As the University’s centennial year unfolds, the administration wants to involve all students and alumni in commemorating their time at the University.
To do so, the University has started a project called Centennial Memories.
By clicking on the 100 Years logo on the home page of the University’s Web site and then on the link “Centennial Memories” in the left margin, students can access a Web page that allows them to upload their favorite memories at the University through various types of media.
The project idea got moving in February of 2009 and a deadline to make the site public was established in August of the same year. True to the deadline, advertisements were set out in the alumni magazine in August and the alumni started uploading their memories to the Web site.
Now the University would like current students to share some of their memories.
“It’s really like a digital scrapbook,” said library associate Dana Nemeth. “It allows students to participate and document the centennial year and how it unfolds.”
Students can upload photos, type in a story, or share a movie or audio file.
Current student Larry Serfozo added his story to the site recently by sharing his memory of being the president of his fraternity. In his story, Serfozo said his year as president of Phi Delta Theta was one of the best years of his life and the University has since become his “home away from home.”
Serfozo is one of the few students to make a post yet and said he decided to share his story because he wanted others see how the opportunities the University presents can greatly improve a student’s experience.
“I’m from a small town and it was really intimidating to come to a college town like Bowling Green,” Serfozo said. “And taking advantage of Bowling Green’s opportunities has allowed me to meet some great people, students and staff, and I just wanted to share that with everyone.”
Perhaps the star of the show, however, is the newly added Google phone widget. This new technology is something that coordinator of library information and emerging technologies Gwen Evans and ITS technician Rudy Ramos developed to give students an easier way to upload their memories.
“We started out using a microphone [to get audio],” Evans said. “But there was a lot of background noise so we wanted to find a way to use cell phones because they are really good at noise canceling.”
Ramos and Evans then found a way to use the Google phone widget. They uploaded a link to the Web site, and all a student has to do is fill in the name and phone number. He or she will then instantly get a phone call from the Web site. The voice mail immediately picks up and prompts the student to leave a memory no longer than three minutes.
Evans then receives voice mail notification in her e-mail, downloads it to the computer and uploads it to the Web site.
“This isn’t really what Google phone is intended for, but we are really pushing the envelope with it,” Evans said. “It’s really just a phone service but we are able to upload these voice mails to the site and it works great. I guess that’s the ’emerging technologies’ part of my job.”
The Web site can be accessed through the BGSU home page or by going to memories.bgsu.edu, or through another new form of technology called QR codes, which is a two-dimensional bar code. QR codes are abstract symbols left at the bottom of flyers or posters. These codes can then be scanned by smart phones and take the phone’s browser immediately to the Centennial Memories Web site. Here, just like on an actual computer, students can upload their own memories as well as look at or listen to memories left by others.
“We wanted to find a way to use technology that was easier for different generations,” Evans said. “And I think with all the different options we found, there is something for people with all different comfort levels in technology.”
