Do you have a question about items in your closets like scrapbooks, yearbooks, letters and maybe even film or tapes? Tweet #AskanArchivist on Wednesday, October 5th and archivists from around the country will be available to assist. Have a question you want to direct to us? Tweet us at @gfbnec with the #AskanArchivist hashtag. See our flyer for more details.
Category: Social Media
Connect with us on Instagram
Go For Broke National Education Center is now on Instagram! Please follow our profile @gfbnec to keep up with the latest happenings of Go For Broke National Education Center and the Defining Courage exhibition.
Archives Team attends UCLA’s 2016 NDLC
Post written by Erin Sato, Assistant Archivist at Go For Broke National Education Center
Yesterday, the Go For Broke archives team attended the National Diversities in Libraries Conference (NDLC) at UCLA to present about our ongoing project. We titled our presentation “Faster Access or Perfect Metadata? The Balance in Indexing and Cataloging Oral Histories.” 
In our presentation, we first gave a background about the history behind the Nisei soldiers’ experience during World War II.
We then described our approach in indexing and cataloging the oral history narratives provided by Nisei soldiers. We also presented the challenges that we faced along the way in creating our controlled vocabulary index.
We received very positive feedback from our audience. We were surprised to hear that some of the viewers were already aware of the work that we were doing with the Hanashi Oral History Project and the National Digital Archives of Japanese American Military Service (NDAJAMS). We also received comments about how our passion for this project and the Nisei story was clearly evident during our presentation. It is comments like these that put our efforts into perspective and encourage us to continue our work towards spreading this story to a much wider audience.
One viewer, who we found out was from Japan, approached us after our presentation to tell us that she was surprised to learn about the Nisei soldier experience. She then assured us she would share our project and the story of the Nisei soldiers with her friends. She was so intrigued about how powerful the Nisei story is and how important it is for others to know about their experience.
Another viewer even shared updates about our presentation via social media (Twitter). Being such a small cultural heritage organization, it was incredible to see how well of a reception we received upon presenting our project. We hope to continue to inspire others to learn more about the Nisei soldier experience during World War II.
Check Us Out on Social Media!
Post written by Chris Brusatte, Exhibit Manager at Go For Broke National Education Center
We want to share our photographs and oral histories with the world! We truly feel that the stories that they capture are important for all to learn, and we know that so many people would be inspired once they saw them. We sincerely wish that every person, young and old alike, could view what we have in our incredible archives.
But like most institutions, we face a dilemma – how do we reach so many people, most of whom will never have the chance to visit our organization in person? How do we reach hundreds of millions of people, even if they never come through our doors?
Luckily, we live in the 21st century. Our footprint has grown, thanks merely to the existence of online platforms. Our website has long been a source of in-depth content about our organization and the Japanese American World War II story. And – thanks in large part to energetic support from around the country – we have finally established ourselves as a popular “go to” spot on social media.
Over the past year, we have completely re-energized our Facebook page. We feature regular daily content, share archival photographs and videos, and engage in real-time discussions about our images and oral histories. We simultaneously do the same with our Twitter community. If you haven’t yet joined the discussion, check us out:
https://www.facebook.com/Go-For-Broke-National-Education-Center-44821074152/timeline/
https://www.twitter.com/gfbnec
Our YouTube site also gives us a chance to share our oral history videos. While we are currently working on a much more expansive platform to share all of our oral history interviews online, for the time-being, make sure to check us out at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/442vets
Finally, our hard-working staff has started this blog. We felt that we needed a more “personal” way to share our collections, and the result is what you are reading now. I truly hope that you enjoy our bloggers and the passion that they show. And perhaps most importantly, I hope that you find this blog an ideal platform to learn more about our “gems” from the archives!
National Digital Archives of Japanese American Military Service 