purposes of the Folkstreams.net project: the
documentary filmmakers whose films are included in the project; archivists; and documentary
film viewers including scholars, folk arts practitioners, educators, students, and the interested
general public.
Documentary filmmakers whose work is included in the Folkstreams.net project will be secure in
the knowledge that their work will live on in perpetuity, cared for in multiple formats by archival
professionals in a collection that gives context to their work. Also, they will benefit from their
work being made freely available in streaming format on the Web. Their films will be revealed to
a wider audience than ever before. Filmmakers may use the online availability of their films as a
marketing point for current and future projects. The exposure of their work to a wider audience
may result in new collaborations or the selling of parts of films for re-use.
The archivists at the Southern Folklife Collection benefit from the Folkstreams.net project in that
they will add 35 valuable and important films to that collection. The multimedia website about
how to work with the 16mm format will be useful to all film archivists who manage collections
containing films in this format, especially as older archivists retire and younger professionals
without experience with the 16mm format enter the profession. Finally, the Folkstreams.net
project may be used as a model for future special-interest video digitization and preservation
projects.
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Finally, viewers of the documentary films will benefit from the Folkstreams.net project in various
ways. Practitioners and students may use the films for reference and study. Educators will use the
films in their teaching. Folklife practitioners and filmmakers can glean technique and inspiration
from the films. The project will help in reconnecting the general viewers of the films with
America’s heritage and will showcase the importance of the history, experience, and creativity of
ordinary citizens.
Activities and Services
Film Selection and Transfer – These activities serve the purpose of collecting and
preserving 16mm documentary films on American folk and traditional culture. Selection of the
films to be included in the Folkstreams.net project took place in the grant writing process. Since
the IMLS grant-funded portion of the project began, Tom Davenport has acquired and arranged
for the transfer to digital beta of 35 films. They have been added to the collection at the Southern
Folklife Collection.
Film Digitization and Streaming – These activities serve the purpose of digitizing these films
and streaming them online so that they will be freely available to the largest possible audience. At
ibiblio, the Sony J-30 deck for digitizing films was acquired at the end of December 2004, and
the process of digitizing and creating streams of the films for the website began.
The digitization and streaming of all 35 films is complete. All the films that have been selected,
transferred, archived, digitized, and converted to streaming format for public viewing are listed in
Appendix A.
Multimedia Film Restoration Website – A multimedia website on film restoration
techniques has been created. This site is entitled Video Aids to Film Preservation
(VAFP). Those involved in the planning of the site include Allan Lewis, the recently retired
film preservationist at the National Archives, as well as with Carl Fleischaurer of the Library of
Congress. The aim of VAFP is to function as a multimedia supplement to the excellent existing
guides to film preservation identified in the planning process.
It is one thing to read how to perform a film handling procedure, and another to see it performed.
For this reason, existing films and film clips demonstrating film handling and restoration
techniques were identified and acquired for use on the VAFP site. These 3 films and 27 clips
were digitized by ibiblio staff and made available as streams and downloads in the multimedia
site. The VAFP site provides context for the films and clips, and links them to existing guides on
film preservation. Appendix B lists the films and film clips that have been identified and created
for the Folkstreams film restoration website.
Metadata – Metadata activities serve the project purpose of increasing the accessibility
and visibility of the films. Mapping of the metadata contained in the various fields of the
Folkstreams.net film database into valid Dublin Core and MPEG-7 formats is necessary so that
metadata records for the films may be added to shared repositories such as the Moving Image
Collection, and be harvestable via the Open Archives Initiative protocol. Making records for the
films widely available will allow for discovery of both the freely available online films and the
originals housed at the Southern Folklife Collection. This will increase the chances that someone
interested in these films or the subjects covered in them will be able to find and view them.
Mappings of the Folkstreams.net film database to both MPEG-7 and Dublin Core have been
established. Using the mapping to Dublin Core, a set of records describing the films available on
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the Folkstreams site has been output as an Open Archives Initiative (OAI) Static Repository. This
repository has been made available through the IMLS Digital Collections and Content static
repository gateway at http://imlsdcc.grainger.uiuc.edu/. Test records have been exported from the
MPEG-7 schema, for sharing records with the Moving Image Collection (MIC).
Now that the acquisition of films for this phase of the project is complete, the Southern Folklife
Collection will process the collection and create descriptive metadata for the collection, including
a finding aid and bibliographic records that will be made available through RLIN and OCLC
Worldcat.
Marketing activities – Marketing activities serve the project purposes of increasing the
accessibility and visibility of the films, educating archivists about the multimedia 16mm format
website, and increasing awareness of the project so that other projects may use it as a model.
The approach to marketing Folkstreams is two-pronged. First, there is the formal approach. We
collaborated with the Director of Communications of the School of Information and Library
Science to develop a press release, which has been distributed to various local and national media
outlets by the University News Service. A copy of this press release is included in Appendix C.
Second, there is the informal grass-roots internet marketing approach. This approach works to get
the word out to individuals in online communities, such as blogs and discussion forums, that will
be interested in the films. These communities include filmmakers, enthusiasts of folk and
traditional culture, and both practitioners and enthusiasts of the various music, dance, art, and
craft forms represented in the Folkstreams.net collection. An internal wiki site has been set up to
coordinate internet marketing efforts, which are on-going.
Outputs
Film selection and transfer - Within the period covered by this report, 35 films have been
acquired for the project, transferred from 16mm to digital beta format, and deposited in the
Southern Folklife Collection. This information is taken from a collection inventory provided by
the Southern Folklife Collection. The 35 films are listed in Appendix A.
Film Digitization and Streaming – Thirty-five (35) films have been digitized and encoded
into streaming formats. Thirty-three (33) of these films have made available to the public on the
website. This information is taken from the Folkstreams.net site and internal ibiblio records. A
list of these films appears in Appendix A.
Multimedia Film Restoration Website –A multimedia film restoration website has been
created. This site, called Video Aids to Film Preservation (VAFP), contextualizes these films and
clips, makes them available for viewing, and provides links to further resources on film
preservation. The site resides at http://www.folkstreams.net/vafp. Currently, the 3 films and 27
clips listed in Appendix B have been selected, acquired, digitized, and added to the VAFP site for
streaming and download. VAFP will continue to expand over time.
Metadata – Item-level metadata has been made available through an OAI Static Repository
registered with the IMLS Digital Collections and Content static repository gateway.
Marketing activities – Formal marketing output consists of a project kickoff event held on
November 6, 2004, in Silver Spring, Maryland, and a press release distributed by the University
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of North Carolina News Service. Appendix C contains a copy of this press release. In addition,
continuous informal grass-roots internet marketing is being conducted through discussion forum
and blogs. An internal wiki has been created to track and coordinate these efforts. Analysis of the
number and quality of links to the Folkstreams.net site shows that word of the project is filtering
out to at least part of the interested audience.
Outcomes
Preservation outcomes – The expected outcome of selecting, transferring, and depositing the
films in the Southern Folklife Collection is that the films will be preserved for future generations.
Since the scope of this outcome is long-ranging, it is not possible to measure this outcome within
the time period covered by this grant. The output itself—35 films acquired for the project,
transferred from 16mm to digital beta format, and deposited in the Southern Folklife Collection—
is the best indicator that this outcome will be realized in the future. A list of these films is
available in Appendix A.
Film accessibility outcomes – There are two expected outcomes of digitizing and streaming
the films. First, the number of people who view the films will increase, providing greater
exposure for the filmmakers and their work. Second, viewers will learn about American folk and
traditional culture and heritage, and be inspired by the films.
The indicator for the first outcome is the number of times the films are streamed from the
Folkstreams.net website. These data are gathered from monthly streaming server logs from the
servers housing the streaming films at ibiblio. These logs capture the number of times each
stream is requested by a remote computer. Below, are two images demonstrating the increase in
visibility of the films available on the Folkstreams.net site.
Figure 1 shows the number of film views per day under the grant period, beginning in February
2005, when the first publicly streaming films covered by this grant were added to the site. The
number of views increases over time as more films are added and marketing efforts increase. Of
note are the brief spikes in traffic that occur. These appear to be due to surges in traffic due to
links to Folkstreams.net from prominent websites. For example, at the end of October,
Folkstreams was featured as a Yahoo! Overall there is a marked increase in how many films are
viewed.
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Number of Films Viewed Daily Over Grant Period
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
1/1/2006
12/1/2005
11/1/2005
10/1/2005
9/1/2005
8/1/2005
7/1/2005
6/1/2005
5/1/2005
4/1/2005
3/1/2005
2/1/2005
0
Figure 1: Film views over grant period
Figure 2 shows how many times each film has been viewed over the grant period. The films are
shown in the order that they were added to the site—the Free Show Tonight was the first film
added under this grant, and The Cameraman Has Visited Our Town was the last. As is expected,
the films that have been available on the site for a longer duration have generally been viewed
more often. The striking thing about these numbers, however, is that previous to being available
on Folkstreams, these films had tiny audiences, if any, due to the limitations, difficulty, and cost
of distribution, and the decline in numbers of people able to work with the 16mm format.
Views Per Film over Entire Grant Period
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
Cameraman has visited our town
Home Movie
Salamanders
Grand Generation
Two Homes, One Heart
Land Where the Blues Began
Monument of Chief Rolling
Possum Trot
Tales of the Supernatural
Kathleen Ware, Quiltmaker
Hundred and Two Mature
Gandy Dancers
Grandma's Bottle Village
Ray Lum, Mule Trader
Buck Season at Bear Meadow
Ballad of Frankie Silver
New England Fiddles
Our Lives in Our Hands
When My Work Is Over
Sadobabies
Remembering Emmanuel
Sonny Ford, Delta Artist
Shakers
I Ain’t Lying
Tommie Bass
Black Delta Religion
Give My Poor Heart Ease
Made in Mississippi
Powerhouse for God
Mosquitos and High Water
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Fannie Bell Chapman
Angel That Stands By Me
Painted Bride
Free Show Tonight
0
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Figure 2: Number of views for each film over the grant period
These numbers are not a perfect measure of the number of times each film has been viewed in its
entirety. Each time a stream is started, it is counted as a view, even though the user may only
watch part of the film. We have seen an increase in views on the films over the duration of the
project. Viewing will increase as the films are available for a longer period of time, metadata
records filter into various catalogs, grassroots internet marketing grows, and media coverage
increases due to formal marketing efforts.
The second expected outcome of digitizing and streaming the films is that viewers will learn
about American folk and traditional culture and heritage, and be inspired by the films. There will
be three indicators for this outcome. The first indicator is the results of an opt-in survey on the
Folkstreams.net site which is being used to gather some basic demographic information on the
people using the site, how they are using it, and their assessments of their experience viewing the
films.
So far, we have had 70 survey responses. Summary results and conclusions from each question
follow. Each question is optional. In addition, respondents are allowed to check multiple
responses for most of the questions. For these reasons, it is important to look at the numbers for
each question individually.
To answer the question of who is using the Folkstreams site, we asked users to characterize
themselves into roles. They could put themselves into multiple roles, and give further information
about each categorization in a comment. Sixty-seven (67) respondents, or 95.7% of the total
respondents, answered this question. The numbers in Table 1 below give raw numbers of
respondents self-categorizing in each role, and the valid percentage based on number of
respondents to the question.
Role
Other
Folk artist or folkarts
practitioner
Scholar/researcher of folklife
Educator
Student
Archivist or librarian
Filmmaker
Number
29
Valid percentage
43.3
20
11
11
9
8
3
29.9
16.4
16.4
13.4
11.9
4.5
Table 1: Roles of Folkstreams.net users
Respondent comments to explain the “Other” categorization include:
Writer, singer, musician
Writer, former special ed teacher
Technologist
Staff of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Lover of music & the arts
I play in an old-time string band
Healthcare
For a living, I edit scientific articles (archaeology and plant pathology, so far)
Evangelist, churches of Christ
College level, Media Library Manager
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Biologist
Anglican Catholic priest
Acoustic Guitar player of Old Time Music
40something mom from the South
These numbers suggest that we are serving our intended audiences: documentary filmmakers;
archivists and librarians; and documentary film viewers including scholars, folk arts practitioners,
educators, students, and the interested general public.
To answer the question of what people are getting from the Folkstreams site, we asked users why
they visit the site. They could check multiple reasons, and give further information about each
categorization in a comment. Seventy (70) respondents, or 100% of the total respondents,
answered this question. Table 2 below gives raw numbers of respondents who give each reason
for use of the site, and the valid percentage based on number of respondents to the question.
Reason for visiting site
Learning/study
Entertainment
Inspiration
Curiosity
Other
For class or an assignment
Number
46
44
40
34
7
2
Valid
percentage
65.7
62.9
57.1
48.6
10.0
2.9
Table 2: Reasons for using Folkstreams.net
Respondent comments to explain the “Other” categorization include:
Searched for info re Judy Bressler - found film Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden.
Research
I have just discovered Folkstreams and am thrilled. I don't yet know how I'll use it.
Got a reference from a discussion forum on this site.
These numbers suggest that the Folkstreams project is being used as an educational and
inspirational resource about American folk traditions.
To answer the question of how people are using the Folkstreams site, we asked users what they
have done on the site. They could check multiple actions, and give further information about each
categorization in a comment. Sixty-two (67) respondents, or 88.6% of the total respondents,
answered this question. Table 3 below shows the raw numbers of respondents who performed
different activities on the site, and the valid percentage based on number of respondents to the
question.
Activity on site
Viewed a film
Read essays, transcripts, or other
contextual materials
Viewed still images from the films
Other
Number
50
Valid
percentage
80.6
22
12
9
35.5
19.4
14.5
Table 3: Activities performed at Folkstreams.net
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The comments in the “other” category suggest that respondents on their first visit to the site plan
to return to use all parts of the site. This suggests that visitors find the site worthwhile and useful.
Finally, we asked for general comments on the site from respondents. All of these are included in
a separate section of Appendix D, which presents feedback we have received on the site and
project.
The second indicator that viewers are educated and inspired by the films is the feedback that we
receive in the form of letters and emails from site visitors. These are relatively small in number,
but provide strong support for the claim that users of this site find it to be of value. For example,
one viewer writes, “I'm a long-time blues fan and a budding blues harp player…Your movie is
perhaps the best "slice" I have seen of a lifestyle that is rich in its history and heritage.” A teacher
of cultural anthropology writes of his happiness to find fondly remembered films on the
Folkstreams site, and inquires about using them in his own teaching. The text of feedback
instances received since the last interim report is presented in Appendix D.
To summarize the feedback received through the survey and the letters and emails we have
received, Table 4 below presents some of the goals we set out for this project, and some feedback
instances that support that we have been successful in reaching those goals:
Goals/Objectives
Documentary filmmakers
will benefit from their
work being made freely
available in streaming
format on the Web. Their
films will be revealed to a
wider audience than ever
before. Filmmakers may
use the online availability
of their films as a
marketing point for current
and future projects.
Practitioners and students
may use the films for
reference and study.
Folklife practitioners and
filmmakers can glean
technique and inspiration
from the films.
Educators will use the
films in their teaching.
Selected Relevant Feedback
“THANK YOU! What a wonderful resource. I have been passing the word
in my local folk music community. I've also purchased the filmmakers'
DVD.” —survey respondent
“I am already familiar with work by William Ferris, Les Blank & Jeff Tod
Titon - but looking forward to discovering other important filmakers and
folklorists.” —survey respondent
“I've read transcripts. I'd like to purchase a DVD, but haven't found a way
yet.”—survey respondent
“This review is for the Tommie Bass Documentary. It is a wonderful
documentary that shows who Tommie was as a person. He was the same all
the time, no matter who you were. I met Tommie in 1996 shortly before he
died. I really miss him as do many others. You guys did a great job. I would
like to have this on DVD or VHS.”—Davy Godfrey
“I am very interested in sacred harp singing, its history and present day
practice. This film was the best representation I've seen on the subject--it
touched me deeply.”—survey respondent
“Excellent site. Entertaining and educational. Great job!”—survey
respondent
“Over the past three months I have begun a documentary video entitled
Music for the Sky…The artists and films featured on FOLKSTREAMS.NET
are remarkably relevant to my latest project. Upon first discovering the site I
was bombarded by an onslaught of inspiration! The streaming video
available at FOLKSTREAMS.NET allows artists, historians, ethnographers
and anyone interested in the microcosms of our countries unique culture,
access to films which are specific in their vision and sincere in their
realization.”—Nikolai Fox
“Excellent work; I look forward to showing some of them to my eighth
grade class.” —survey respondent
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“Fantastic. I'm a librarian who also teaches the occasional music course. I've
been looking for a copy of "Land Where the Blues Began" for a while now.
Thanks.”—survey respondent
“The film "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" is a wonderful resource. It shows the
actions, gestures, and singing style of the American children, so I can teach
these singing games in Japan.”—survey respondent
“I love your site and wondered if you might know of others with
film/audio/archives as interesting as yours... I found ibiblio, so you must
know of more. I would love to use these kinds of materials in my sociology
courses!”—Sociology PhD student Alex Goldman
The project will help in
reconnecting the general
viewers of the films with
America’s heritage and will
showcase the importance of
the history, experience, and
creativity of ordinary
citizens.
“I teach cultural anthropology and my academic background (folklore &
folklife) spurs me towards a greater use of American folkloristic materials
(audio and video) in my classes. I have access to "smart teaching stations"
with Web projection capabilities and would like to know if you permit
showing of the films for educational purposes.”—David Rotenstein
“Please continue to add films on lifestyle and habits of a generation ago, so
that today's young people will understand where they came from.”—survey
respondent
“The films are a great resource providing a wonderful insight into the roots
of modern America. Thank you from the UK!”—survey respondent
“Having lived in the South for over 27 years now, I find it fascinating and a
valuable piece of history to remember and honor.”—survey respondent
“For the past ten years I have made my living traveling with a comedy
group. This film shows the reason I do it. Town to town with amazing
performers and audiences that sometimes take a while to win over. This
documentary is so well done and shows the heart and soul of the subjects.
By the time you get to the show they put on you love them and feel like you
have seen history turned back to a simpler time. This film is brilliant and the
talent of the performers is undeniable. Oh to turn back time. I think I need
me some Pawnee concoction to revive my spirits.”—actor/vaudevillian
Shelby Bond
“In the 70’s I was the first female “gandy dancer” at Indiana Harbor Belt
Railroad in East Chicago, Indiana. Watching this film and the black men
who tolied this job for a lifetime moved me. The work was grueling even in
the 70’s. I swung a spike mall and lined track with the 64 men I worked long
side. With this film you get a sense of a gandy dancers beginings and the
tremndous physical and emotional strife. The prejeducies they faced and
how they were recieved by their communities because they were railroad
men. Amazing video for me . I have just the slightest understanding of what
it must of been like for these men in the 30’s and 40’s. This film actually
connected the past to something I had experienced. So much of this country
was built on black mens backs. It’s a history we all need to remember. Thank
you.”—Gina Dee
Table 4: Project Goals and Selected Relevant Feedback
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The third indicator that viewers are educated and inspired by the films follows from the idea that
if they find the films to be educational, inspirational, and otherwise valuable, they will tell other
people about the site and the films. In the age of the World Wide Web, much of this word-ofmouth recommendation activity is made explicit in hyperlinks. Therefore, this indicator is the
number and quality of links to the Folkstreams site from other sites. These data are gathered by
using search engines to search for links to Folkstreams.net from sites other than Folkstreams.net.
To account for differences in indexing coverage, two search engines, Google and AltaVista, are
used to gather these links. The quality of the links is considered in order to add meaning to what
can be a misleading quantitative measure. For example, two links from reputable and
authoritative sites on folk and traditional culture would reflect more highly on the value of
Folkstreams.net than fifty links from “link farms,” or automatically generated groups of web
pages created to trick search engines into inflating search rankings.
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Google
Altavista
2/
05
3/
05
4/
05
5/
05
6/
05
7/
05
8/
05
9/
05
10
/0
5
11
/0
5
12
/0
5
1/
06
Links
The number of links was first gathered on February 2, 2005, soon after streaming versions of the
first film covered by the grant were added to the site. This information has been gathered monthly
since that time. The detailed results for links to the Folkstreams.net site are presented in
Appendix E. Figure 3 below shows the growth of number of incoming links over the grant period.
Date
Figure 3: Links to Folkstreams.net
Both search engines show an increase in the number of links. Google shows a small but steady
increase in the number of links to Folkstreams.net, from 316 to 635. Altavista, on the other hand,
reports a precipitous increase in the number of links to Folkstreams.net, from 38 to 1780, with the
largest jump in number of links occurring in one month. Examination of the links shows that
there is broad overlap in the links found in the results sets of the two search engines, but that each
uncovers some unique links the other does not report. Google may report less links because of
more sophisticated duplicate or similar-page detection.
In addition to links from the sites of affiliated people and organizations, and the ubiquitous “link
farm” entries, the links to Folkstreams.net fall into six main categories: links from educational
resource sites, links from cultural organizations, links from resources lists compiled by librarians
for patrons, links in publications of professional interest to librarians and/or archivists, topical
website or forum mentions by enthusiasts and/or practitioners, and miscellaneous general interest
links. Descriptions of a sample of the linking sites and the contexts in which Folkstreams.net is
linked to are included in Appendix E.
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Multimedia film restoration website outcomes – The expected outcome of the creation of
the multimedia film restoration website (VAFP site) is that archivists and other film professionals
will recognize it as a useful resource. The indicators of this recognition include the number of
citations of the site in the archival scholarly and professional literatures, number of links to the
site from archival resources sites, and feedback from archivists and others who use the site.
The VAFP site was created and announced in December 2005, so there has not been much time
for it to become known, and for quantifiable indicators to emerge. Certainly the archival scholarly
and professional literatures will not yet contain any citations to the site. As things move more
quickly online, there has been some linking activity. As of January 25, 2006, Google reports one
(1) link to the VAFP site, while Altavista finds fifteen (15). VAFP is currently “In the Spotlight”
on the Moving Image Collections (MIC) website, and is also listed as a resource in MIC’s
preservation portal. VAFP is also listed as an external resource in the Wikipedia entry for Film
Preservation, and is listed in e-arkiv.com, a Danish website on preservation of electronic media
and film.
In the development of the VAFP site and its initial release, we have received very good feedback
from a number of professionals working in film, film preservation, and libraries and archives.
Snowden Becker, Public Access Coordinator for the Academy Film Archive writes:
I saw the recent posts about these video clips on the AMIA list, and am thrilled
that they're available. They're REALLY great, and much-needed resources. Katie
Trainor and I are planning to add these to the Resources section of our SAA
workshop presentation ("Becoming a Film-Friendly Archivist"), and we'll
probably show one or more of them as an introduction the hands-on section of
that workshop. Many of these ideas are difficult to convey verbally, and Bob and
Toni have packed so much information into their presentations--they're just great!
Becker is also a co-founder of International Home Movie Day, a worldwide, grass-roots film
preservation festival, and proposes collaboration between the centerforhomemovies.org website
and VAFP. Heather M. Wagner, Archival Specialist for Audiovisual Services at the Hoover
Institution Archives at Stanford University, writes: “This is a great resource. Are there any future
plans for a similar resource for videotape?” This comment demonstrates not only that VAFP is an
important resource, but that there are outstanding needs for more resources in this area.
Model project outcomes – The final purpose of the Folkstreams.net project is to serve as a
model for future special-interest film digitization and preservation projects. We will accomplish
this by basing our practice in the expertise of leaders in the field of film digitization and
preservation, complying with archival practice and international standards, and disclosing our
practice and protocols on the Folkstreams.net site. The outcome of these practices will be that the
Folkstreams.net project will indeed be used as a model for future projects. There will be two
indicators of this outcome. The first is the number and quality of citations or links to the project
used as a model by other special-interest film digitization and preservation projects. The second
will be the number of inquiries on practice and protocol from those involved with other similar
projects. Again, outcomes of this nature are seldom immediate, and are unfortunately not
measurable within the time covered by reporting for this grant.
Folkstreams.net
Page 12 of 39
Appendix A : List of Films Acquired, Transferred, Added to Southern Folklife Collection
Films, Digitized, Encoded into Streaming Formats, and Made Publicly Available at
www.folkstreams.net
Folkstreams.net
Page 13 of 39
Angel That Stands By Me: Minnie Evans' Paintings
Ballad of Frankie Silver
Black Delta Religion
Buck Season at Bear Meadow Sunset
Cameraman Has Visited Our Town, The
Fannie Bell Chapman: Gospel Singer
Free Show Tonight
Gandy Dancers
Give My Poor Heart Ease: Mississippi Delta Bluesmen
Grand Generation, A
Grandma's Bottle Village: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey
Home Movie: An American Folk Art
Hundred and Two Mature: The Art of Harry Lieberman
I Ain’t Lying: Folktales from Mississippi
Kathleen Ware, Quiltmaker
Land Where the Blues Began
Made in Mississippi: Black Folk Art and Crafts
Monument of Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder, The
Mosquitos and High Water: El Mosco y el Aqua Alta
New England Fiddles
Our Lives in Our Hands
Painted Bride
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O
Possum Trot: The Life and Work of Calvin Black, 1903-1972
Powerhouse for God
Ray Lum, Mule Trader
Remembering Emmanuel Church
Sadobabies: Runaways in San Francisco
Salamanders: A Night at the Phi Delt House
Shakers, The
Sonny Ford, Delta Artist
Tales of the Supernatural
Tommie Bass: A LIfe in the Ridge and Valley Country
Two Homes, One Heart: Sacramento Sikh Women
When My Work Is Over: The Life and Stories of Miss Louise Anderson, 1921-1994
______
* These films are not yet public-viewable on the Folkstreams.net site pending approval by the
filmmakers.
Folkstreams.net
Page 14 of 39
Appendix B : List of Films and Film Clips Acquired and Created for the Film Restoration
Website
Folkstreams.net
Page 15 of 39
Films about film restoration:
Moving Images for the Future
Restoring Mahagonny
Small Gauge Blowup
Film clips demonstrate the answers to the following film preservation questions:
Decay and Damage
What does mildew damage look like?
What does a film with shrinkage look like?
How do you measure shrinkage without a shrinkage gauge?
Equipment/Machines
How to clean and project using the 8mm Bell & Howell Regent, Design 122, Model L projector?
How to clean and use Craig editing kit?
How to clean and change the bulb on Elmo Viewer?
How to switch from super 8 to regular 8 in the Elmo Viewer?
How do various rewinds work?
How do you set up an editing table with rewinds?
Handling
What are A&B rolls?
How do you rewind film that falls off a plastic core?
How do I handle film on a core?
How to clean and operate the Kodak Supermatic 30 projector?
What to do if the film on a reel is loose?
How do you rewind film using hand brake?
Identification
How are Fuji Single 8 and Kodak Super 8 different?
How do you tell the difference between the emulsion and the base sides of film?
How to you identify film gauge from the reel it is on?
How do you identify film by its container, size and shape, and sprocket holes?
How do I identify optical or magnetic sound tracks?
Sound Tracks
How do I identify optical or magnetic sound tracks?
Splicing
How do you make a cement splice in regular 8mm?
How do I use the Ciro 8-mm guillotine tape splicer?
How do you identify and use some common small gauge splicing machines?
How do you inspect a cement splice?
How do you make a splice using a simple splicing block and press tape?
How do I splice broken 8mm film?
Folkstreams.net
Appendix C : Folkstreams.net press release
Page 16 of 39
Folkstreams.net
Page 17 of 39
News Release
For immediate use
September 9, 2005 – No. xxx
Rare films come to life online
UNC School of Information and Library Science
CHAPEL HILL – Once consigned to dusty film canisters and dark library shelves, some
rare American films are seeing new life through a joint project between three University of North
Carolina organizations and Folkstreams, Inc. The groups have collaborated to create
folkstreams.net, a video streaming Web site built as a national preserve of documentary films
about American folk and roots culture.
The hard-to-find films that are made available through folkstreams.net represent some of the most
significant and artistic documentaries of the 20th century, and they give voice to the arts and
experiences of diverse American groups. They are accompanied on the Web site by background
materials that give context to both the films and their subjects. The films are protected by
copyright, but use of the site is free.
“Heretofore, much good independent film work was like the tree falling in the wilderness with no
one to hear,” said Tom Davenport, Folkstreams project director and independent filmmaker.
“With the Internet and video streaming, we will be able to make a ‘national park’ from this
wilderness where everyone can come and freely hear and see what we have labored on for so long
and with such enjoyment.”
Viewers can now find films like Free Show Tonight, a 1983 oral history of the old-time
traveling medicine show performers, with a recreated medicine show staged in a small North
Carolina town; and The Angel That Stands By Me: Minnie Evans' Paintings, a portrait of the
African-American visionary artist Minnie Evans from Wilmington, N.C.
Although many of the films have won film festival awards and critical acclaim, they do
not fit easily into mass-market outlets like movie theaters, video stores and broadcast and cable
television. Notoriously hard to distribute, Folkstreams.net makes these films easy to find and
view on the Internet.
Folkstreams.net currently streams 39 films by some of America’s best-known independent
documentary filmmakers, including Les Blank, John Cohen, Tom Davenport, William Ferris,
Paul Wagner, Michal Goldman and Susan Levitas. The site will host 52 films by the end of
September in both RealPlayer and QuickTime formats.
“This really is just the beginning,” said Davenport. “We have already identified 138 films that we
want to add to the collection, and our goal is that Folkstreams will continue to build and grow
over time.”
UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, ibiblio.org, and the Southern Folklife
Collection partnered with Folkstreams, Inc. to create Folkstreams.net. ibiblio.org is a free public
library of digital material that provides server space and digital streams for Folkstreams.net, and
UNC’s Southern Folklife Collection maintains the film and tape archives.
The project has been supported through a $95,000 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of
Museum and Library Sciences since October 2004. Folkstreams.net also receives support from
the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Folkstreams.net
-30SILS contact: Wanda Monroe, 919-843-8337 or wmonroe@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589
Page 18 of 39
Folkstreams.net
Appendix D : Site Visitor Feedback
Page 19 of 39
Folkstreams.net
Page 20 of 39
First Name - Tricia
Last Name - Cole
Email - friendtricia@hotmail.com
This film was touching and profound to me, at my current crossroad; I am sensing the need to
step back from the digital universe and leave something in this world for my children and
grandchildren that I will have touched with my own hands, and am making quilts to that end.
------------------------------------------------
First Name - Shelby
Last Name - Bond
Position - Actor/Vaudvillian
Email - shelbybond@hotmail.com
For the past ten years I have made my living traveling with a comedy group. This film shows the
reason I do it. Town to town with amazing performers and audiences that sometimes take a while
to win over. This documentary is so well done and shows the heart and soul of the subjects. By
the time you get to the show they put on you love them and feel like you have seen history turned
back to a simpler time. This film is brilliant and the talent of the performers is undeniable. Oh to
turn back time. I think I need me some Pawnee concoction to revive my spirits.
------------------------------------------------
First Name - Freida
Last Name - Wolden
Position - Folk Artists
Phone - 714 484 0999
Fax - 714 484 0999
Email - freidaw@mac.com
My husband and I was lucky enough to visit and talk for a time with Ruby in the mid 70\'s.
Although Calvin was gone by then his work was much like the video we viewed. I heard that
Rubey was beaten up by some people and moved to a home soon after. The towns people I
believe took good care of her. What a great web site in their honor. We really enjoyed the visit!
Freida & Gene Wolden
------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 21 of 39
First Name - Keith
Last Name - Hunter
Position - Blues Performer
Phone - 228-219-3117
Email - kehunte@cableone.net
I worked two years as a Gandy Dancer from 19-21 years old. I also play blues music and present
educational programs in schools through the Mississippi Arts Commission. I found the film to be
highly educational and well put together.
I am so glad my friend who is serving in Iraq sent me the link to your site. Keep up the good
work.
------------------------------------------------
Reviewer: Gina Dee
Location: Lansing , ILL
E-mail: Renegadebeads@aol.com
Film: Choose one
Review: Gandy Dancer..
In the 70\'s I was the first female \"gandy dancer\" at Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in East
Chicago, Indiana. Watching this film and the black men who tolied this job for a lifetime moved
me. The work was grueling even in the 70\'s. I swung a spike mall and lined track with the 64
men I worked long side. With this film you get a sense of a gandy dancers beginings and the
tremndous physical and emotional strife. The prejeducies they faced and how they were recieved
by their communities because they were railroad men. Amazing video for me . I have just the
slightest understanding of what it must of been like for these men in the 30\'s and 40\'s. This film
actually connected the past to something I had experienced. So much of this country was built on
black mens backs. It\'s a history we all need to remember. Thank you.
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-----------------------------------------------Reviewer: terry morris
Location: charleston sc
E-mail: morrisearl@yahoo.com
Film: Choose one
Review: didnt catch title. was about madison county ballads. really enjoyed this film. the songs
had a sad sweetness to them, i have never heard in anything else.
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-----------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 22 of 39
Reviewer: Myra Dalton
Location: Ider, AL
E-mail: myrajdalton@yahoo.com
Film: Sweet Is the Day
Review: I was very much impressed with the film. It was especially interesting and exciting to me
as it is about a family I am related to and singing that I love and participate in on a regular basis.
It has been part of the foundation of my life and the lives of so many around our neighborhood. A
wonderful documentary!
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Alexander Goodman <alexevasion@yahoo.com>
Date: October 31, 2005 9:37:58 PM EST
To: folks@crosslink.net
Subject: Other sites?
I love your site and wondered if you might know of others with film/audio/archives as interesting
as yours... I found ibiblio, so you must know of more. I would love to use these kinds of materials
in my sociology courses! Thanks, ALEX
Alex Goldman, M.A.
"Practicing the Art of Innovative Thought"
PhD Student - Department of Sociology
University of Florida (Gainesville)
alexevasion@yahoo.com - 561-537-9827
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/agoldman
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reviewer: Micmac Man!
Location: Hickville
E-mail: micmacman@msn.com
Film: Born for Hard Luck
Review: I LOVE IT!!!!
its a great movie it should get an oscar if it hasent already =)
Love Always:
Micmac Man
Peace to micmac people! Lots of love =)
Subject: Folkstreams Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 23 of 39
From: Theresa Segreti <tsegreti@earthlink.net>
Date: October 4, 2005 3:47:54 PM EDT
To: Folkstreams <folks@crosslink.net>
Subject: Re: from a friend of Roger Manley
Dear Tom,
This is a great treasure! How happy we are here at The Visionary that such care was taken with
our favorite films and made accessible to so many. It's a great resource.
Great job and thank you.
Theresa Segreti
Director of Design and Education
American Visionary Art Museum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: "Irving Saraf" <producers@lightsaraffilms.com>
Date: August 29, 2005 12:05:14 AM EDT
To: folks@crosslink.net
Subject: Re: Possum Trot and Grandma's Bottle Village
Dear Tom,
Both the streams of Possum Trot and Grandma are beautiful and all the information you provide
is accurate. Thanks very much for doing such a beautiful job.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Topic - Other questions/comments
First Name - Christina
Last Name - Kostoff
Position - Humanist/Human Being/Interested Human Being
Phone - 773-220-5393
Email - marigold33@earthlink.net
The Joines documentary is supberb - really one of the nicest things I have ever seen. I just
stumbled on this web site today, and you can bet I will be back. Thank you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reviewer: Claudette
Location: Florida
E-mail: webmaster@thedevilsmusic.net
Film: Born for Hard Luck
Review: I knew nothing of Peg leg sam jackson before viewing this film. What an interesting
man. It's great that there is a record of his life, and we get to listen as he tells the stories of his
childhood and being a traveling performer. We should be grateful to anyone who has the foresight
to record people like Peg leg sam jackson and hear their stories before they're gone.
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 24 of 39
From: cedhb@aol.com
Date: July 9, 2005 12:06:26 PM EDT
To: davfilms@crosslink.net
Subject: The Singing Stream
Mr. Davenport
My name is Efrem Daniel and I'm the grandson of Bertha Landis, the youngest brother of
Kenneth Daniel. I was out searching for information to use as I'm putting together a "book" of
sorts on the history of our family. WOW!; my reaction to the information I came across on your
site. There was so many things that I wanted to know but didn't know where to find the answers;
Issue resolved. I want to say thank you for preserving so much of our history through your work.
I'm sure that in making the documentary, it was all a part of the process. For me it's almost like
being reborn; understanding why you're where you are and what price was paid for it.
At present I'm in the media production field. I work for a ministry here in Creedmoor (Christian
Faith Center) as a studio recording engineer. I've had the opportunity to work on many film
projects and with many others in the media/film production, one being Alton Chewning. If I'm
not mistaken, the film camera he owns, he either bought the one used to film The Singing Stream
or he bought one from the cameraman who was a part of your crew during the filming of The
Singing Stream. It's amazing how paths cross. In any case, I would love to get information from
you on how we might get access to the "cutting room floor" footage or any additional footage of
our family that didn't make it to the film. It would be a wonderful thing for my family to partake
of; viewing historic footage. At our family reunion 2003, I setup a projector and a 25 foot screen
outdoors on that Friday night and showed the film. It was great. We had mixed reactions, though.
The young kids wanted to play XBox on the screen instead of watching the film. We created a
win-win situation; we played XBox only after the film had been viewed. It was good.
I want to organize & distribute as much information and present as much media related material
as I can during our reunion this year. If you could contact me and let me know what's available, I
would be most appreciative. I know that there is some footage stored at UNC-CH. My wife
graduated from UNC-CH and had a professor for her Southern History class (Glen Hinson) who
knew all about the film and actually lived in Creedmoor at the time. He may be a resource for
getting additional information.
Mr. Davenport, any assistance or direction you can provide would be great.
I plan to order some copies of the film from you site and also get the study guide. (Wow...a study
guide).
Again, thank you sir and I look forward to hearing from you.
Efrem Daniel
PO Box 789
Creedmoor, NC 27522
(919) 528-1581 x226
(919) 426-5269
cedhb@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 25 of 39
Reviewer: Davy Godfrey
Location: Hokes Bluff, AL
E-mail: davy.godfrey@us.army.mil
Film: Choose one
Review: This review is for the Tommie Bass Documentary. It is a wonderful documentary that
shows who Tommie was as a person. He was the same all the time, no matter who you were. I
met Tommie in 1996 shortly before he died. I really miss him as do many others. You guys did a
great job. I would like to have this on DVD or VHS.
Subject: Folkstreams Review
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewer: Scot Witt
Location: Naperville, IL
E-mail: scotwitt@wideopenwest.com
Film: Remembering the High Lonesome
Review: Having never seen the film, but being a John Cohen music and photography fan for
years, this piece brought home the reasons I\'ve returned again and agin to roots music.
Pragmatism, community and depth. Wonderful job!
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-----------------------------------------------------------------------From: Jerry Payne <tickhill31066@yahoo.com>
Date: June 29, 2005 6:24:07 PM EDT
To: Tom Davenport <tdaven@crosslink.net>
Subject: Re: folkstreams.net and Tommie Bass
Tom,
Rose and I really enjoyed the Tommie Bass film. It brought back memories of my childhood
collecting with my father, who seemed to have a knowledge of how plants were used to cure
human ailments. My mother even dosed us in the spring with herbal tonics and of course we
collected all edibles from the wild with my father's guidance. We rarely cross paths with any
herbalists in GA but I think it is more a characteristic of mountain people. The film captured Mr.
Bass's kindness, hard work ethic and especially the colorful speech patterns of country people of
his generation. I'm surprised that you didn't have to add a disclaimer, as some viewers may try to
self-medicate!
As usual, Jerry A.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 26 of 39
From: "Irving Saraf" <producers@lightsaraffilms.com>
Date: June 23, 2005 3:00:24 AM EDT
To: folks@crosslink.net
Subject: Re: Angel on www.folkstreams.net
Dear Tom,
Both Allie and I looked at the website and we want to tell you that you have done a wonderful job
and should be congratulated. The articles you accumulated are terrific and show a lot of good
research. I was especially moved by Nina Howell Star's article, which I had not seen before
although I new Nina quite well. The other four films in our "Visions of Paradise" series are:
Possum Trot: The life and art of Calving Black Hundred and Two Mature: The art of Harry
Lieberman Grandma's Bottle Village: The art of Tressa Prisbrey The Monument of Chief Rolling
Mountain Thunder You can find information about them on our website
www.lightsaraffilms.com We'll be pleased if you would like to stream any or all the other films in
the series. They are 28:30 each, PBS length. Let us know.
All the best, Irving Saraf
------------------------------------------From: Nancy Kalow <eneyekay@yahoo.com>
Date: June 10, 2005 4:44:54 PM EDT
To: Tom Davenport <tdaven@crosslink.net>
Subject: Re: Sadobabies transcript and notes
Dear Tom,
I was thrilled to see Sadobabies up in a list with some of my favorite films. Folkstreams is a
magnificent achievement and I am very proud to be participating. It's a real honor.
I recently showed some of Singing Stream to my students at the Center for Documentary Studies.
It was a delight to refer them to watch the rest of your film on Folkstreams!
The Sadobabies stream itself looks great: deep colors, good quality.
I would say that, in my bio page, there is a typo, where it says "Ful Frame" instead of "Full
Frame."
Fondly,
Nancy K.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 27 of 39
Reviewer: hermit
Location: Australia
E-mail: ivangrace@iprimus.com.au
Film: Born for Hard Luck
Review: Hey,
What a treat to watch this treasure of a film. I was smiling all the way through with my harp in
my hand blowin a tune and harmonizing when I seen a break :-)
Beautiful.
Thank you.
hermit
Subject: Folkstreams Review
-------------------------------------------------------------------------nikolai fox 49 brackett street portland, maine 04102 nfox@maine.rr.com 207 653 7702
April 7, 2005
Dear FOLKSTREAMS.NET,
I am writing to express my appreciation for FOLKSTREAMS.NET. FOLKSTREAMS has given
me access to a realm of documentary film and video which I would have missed if it had not been
for the site. For the past eight years I have been a painter, teacher and string band musician. Over
the past three months I have begun a documentary video entitled Music for the Sky. This project
concerns a certain group of mountain dwelling old-time musicians living in central Vermont.
Music for the Sky enables me to combine the visual elements of two dimensional art with the
music that I love; introducing elements of timing and story (the traditional tools of the film
maker). The artists and films featured on FOLKSTREAMS.NET are remarkably relevant to my
latest project. Upon first discovering the site I was bombarded by an onslaught of inspiration! The
streaming video available at FOLKSTREAMS.NET allows artists, historians, ethnographers and
anyone interested in the microcosms of our countries unique culture, access to films which are
specific in their vision and sincere in their realization. With out a site like FOLKSTREAMS.NET
these films would be seen only in small obscure circles of the most interested parties.
FOLKSTREAMS.NET gives any one with access to the right technology the ability to witness
the unique characters and stories told by the featured documentary artists.
Thank you for the wonderful site.
Sincerely, Nikolai Fox
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 28 of 39
"I just wanted to thank you and tell you how much I appreciated seeing (and hearing) your "Born
for Hard Luck" docmentary. I'm a long-time blues fan and a budding blues harp player. I also
have a deep appreciation for the journey that black americans have been forced to go on and their
remarkable boyancy in the face of it (I am not black myself). Your movie is perhaps the best
"slice" I have seen of a lifestyle that is rich in its history and heritage. I know it's the coolest thing
I've discoverd in 17 years of surfing the 'net. It's a great thing you did making the film, and you've
amplified the greatness of it by placing it on the web!
Thanks,
Michelle LeFree
Montrose, Colorado
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "David Rotenstein" <davidsr01@mindspring.com>
Date: March 18, 2005 9:49:33 AM EST
To: <folks@crosslink.com>
Subject: Web site questions
Reply-To: <davidsr01@mindspring.com>
First off, I just wanted to write to congratulate you on making available these great resources. I
hadn't seen some of the films since my undergrad days in the early '80s and there have been times
over the past couple of decades that I wished I had taken better notes or even written down the
film's name for later reference.
Kudos aside, I have a question about rights. I teach cultural anthropology and my academic
background (folklore & folklife) spurs me towards a greater use of American folkloristic
materials (audio and video) in my classes. I have access to "smart teaching stations" with Web
projection capabilities and would like to know if you permit showing of the films for educational
purposes.
Regards,
David Rotenstein
_________________________________________
David S. Rotenstein, Ph.D.
Consulting Historian
10308 Edgewood Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20901
Phone: (301) 592-0646
Fax: (301) 592-0618
Mobile: (240) 461-7835
E-mail: davidsr01@mindspring.com
Web: http://www.dsrotenstein.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folkstreams.net
Page 29 of 39
From: Arno Bosse <abosse@uchicago.edu>
Date: March 21, 2005 12:12:34 PM EST
To: folks@crosslink.net
Subject: Re: [AMIA-L] testing Mpeg4 on Folkstreams
Hi Tom,
This worked fine for me in QT 6.5.3 and OSX 10.3.8. You might want to compare the codecs you
have in /Library/QuickTime/ or ~/Library/QuickTime/ versus those on the machines of your
colleagues who have no difficulties. It may be that seeing the movie requires the presence of the
e.g. DivX component. What codec was used for the compression?
Wonderful movies, btw. I'm going to come back to several more when I have time.
arno bosse
Folkstreams.net
Page 30 of 39
Feedback from general comments on website survey:
Wow, this is a great site I just discovered! I'll be back!
wonderful, will tell my friends to watch.
Well to begin with I havan't had the pleasure of seeing films about Storytellers and such so Im Happy your
here . I know that there are many, many people who have lived and are still living and have so much to
share thanks for making them all avaiable to me.
Robert
Very interesting and informing. I will visit often to explore the lives of others. Great site.
Very easy to navigate. What a wealth of valuable content! Thanks so much for sharing!
This site is my new favorite website, at least for the moment. You all are doing an important thing here, and
I hope that it will become a well-loved site by many, if it hasn't done so already. If there's anything a
layperson might do to help, just let us know (in the blog, perhaps?) - I've already talked the site up on my
blog (okay, LiveJournal); I may do so again. Probably the next time I wach a film here that really grabs me.
:)
This is wonderful -- I've been looking for a site like this for a long time. Where have you been hiding??
This is such a valuable resource. Thank you for making these films available to everyone!
This is soooo wonderful! Thank you!
The stories of quilts in women's lives were very inspirational and touching. Thanks for sharing the clip.
The films are a great resource providing a wonderful insight into the roots of modern America. Thank you
from the UK!
The film "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" is a wonderful resource. It shows the actions, gestures, and singing style
of the American children, so I can teach these singing games in Japan.
Thanks for making this material available.
THANK YOU! What a wonderful resource. I have been passing the word in my local folk music
community. I've also purchased the filmmakers' DVD.
Please continue to add films on lifestyle and habits of a generation ago, so that today's young people will
understand where they came from.
one film down and it was fantastic. I now want to research similar medicine show arts in Australia. ... and
as if I didn't have enough to do!
none
Nice to have it all online!
looks very interesting. i'll have to come back when i'm not working...
it is great saw first film on clezmer
I'm having trouble accessing the films. I've read transcripts. I'd like to purchase a DVD, but haven't found a
way yet.
Folkstreams.net
Page 31 of 39
I'm going to love exploring every byte of your website, especially the music
I'll be checking out other films on this website.
I was thrilled to discover this site, and look forward to seeing future additions.
I took part in the filming of "Rank Strangers", recently filmed in Asheville, about Mrs. Hyatt's Opry House.
I wish John Cohen had visited there!!! But Mrs. Hyatt is in Buncombe county......
I think Michael did a wonderful job. The film is very moving. It's the first time I have seen it!!
I love this site. The only way I could think to improve it would be to have more of it. I wouldn't mind
having larger files with better quality available for download or streaming on faster connections either.
I have viewed several of the films. They are wonderful and I have enjoyed them immensely. Thank You
for sharing them. Becky Pyle pepyle@adelphia.net
I am very much interested in general history, and to my opinion folklore is of enormous value for the
historian, because it gives an impression of how people lived, thought, sang, in short, how they formed and
were formed by society.
I am very interested in sacred harp singing, its history and present day practice. This film was the best
representation I've seen on the subject--it touched me deeply.
I am favorably impressed with the content of our site. I am sure I will visit many times.
I am excited about having access to these films. Thanks!
I am all choked up. Thank you.
I am a student and don't have a television. This has been a great escape, and one of the great joys I find is
in the documentary form. Possom Trot was marvelous and I look forward to seeing more. What a brilliant
idea!
Having lived in the South for over 27 years now, I find it fascinating and a valuable piece of history to
remember and honor.
Great project! I just watched "Quilts in Women's Lives" and I loved it. Thank you for preserving and
promoting independent media!
Glad I found your site - I'll be back
Frankie Silver is a very interesting person. Seems like I have to find out all I can about her.
Fantastic. I'm a librarian who also teaches the occasional music course. I've been looking for a copy of
"Land Where the Blues Began" for a while now. Thanks.
extraordinary - finding your site has made today a very good day - I am already familiar with work by
William Ferris, Les Blank & Jeff Tod Titon - but looking forward to discovering other important filmakers
and folklorists.
Excellent work; I look forward to showing some of them to my eighth grade class. Thanks
Excellent site. Entertaining and educational. Great job!
Excellent resource and technical quality, BRAVO!
Folkstreams.net
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brilliant that you r doing this - even though (on my computer) it's like looking into a flowing river and
seeing magic moving pictures on the bottom! the sound is very good. keep it up 4ever!
A nice cross section of american life. Keep up the good work
A hearty thank you for this website - it's really an amazing resource. In fact, my only suggestion would be
that you might consider adding a link telling visitors how the could donate money to the project. I realize
that it's funded in part by gov grants, so there may be complications in soliciting money, but I think this is
the sort of thing people would be willing to donate money for.
A great resource for hard to find independant films! Thanks for putting this together.
Folkstreams.net
Appendix E : Links to Folkstreams
Page 33 of 39
Folkstreams.net
Page 34 of 39
Number of links from external sites to Folkstreams.net
Google
316
327
286
294
368
407
518
570
552
598
624
635
Altavista
38
107
286
223
418
533
951
811
1670
1592
1734
1780
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Google
Altavista
2/
05
3/
05
4/
05
5/
05
6/
05
7/
05
8/
05
9/
05
10
/0
5
11
/0
5
12
/0
5
1/
06
Links
2/05
3/05
4/05
5/05
6/05
7/05
8/05
9/05
10/05
11/05
12/05
1/06
Date
Folkstreams.net
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A sample of links to Folkstreams.net:
Links from Cultural Organization Websites
Title: San Francisco Folk Music Club Newsletter
Description of Site: Newsletter of the San Francisco Folk Music Club
URL:
http://www.sffmc.org/archives/nov05/main.html
Title: Petullo Art Collection
Description of Site: Site about self-taught and outsider art
URL:
http://www.petulloartcollection.com/artistprofile.asp?refArtistID=17
Title: Traditional Arts Programs Net
URL:
http://afsnet.org/tapnet/
Title: North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance
URL:
http://folkalliance.net/resources/link_details.php?catid=19
Title: Virginia Folklife Program
URL:
http://www.virginiafolklife.org/links_show_cat.php?type=20
Title: Artcyclopedia.com
Description of Site: Site about art and artists
URL:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/evans_minnie.html
Links from Educational Resource Sites
Title: Gaia's School
Description of Site: Homeschoolers resource blog
URL:
http://gaiasschool.sacredspacedesigns.com/archives/2005/10/13/folkstreams/
Title: DV for Teachers
Description of Site: Blog on Digital Video for Teachers
URL:
http://www.dvforteachers.com/2005/04/21/folkstreamsnet-mission-history/
Title: Folklore
Description of Site: Wikipedia -- online collaborative encyclopedia entry
URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore
Title: Boston Public Schools Arts Resources Listing
URL:
http://boston.k12.ma.us/arts/resources.asp
Title: "Folkwriting (Lessons On Place, Heritage, And Tradition For The Georgia Classroom)"
URL:
http://www.valdosta.edu/folkwriting/
Title: (EVIA) Digital Archive, at Indiana University
Folkstreams.net
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Description of Site: Ethnomusicological Video for Instruction and Analysis
URL:
http://webdb.iu.edu/eviada/scripts/links/linklist.cfm
Title: Ties that Bind
Description of Site: Educational resources on folklife from Colorado Council on the Arts
URL:
http://www.coloarts.state.co.us/tiesbind_resweb.asp
Title: EdReform.net
Description of Site: Database of technology applications for learning
URL:
http://applications.edreform.net/resource/10940
Links from General Interest Sites
Title: Scout Report
URL:
http://scout.wisc.edu/Archives/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=23812
Title: Yahoo! Pick of the Week
Description of Site: Yahoo! Pick of the Week
URL:
http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20051029.html
Title: VillageHouston.com
Description of Site: local portal
URL:
http://www.villagehouston.com/localFeed/features/coolSites/cArchive/2004/0708/archive07_08_2004.htm
Topical Website or Forum Links from Enthusiasts and/or Practitioners
Title: Fiddlin Around's Guide to Folk/Roots Music Video
Description of Site: Guide to Folk/Roots Music Video
URL:
http://www.folk-roots-music-video.com/html/dir1.html
Title: Mudcat.org
Description of Site: Forum post on a folksongs/blues site
URL:
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=79898&messages=1
Title: NoSide.com
Description of Site: A Nordic Roots Music resource site
URL:
http://www.noside.com/Catalog/CatalogArtist_01.asp?Action=Get&Artist_ID=51
Title: OldTimeHerald.org
Description of Site: A magazine dedicated to old-time music
URL:
http://www.oldtimeherald.org/here+there/links.html
Title: Cinemaminima.com
Description of Site: "blog of ""news for filmmakers"""
URL:
http://www.cinemaminima.com/2004/06/06.php#a4308
Title: Mudcat.org
Folkstreams.net
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Description of Site: Folk and Blues Music Site
URL:
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=79898&messages=1
Title: BackPorchNews.net
Description of Site: Folk Music Community blog
URL:
http://www.backporchnews.net/archive/2005/06/folkstreams-folk-tradition-streaming-videos/
Title: NativeVillage.org
Description of Site: "website was created for youth, educators, families, and friends who wish to celebrate
the rich, diverse cultures of The Americas' First Peoples."
URL:
http://www.nativevillage.org/Libraries/Media%20Library.htm
Title: JohnAndTrish.com
Description of Site: Folk musicians' website
URL:
http://www.johnandtrish.com/links.html
Title: SideshowWorld.com
Description of Site: Site on sideshows
URL:
http://www.sideshowworld.com/ATSFST.html
Links in Resource Lists compiled by Libraries for their Patrons
Title: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Description of Site: Public library
URL:
http://www.carnegielibrary.org/subject/movies/independent.html
Title: James Madison University
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://www.lib.jmu.edu/info/fcs.aspx?dept=media_resources
Title: New Canaan Library
Description of Site: Public library
URL:
http://newcanaanlibrary.org/research/research_sites_of_the_week.htm
Title: El Dorado County Library
Description of Site: Public library
URL:
http://www.eldoradolibrary.org/el051010.htm
Title: Earl Gregg Swem Library at the College of William and Mary
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://swem.wm.edu/resources/subject-guides/american-studies.cfm
Title: The College of Wooster libraries
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://www.wooster.edu/library/resources/subjects/digitalmedia.php
Folkstreams.net
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Title: Minneapolis Public Library
Description of Site: Public library
URL:
http://www.mplib.org/list.asp?subhead=History+_and_+Humanities:History
Title: University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/media/streaming.html
Title: Samford University Library
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://library.samford.edu/topics/film.html
Title: Gainesville State College
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://www.gsc.edu/library/streamingmedia/WebResources.htm
Title: Grinnell College
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://www.lib.grinnell.edu/db_detail.php?id=246
Title: Cal State San Marcos
Description of Site: Academic library
URL:
http://library.csusm.edu/subject_guides/visual_and_performing_arts/film/genrefilms.asp
Links in Publications and Resources of Professional interest to Librarians and/or
Archivists
Title: Librarian's Index to the Internet
Description of Site: Librarian's Index to the Internet
URL:
http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/19229
Title: ACRL News from the Field
URL:
http://www.ala.org/ACRLPrinterTemplate.cfm?Section=november05&Template=/ContentManagement/H
TMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=108230
Title: GRIP: Gateway for Resources and Information on Preservation
URL:
http://www.knaw.nl/cfdata/grip/output/gripresults.cfm?descriptor_id=1206#proj