Touch-Screen Computer Kiosk in Cloverdale
On Friday, November 15th, 2014 a new, dynamic “Mobile Interactive Museum” was welcomed to the town of Cloverdale at the Cloverdale History Center. The kiosk, officially known as the “Mobile Interactive History Museum”, is the result of many years of collaboration and oral history video interviews by Listening for a Change and students of Cloverdale High School to collect the stories of people in their community. The kiosk includes a section with the Cloverdale History Center’s “Now and Then” exhibit. The kiosk provides opportunities to get to know the people of Cloverdale and view local historical sites.
Meet the Neighbors
Initially a project of Listening for a Change’s Neighborhood Listening Project and Cloverdale High School, students from Wendy Conner’s classes have conducted numerous video recorded oral history interviews in English and Spanish with a cross-section of Cloverdale neighbors over the last five years.
Through the project the student interviewers, and now visitors to the Mobile Interactive Museum, come to know some of their neighbors as more than passing faces on the street. By asking such questions as how they faced their biggest challenge, how they spent their time growing up, and what lessons they would share from their experiences students learn to question assumptions about people in their community, develop compassion and tolerance for others, and practice an approach to interpersonal interaction that will support them in all aspects of life.
“It’s an interactive kiosk that tells stories, stories about the history of Sonoma County’s northernmost city and about the lives of people from all walks of life there…Beyond being often fascinating, the interviews displayed by the machine seek to introduce neighbor to neighbor, counteract prejudice and suspicion, and develop a sense of “us-and-them” into one of “we.” — Press Democrat “
“Trained by [Listening for a Change], students have been interviewing Cloverdale residents on video for … years. Teacher Conner said the process has taught students interview skills, built their confidence and opened their eyes to the value of moving beyond presumptions about a person and delving into his or her life.” — Press Democrat
Where the student interviews provide insight on the residents of Cloverdale, the Cloverdale History Center’s exhibit provides a guide to Cloverdale’s landmarks. The Mobile Interactive Museum is home to the interactive version of the History Center’s most recent exhibit, “Cloverdale Now and Then.” It features key community landmarks with pictures of them in the past and present, showing both the growth and the continuity of the town in local history.
A Mobile Museum
Since it’s launch, the kiosk has spent a few months at Cloverdale High School and the Cloverdale History Center, and moved on to the Cloverdale Library, Anderson Valley Health Center, Cloverdale Citrus Fair, and other public community venues in the town.
“They realize there is so much more to people than you see on the street.” — Wendy Connor, Teacher
John “Dutch” Lyons
In the spring of 2013, when John “Dutch” Lyons came to a public presentation of Neighborhood Listening Project video interviews at the Cloverdale Center for Performing Arts, he took out his check book and became the primary donor for purchase and set-up of the Cloverdale Mobile Interactive Museum. He loved the idea of getting to know people beyond first impressions and he immediately saw the possibilities of using a kiosk to make people’s stories accessible outside of the classroom.
In Memory and Appreciation of Jack DeMeo
Want the kiosk to visit your neighborhood?
Make a suggestion for where the kiosk could be on display.