Your Knowledge

Your Knowledge

Part one of our three-part series, Your Knowledge, Your Stories, Your Impact

♦ ♦ ♦

The PCM Collection Blog is very lucky to have such interested and engaged readers!  And we are so pleased that so many of our readers have asked how they can be more involved in contributing their personal knowledge to the PCM Collection.

There are four big ways you can help to add information to our object records:

1.)    Commenting on blog posts

2.)    Suggesting specific digitized objects from the Panama and the Canal Digital Collection you would like to see featured in a blog post, so the community can contribute information

3.)    Suggesting types of objects to be featured in blog posts

♦ ♦ ♦

Comment on Blog Posts

The fastest and easiest way to contribute your knowledge of the Panama Canal Zone to the PCM Collection is to comment on the blog posts!

There is no need to create an account or register with WordPress.  All you need is a valid email address.

Sometimes we may be looking for a specific piece of information about an object that is posted.  In other cases, the object may have little or no information (metadata) in its record, so any information you are able to provide can be quite valuable.

♦ ♦ ♦

Suggest Digitized Objects to be Featured in Blog Posts

Many objects in the PCM Collection have already been digitized and are available in the Panama and the Canal Digital Collection: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/pcm/all

This digital collection is public, so anyone is able to browse the objects.  There is no need to create an account or register as all the information you need is viewable by anyone.

If one is of particular interest and you would like to see it posted on the blog, just let us know and we can make sure it is highlighted on the blog.

Here is how to tell us about an object from the Digital Collection you would like to see posted for discussion:

First, Select the Object

1.)    Visit: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/pcm/all

2.)    Find an image you would like us to post on the blog

3.)    Click on its title

4.)    Click on “Description” in the upper left

5.)    Copy the Permanent Link to the object and note its title

Then, tell us about it!

1.)    Visit the blog and click the Contact tab

2.)    Send us a message that includes the link to your object and its title

3.)    Tell us why you would like to see it featured on the blog—Is it especially rare or interesting?  Does it have significance to you, personally?  Do you have a story about it?  Would you like others to comment on it?  Would you like others to identify some aspect of the object?  Just include a little something about the object and why you want to share it on the blog so that the object has some context.

4.)    We will likely post the object, along with anything you have written in your message about the object.

5.)    If you have a great story about the object, we may suggest that you write a longer guest post to about it, which may be featured in the Stories from The Zone section.  (More info about this coming Monday!)

Sending suggestions for objects may seem like a lot of steps at first, so if you have any questions or need help, please let us know via the Contact tab!

♦ ♦ ♦

Suggest Types of Objects to be Featured in Blog Posts

Not only can you browse the Digital Collection for specific items you would like to be featured, but we also welcome your suggestions for more general types of objects you might like to see in the blog posts.

If you have a specific knowledge area (Ex: Military in the Canal Zone, stamps, airplanes, molas, architecture, railroads, Boy Scouts, or anything else you can think of!), we can make an effort to post items relating to this topic, so that your specific knowledge maybe captured.

To let us know about your ideas for blog topics or types of objects, send us a message via the Contact tab.  We look forward to hearing about the topics within this collection that interest you the most!