overview
	On March 15, 2002, Location One convened a meeting of 17 downtown Manhattan arts organizations, and proposed a collaborative activity that would link all of them and support, both operationally and symbolically, the renaissance of the downtown arts community. Location One has developed a package of hardware, software and support services that enables artists and cultural organizations to take full advantage of Internet-based technologies for creative interchange, program creation, delivery and promotion, both individually and as an arts-based community. Thanks to the generosity of The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and The New York Community Trust, this program has begun to be implemented. By this autumn we hope to see the beginning of many new programs and collaborations within the community and over the next 12 months (by the summer of 2004), everyone should be fully enabled. Integrated Internet Services for Downtown Cultural Centers Technology and the Internet have become crucial to not-for-profit art centers, both to integrate the imagination and creativity of artists with the tools and delivery systems of new technology and to achieve greater operational and administrative efficiency within their organizations. Not-for-profit art organizations, not primarily concerned with commercial efforts, find themselves limited by insufficient resources and lack of expertise in the technological arena. Hence it is of utmost cultural importance to engage in an open process that will assist not-for-profit organizations in lower Manhattan with their everyday technological needs and enable them to experiment and interact with advanced technologies. 1. Description :: Location One has developed a collective management system that will enable not-for-profit cultural organizations in Lower Manhattan to utilize the full potential of the Internet to present programs and to engage in various kinds of creative exchange. The service is integrated on two axes: horizontal (services offered to each of the participating organizations) and vertical (collective aggregation of services focusing on group effect and cross-exchange). The proposed services use exclusively Open Source software with additional appropriate code adjustments and integration. Open Source methods enabled us to assemble a full-fledged non-proprietary content management system which remains open for upgrades and customization. 2. Structure / Information Flow :: 2.1. HORIZONTAL SERVICES (INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS) All individual organizations will be able to maintain their service database through a Web interface so that, other than arranging a basic Internet connection, they will not have to buy, install or maintain any software. 2.1.1. Calendar of Events A Calendar of events for Location One is installed on the Location One server and is based on a database engine (Postgres) and PHP interface to the Web server. The Location One Calendar of Events is available on http://www.location1.org/cmp/actual_calendar.php3 Each individual organization may decide if they would like to maintain a similiar private calendar. Location One will create an independent website that will offer the 1) DNA community calendar of events, 2) the community streaming channel and 3) the community archive of all events presented by the community. Each organization can submit a web address that contains all of their current and upcoming programs and events. We will create an Internet robot that travels to each site to gather updated information and continually updates the community calendar. 2.1.2. A/V Material Organizations will be able to submit short multimedia clips to a streaming server directly, through a Web "upload" form. This means that they will be able to create audio/video clips which can be viewed on the community streaming channel described below or accessed independently to broadcast as a stream at any time. A separate folder on the streaming server will be assigned for each organization, and their uploaded clip will be placed directly into their corresponding folder. Finally a descriptor file with the exact URL for the clip will be e-mailed back to the organization that has uploaded the clip. 2.1.3 PR - Mailing List For each organization we will offer a separate mailing list manager, based on Mailman package. Mailman is an easy-to-configure mailing list manager, enabling clear, intuitive and, most importantly, secure maintenance (through the Web browser) and email delivery. Possible applications are * one-to-many mailing list - enabling reliable email distribution to a virtually unlimited number of recipients while keeping a high level of privacy protection and minimizing the possibilities of malicious use. It also prevents the accident of unintentionally replying to the entire list instead of to an individual member of the list. * many-to-many mailing list - efficient platform for establishing direct communication within specific groups which helps to build and strengthen communities sharing similar interests; * joint archive of event announcements for all the member organizations will be organized as a searchable database of the activities of the alliance and over time will grow into an ever-expanding archival document which tracks historical data and chronological events in the downtown art scene. Information will be organized by organization and by date; a search engine will be created for easy use. 2.1.4. Wiki - Collaborative Document Creation Wiki is a tool that allows multiple users to create or edit the same text (or text with visuals) document from different locations, even when users are located on different continents. It was originally created at http://c2.com . Users work through a Web interface, although no knowledge of HTML is necessary, rather than attaching a document to mail that is subsequently sent back and forth. . Wiki version of this document is available on http://location1.org/wiki/text , while documentation is available on http://location1.org/wiki/wiki . 2.1.5. Live and On-Demand Streaming with Scheduler Participants, having minimal bandwidth requirements for live Internet streaming (e.g. dsl, cable, fiber, wireless) will be offered the possibility of streaming their events during specific time-slots, accompanied by timely on-line announcements of the broadcast. The schedule of live events will be assembled from the organization's calendar. Location One will supply appropriate Open Source streaming software and instruction manuals to each of the participants in the streaming channel. 2.2. VERTICAL SERVICES (COLLECTIVE PRESENTATION PLATFORM) 2.2.1. Streaming Channel We propose to create a cultural, community Streaming Channel which will display announcements, clips on-demand and live streaming events. Each participating organization will book a tile slot for live streaming in the Scheduler. Description of the event will be forwarded from the Calendar and presented as an on-going text-streaming presentation (SMIL) along with prepared clips related to the upcoming event. Hence the Channel will operate continuously, presenting material in the following sequence: ... [ANNOUNCEMENT] ... [LIVE STREAM] ... [ANNOUNCEMENT] ... 2.2.2. Joint Archive of Mailing Lists An archive of all e-mail list event announcements or press releases will be kept in a joint archive, publicly accessible though the Web. This will create a constantly updated database of all events from all participating organizations and will serve as an on-going listing of the current events as well as a record for history. 2.2.3. Wireless Access For organizations who do not have enough bandwidth to send complex multimedia events, we will try to facilitate connection to higher bandwidth locations through a wireless access network (802.11) technology. This high quality equipment is now available as inexpensive consumer electronics and presents a viable alternative to the installation of dedicated telephone lines which are more expensive and not always available. Given the availability and versatility as well as the relatively low cost, the number of publicly available 802.11 networks is growing rapidly and many individuals and organizations (especially in Lower Manhattan) are providing open and free access through their home or corporate broadband connections. 3. Prerequisites for Members of the Network :: 3.1. Text-only Services Basic Internet connection and any type of computer (with a browser) is sufficient for basic text-based services (e-mail list, Calendar) 3.2. Production of On-Demand Multimedia Clips Requirements: 1) a computer capable of capturing audio and video (any G3 or G4 Macintosh or PC with audio and video capture card); 2) appropriate Open Source production software: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=4483 3) software for creating A/V clips for streaming (e.g. editing and compression); We will provide an instruction manual. After instruction, each institution will be able to produce short Quick-Time video clips and upload them to the central streaming server. 3.3. Live Streaming Through Streaming Channel Live Streaming is possible using the same equipment described in 3.2. But, in order to be able to perform live streaming to the Internet, the organization must also have an upstreaming Internet connection with a capacity of at least 128 Kbps. That bandwidth capacity is available with almost any broadband Internet provider. For the optimal functionality of DNA, we envision a situation where all organizations would be connected to the Internet via broadband cable connection, while a central hub of servers could be located on a separate high-bandwidth location in NY. This would provide an inexpensive solution for each of the members, while still offering more than enough Internet resources. However, if no broadband connection through ground wires is possible, wireless connectivity could be implemented, using 802.11 network wireless cards. In order to use 802.11, the candidate would have to be relatively close to an organization already connected to the Internet who also maintained a wireless network. In this case, the candidate organization would need only a relatively inexpensive WLAN card.	Topic Links overview