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I first discussed ideas for this project with Dr. Peter Whelan in May, 2000. I wanted to do an educational technology project for my Masters of Liberal Studies final project. At the time, both Dr. Whelan and I were completing a series of training workshops in the use of ArcView software. ArcView is a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software package written, sold and supported by ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Incorporated). I wanted to work on a project that would combine the use of GIS software with the creation of a Web site that would be used as an educational tool. Dr. Whelan and I met again later to brainstorm. Since he had an interest in the earthquakes that have occurred in West Central Minnesota, and he wanted further research done, he suggested that I use that for project. Dr. Whelan had directed a summer research project that three of his students did following the 1993 earthquake. They interviewed over 100 residents of West Central Minnesota, analyzed their findings, and wrote a paper for the project. He had been hoping to do further study on earthquakes in the area.
I began my research by locating newspaper stories about the earthquakes. I found several articles online at the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Web site. I went to the Morris Public Library to locate and make copies of the earthquake articles that appeared in the Morris Sun and Tribune. There is no way to get electronic versions of the Morris newspaper articles, so I made photocopies. Work is underway to microfilm the Morris newspapers, but it is being done as funding is available. I typed the articles and they are included in this Web site.
Since part of this project includes an educational Web site, I thought that I would create the Web pages as my research progressed. The pages will hold the information I discover during my research, will allow me to organize the information, and evenually will be finalized as the educational Web site. I created the first Web page (the home page) for this Web site using Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is a Web authoring application that is fairly new to the UMM campus. This software package is powerful, but somewhat difficult to learn by just following the manual. Workshops and one-on-one training would help speed up the learning. I am learning Dreamweaver as I work on this project. I continued creating Web pages, starting out with the page that will include the newspaper articles. I plan to drive to both Alexandria and Willmar to find back-issues of their newspapers that may contain articles about the quakes in this area. 8/26/00: Wrote to WCCO and KSAX stations requesting information they have on file pertaining to the earthquakes in the Morris area. I heard back from both, saying that they would not sell video to me. Dr. Whelan thought that he should probably try to contact them to explain the project and ask again for their help. Project Approved by Dr. Laird Barber & U of M Graduate School Approval Dr. Whelan and I met with Dr. Laird Barber to discuss this research project and get approval for this Web project as a final project for my master's degree. Dr. Barber signed the approval forms and they were forwarded to the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. I received U of M Graduate School approval early in October. Started Creating Maps with GIS Software Worked on locating Minnesota county data, shape files, data tables and linking them together to be used with ArcView (GIS) software. Prepared the first Minnesota map showing county borders, county names, city and town names. I hope to bring in fault-line shape maps and earthquake maps from the U.S. Geological Survey Web site. I created an interactive Web form on the Web site for people to use in submitting their earthquake stories to me. This was the first interactive Web form I have done using Dreamweaver software, and I was able to create it on my own, with the help of the Dreamweaver Users' Guide. I have spoken to some of the people who submitted their stories using this interactive Web form, and they liked using it. Others have preferred to email me their stories rather than using the Web form. Publicizing the Project to Solicit Earthquake Stories I met with Judy Riley at the University Relations office to explain the project and ask for her help in publicizing it. The goal in publicizing is to get the word out to people that I am looking for people to share their earthquake experiences with me. Judy contacted Jason Lina at the Morris Sun Tribune and a meeting was scheduled for him to interview both Dr. Whelan and me. Jason Lina came to campus and interviewed both of us the following week. The article appeared in the Morris Sun Tribune on October xx, 2000. I immediately received several responses from people (phone calls, email messages, and submittals from the Web site's interactive Web form). Judy Riley told me that she had permission from the Morris Sun Tribune to send a news release (their article) to other area newspapers. The article subsequently appeared in the Chokio Review and the Herman Herald. I received some more responses from people in Chokio/Alberta and Herman. I was contacted by Tom Cherveny, a staff writer at the Willmar newspaper, the West Central Tribune. He had heard about my project from a friend of his, and wanted to interview me for an article he wanted to write for his newspaper. I met with him Monday, October 31. The article was printed the next day in the November 1, 2000 issue. The article was also posted on their Web site. Within three days, I received two written letters, as well as several email messages from people in the Willmar area. Phone calls came in within the first two weeks.
Research Continues at County Historical Societies I visited the Kandiyohi County Historical Society in Willmar on October 31st and used their microfilm reader to locate and print newspaper articles that appeared in 1975 and 1993 about the quakes. I visited the Dougas County Historical Society in Alexandria on November 2nd and used their microfilm reader to locate and print newspaper articles that appeared in 1950, 1975 and 1993 about earthquakes in their area. Both the Douglas County Historical Society and the Kandiyohi County Historical Society have asked me to let them know when I've completed the Web site so that they can add the information and references to my site. Further Publicity - KMRS Radio Judy Riley, still working to help advertise this project, contacted Bill Eckerson of the KMRS radio station in Morris. He was interested in having Dr. Whelan and I come to the station for an episode of Community Connection. We did the show on Friday, November 10th at 8:45 a.m. The format was a call-in show and the event was advertised several times during that week. We had many people phone in. There were so many callers, that not everyone was able to get on the air. One of the staff members at KKOK/KRMS continued to take calls about the earthquakes, even though the show had concluded. Some people contacted me by phone and email later that day. I heard from several others in the two weeks following the radio show. During the KRMS radio show, I was able to mention that I would be at the Senior Citizens Center in Morris on Wednesday, November 15th from 10:30 to Noon and invited people to stop in and learn more about the project and share their earthquake stories with me "in person." I am digitizing the radio show to create an audio file. I will edit the recording to take out the filler and empty air time spaces and include the audio clip(s) on this Web site. I will also type up the callers' stories and include them as I have the other submitted stories. Meeting With Senior Citizens 11/15/00 Dr. Whelan and I both met with Morris area residents at the Senior Center on November 5, 2000. There was a good turnout that day, because it was their Thanksgiving luncheon that day! I demonstrated the Web site and several people were happy to share stories of their earthquake experiences with us. See a couple of photographs that were taken there that day. Earthquake Stories Continue to Come In People continue to write to me, submit their stories via the interactive Web form, and phone me. As the stories come in, I type them up in Microsoft Word, save them as HTML format. I then open the HTML files in Dreamweaver to enhance them with graphis and formatting, and then link them to the Web site. I worked further on the county maps, creating "image maps" within them. To do this, I used ArcView (the Geographical Information Systems software package) to create the map area, and then saved 'pict' files from them using the Macintosh screen capture procedure. I then opened the 'pict' files with AppleWorks and used the tools within AppleWorks to refine the map and save it as a GIF file. Then I use Dreamweaver to create a page, inserting the GIF image onto the page and use the Image Map functions of Dreamweaver to create the "clickable areas" of the map. Image maps allow you to create links to other Web pages or sites by selecting an area or portion of an image on the page you are viewing. For example, if you are using the Web site and you go to the Stevens County map, you can click on a city name, like "Morris", and the list of people who submitted earthquake stories for Morris is displayed. Publicity: ABC Affiliate - KSAX Television Ch. 5/42 Judy Riley inquired how the project was going. I brought her up to date on how the response has been going and about the response from people in the Willmar area following the article in the West Central Tribune. Judy wondered if we would be ready to go on television and if she should contact KSAX. I said that I thought it would really be great to hear from people in the Alexandria area. Judy contacted KSAX to tell them about this project and to ask if they would be interested in doing a story on it. Amy Dahleen from KSAX Television called to set up an appointment to tape an interview with myself and Peter Whelan on the afternoon of November 29th.Amy requested that I have some props or a bulletin board of information about the project that she could include in the filming, so I printed out some of the pages from the Web site and prepared a tri-fold poster board presentation of some of the highlights from the site. Amy Dahleen brought me a video tape of footage and interviews that KSAX did after the 1993 earthquake. I will digitize this video and include the video clips within this Web site. The segment aired on the 5pm news broadcast on December 4th. KSAX sent me a copy of the broadcast and I will also digitize this video clip and include it on the Web site. Article Published in the Winter 2001 issue of the Profile (for Alumni, Parents, and Friends of the University of Minnesota, Morris). Judy Riley, University Relations at UMM, wrote an article, "Where were you when the earth moved?!" about this project for the Winter issue of the Profile. The article advertised the Web site and asked readers to contact me via email. Several people wrote to me within the first week, and email continued to arrive over the following month. |