The Audio-Visual Resources for Classics Website Is the Companion Website to the Bibliography

AV Project Grant Application: Successful

In September 2003, I was awarded $1250 from the Classical Association of the Middle, West and South to have members of the Stoa Constortium (University of Kentucky) prepare a relational database to upgrade the obsolete On-line Survey of Audio-Visual Materials for Classics. The project is on-going.

Here is a copy of my request:

The Audio-Visual Resources for Classics website (on-line since June 2000 and presently accessible at http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics2) is a vastly expanded version of the similar survey published biennially by Classical World in its special volume Texts and Technology (of which I am also the editor). The electronic version lists more categories, more items, more media, more detailed descriptions and over 3000 hyperlinks to reviews, screenshots, previews, and the specific on-line catalog pages of over 150 distributors. Based on the hundreds of links to it from other educational websites – far beyond the normal range of classics-related websites -- the Survey has become a standard resource for teachers, students and others interested in discovering materials other than printed books available for the study of classics. I maintain the on-line version of the survey purely as a public service in the Promotion of Classics.

The electronic version of the AV Survey is badly in need of an upgrade in terms of design and user interface. As it stands now, information is scattered among forty-three separate category pages, and a user must know under which category to seek information about a topic before he can begin searching for any items related to it. Such a scattered design also makes it difficult to keep information current and accurate. The creation of a searchable database would allow visitors to customize their search according to their needs, as well as vastly facilitate my job as editor.

Thus far, I have asked for no funding or outside aid of any kind. Now I find that I need help to bring the Survey into the 21st century. The Stoa Consortium has generously offered to supervise a student team who will design and implement a database for the Survey, including web-based query and reporting facilities, an administrative interface, and conversion of existing data. The Stoa will then provide a permanent archive for the Survey and will make it available on its own web servers, while I will retain exclusive editing control.

After consulting with Ross Scaife and Anne Mahoney, I have been informed that the entire cost of the project will not exceed $1250, all of which will be paid to student workers. Once the conversion is complete, no more costs will be incurred. Should CAMWS determine that this is a worthy investment in the promotion of classics, their generosity will be prominently noted on the site and in any published reports concerning the website.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your response.