Founder and Director of a 501c3 non-profit corporation (www.mediahistoryproject.org) to digitize collections of classic media periodicals in the public domain for full public access. Online collections feature extensive runs of trade papers and fan magazines key to research, including Variety (1905-1949), The Film Daily (1918-1948) Moving Picture World (1907-1927), and Photoplay (1914-1940). Stepped down from leadership in July 2017.
– Negotiated arrangements with major institutions to digitize print materials in their collections. Partners include the American Society of Cinematographers, the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Museum of Modern Art library, the Packard Campus of the Library of Congress, the University of Maryland Library of American Broadcasting, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research and well as numerous private collectors.
– Raised $250,000 in cash and in-kind contributions from universities, foundations and private donors. Acquired thousands of magazines by donation.
– In partnership with project co-director Eric Hoyt, the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed the Lantern platform to provide search across the entire collection.
– Availability of these primary source materials online has improved the quality of academic research presented at conferences, in books and articles. Collections incorporated into numerous high school and college classes for student research and projects.
