To quote Engels, as he laments learning from documents and records alone: “I have not been satisfied with this, I wanted to see you in your own homes, to observe you in your every-day life, to chat with you on your condition and your grievances, to witness your struggles against the social and political power of your oppressors. I have done so: I forsook the company and the dinner parties, the port-wine and champagne of the middle classes, and devoted my leisure-hours almost exclusively to the intercourse with plain Working Men; I am both glad and proud of having done so.”

Well, that was 1845, England. Looking back, it is arguable exactly how many dinner parties Engels excused himself from, but the point is that, in 2009, we find ourselves in a different sort of revolution. Yet the questions we ask and the answers we seek (both as citizens and as scholars) remain essentially the same through the ages, methinks. I guess I don’t have to convince the choir that this kind of community-based work is important, or what may be gleaned by it.

Since working with Dennie, I have had occasion to consult with multiple organizations (from a group of community gardeners to a local government) that are interested in using digital media to tell the stories of their communities, to document their struggles and their successes, and to enhance their ability to stimulate dialogue and affect change.

The problems I have encountered are significant: a lack of shared terminology regarding digital tools and content management systems, misconceptions of legalities, liabilities, funding, and the time required to generate content and engage dialogue. And building collaboration between organizations becomes more complicated under these circumstances.

In my own work, which I attempted to carry forward as a personal project after graduation, I have encountered other sorts of issues: questions of ethics, concerns about images of people and representation in the digital age, and legal questions. And then there’s the need to consider a succession plan for the content generated, which really leads back to the first set of issues: If local community organizations can be imagined to be decent repositories for local community projects, don’t we need to share a vocabulary, at the very least?

Before I suggest we create a #thatcamp nation document to shore up all these basics (not sure Engles would approve), let me just say I’m looking forward to hearing the classes you teach, and seeing your student’s work. Here’s to keeping our feet on the ground in the effort to document and understand people, place, and community.