This is not too off-topic, I trust. Using CiviCRM I've built an online database of U.S. community access television providers and LPFM radio stations - http://communitymediadatabase.org . The records can be searched by logged-in users, and updated by authorized provider representatives. This is a 3-month pilot project, funded by the Benton Foundation, and will be demonstrated at the NCMR conference in Boston next month. We've sent out the email below to all the access providers in the database, informing of them of the project and their ability to log in and update their records. I'm guessing some of you here may be interested in knowing about this resource. I'm hoping some may be willing to comment on the design approach and offer helpful suggestions based upon your experiences. (This is my maiden initial post to these groups, by the way.)
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Dear Community Access Television Providers:
I want to thank you again for your assistance these last few months in helping me gather information for the U.S. Community Access Television Providers directory - now listing over 2,000 providers. I'd said I hoped to find a way soon to collect and present more complete information about your services. Now, thanks to the kind assistance of the Benton Foundation, I have.
I am pleased to be able to invite you all to participate in Community Media Database 1.0, a collaborative website allowing free online data gathering and searching for community media of all types. Comprised of directories, databases, and interactive maps, the site currently contains information for community access television providers and low power FM radio stations.
Community Media Database 1.0 is now entering the second month of its 3-month pilot project lifespan. We spent our first month building the database and bringing in information already gathered. On April 8 we'll begin the pilot project's final month with a demonstration and launch at the Free Press National Conference for Media Reform in Boston. The pilot phase of the project ends in early May, by which time we hope to have recruited additional supporters to help us carry the project forward.
Between now and then, we invite you all to explore the website - log in with the credentials we are separately sending you, and update the information for your organization which is currently on display.
While visiting the site we also invite you to take note of the Low Power FM radio section. Some of you already have an LPFM license, others of you may be interested in applying for one (many more licenses are expected to become available in the near future). The LPFM station information on our site, sourced from the FCC files, is currently fairly limited. Our friends at Prometheus Radio Project are helping us gather more useful information about these stations. Stay tuned, and watch that space grow over the next few weeks.
Our site is a work-in-progress, evolving daily. For those of you interested in participating more actively in this project, we invite you to join our listserv, discuss@lists.communitymediadatabase.org. If you'd like to contact me directly, please feel free to call or email me, either at my gmail address or at rob@communitymediadatabase.org. For more information about the upcoming LPFM radio licensing window, please contact the Prometheus Radio Project - info@prometheusradio.org, 215-727-9620.
Once again, thank you all so much. I look forward to your continued participation in the building of these community-based tools.
Sincerely,
Rob McCausland
202-744-4694