A project plan for a digital library focused on african american hair and how it has shaped our historical viewpoint and how we can change itl.

1. HAIRITAGE: BEAUTY, CULTURE, AND AFRICAN
AMERICAN WOMEN
Nicole Williams
Syracuse University
Information Management Graduate Program
IST 676

2. PROJECT TITLE: HAIRITAGE – BEAUTY, CULTURE,
AND AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

3. RESEARCH FINDINGS
The research I found included views such as this:
“This research was conducted to understand why African American women feel
they need to not wear their hair naturally. The question I began with is: Why are
African American women raised to change their hair from its natural state? As
the
research progressed the question of what is natural and what is not natural
arose. I
found that a distinct minority of women do not consider braids nor afros natural.
The women‟s reasoning for this is that they must still care for their hair, oiling it,
shaping it, and detangling it. Even when they wear braids the hair must be
manipulated into a complicated arrangement that looks semi-natural. Natural
hair
can be defined as hair having been unaltered by chemicals and therefore does
not
have a straight look but is tightly coiled or kinky in nature and appearance
(White
2005). Generally, African American women have had their hair chemically
altered
from its natural state starting around six to eight years old, and braiding begins

4. RESEARCH FINDINGS (CONTINUED)
“Akin to the civil rights movement and the women‟s liberation movement that
support each respective minority, the “natural hair movement” is gaining
momentum which, unlike many of your usual trends, will remain intact for years
to come and only continue to rise. While many trends will fade, natural hair will
remain. The only thing that has changed is how natural hair is perceived and in
many cases, how well it‟s received.” (Forcoloredgirls.com)
“Black female discussants on an Internet site devoted to Black hair care described
negative comments from family with respect to decisions to ·wear their hair in its
natural texture, which often concerned their ability to attract mates and obtain
jobs, especially in the corporate world and professions.” (Davis)

5. GOALS/OBJECTIVES OF THE DIGITAL LIBRARY
1. My objective is to provide a digital library service that will provide a place to
learn, embrace, and care for African American hair. The goals of this digital
library service are to:
2. A healthy, positive discussion on African American hair (my research suggest we
need this)
3. De-politicize natural hair
4. Combat misinformation about African American hair
5. Emphasize that African American hair is beautiful
6. Provide instructions and how-to‟s on hair care, maintenance, styling, and
product and product reviews
7. Provide information to book and literature on black hair
8. Provide a calendar of events for locations around the country and have
subscribers to the site post events in their areas

6. AFRICAN AMERICAN HAIR
STATS
Black hair care is a 684 million dollar
industry and much market research is
conducted to measure the popularity of
trends in black hair. One study
conducted on Design Essentials said one
in four women no longer chemical relaxed
their hair, and that sales of hair relaxers
decreased by 17 percent. The term
„natural hair‟ was searched on Google 1.2
million times for the month of November,
and the term „about African American
hair‟ was searched on Google 823,000
times in November.
(https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/
Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=100000
0000&__o=kt&ideaRequestType=KEYW
ORD_IDEAS)

7. WHY HAIRITAGE?
Internet access makes it easy to explore and finding information. The Hairitage
Digital Library Project will provide a setting for information surrounding the
knowledge and acceptance of African American hair needs to be mainstream
and integrated in a location that weaves together research, learning, discovery,
opportunities, participation, understanding, and benefits to the community.
These information needs include: research in the historical perspective of African
American hair, the thoughts and discussions on the topic, and research findings
from inside and outside the African American community, learning about hair,
hair texture, care, maintenance and styling, discovery of the historical
perspective of our hair from slavery to modern day acceptance, opportunities in
the community, participation in discussion boards, meet-ups, hair events, etc.,
and understanding, acceptance, and loving our hair. Users of the site would
search styling options, best products for their hair type, and view step-by-step
demonstrations on how to use those products.

8. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Library Interface
The first phase of the library interface will
be web page interface using XHTML,
cascading styles sheets, and the usage of
flash when appropriate. The usage of
XHTML and cascading style sheets will
allow the website to be modern enough for
most users to access the site without the
use of high level devices and software to
access the page. The second phase will
call for an upgrade for smart phone and
tablet users, providing an app and usage
of high level graphical user interface,
transitioning from XHTML to XML to RDF
stylesheets, and using a scalable system
such as service oriented architecture
(SOA).

9. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Metadata
All data including images and video will be catalogue in a backend database and tagged with
the appropriate keywords for indexing, easy access and searching by users. The
metadata will include among other key terms date, author name, publisher, type of
document, summary, ISBN if needed, and keywords. The metadata platform I will use is
Dublin Core because it is easiest to implement and good for web based systems.
Platform
The digital library will need a robust server for hosting the site, storage system, operating
system, database management system, hosting services, and software for creating the
website. Storage will not be a significant problem as most videos will be distributed across
the web such as YouTube, Vimeo, and blog sites. The most common web server is
Apache. It is reliable and will fit the need for this library service. Also, using a streaming
server and formatting the multimedia in different format will omit the need to have the user
download a separate plug-in to view the multimedia.
The database and repository platform is the core of the site. Dspace and ContentDm are
good choices for digital library services with limited staff of programmers to maintain the
site. Backup and recovery of content is essential for the long-term preservation of the site.

10. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE DIGITAL DATA SERVICE
The digital library must operate reliably into the future to meet growing traffic and data
growth. This will require a scalable system for hardware and software, that
resources will still be available over the long-term, and that a disaster recovery plan
is in place and ready for use when needed.
Content Acquisition
Phase one will include all free information usage to build the site including videos, blogs
post, scholarly articles. I will also collaborate with other experts and YouTubers in
soliciting new content, providing material, and contacting authors and others for the
rights to use their content, which will provide more exposure for their information.
Phase two will require I apply for grants and other means of funding to grow the site. I
will also solicit companies they may want to advertise on the site which will generate
income as well.
Outreach Plan to Targeted Audience
The outreach plan will include contacting the multitude of black hair YouTubers,
bloggers, newspapers, and authors via email to promote the site. I will also establish
a YouTube page to promote the library project. Black hair care brands will want to
promote the library on their site in exchange for advertisement as well.

11. ESTIMATIONS/TIMELINE
Timeline
Phase 1 – With limited funds and programming staff I estimate that this phase
would take approximately 3 months to get beta-testing/pilot site available. If
more funds and staff are available implementation time will be shortened.
Budget
This project is projected to cost $240,000 to complete phase one, which mostly
includes technical cost and full-time salary for three years.
Growth,….texture,……. kinks,…… coils

12. REFERENCES
Bellinger, W. (2007). Why African American Women Try to Obtain Good Hair.
University of
Pittsburgh at Bradford. http://pasocsociety.org/bellinger.pdf
For Colored Girls. http://forcoloredgurls.com
Foster-Davis, J. (2001). New Hair Freedom? 1990s Hair Care Marketing
and the African-American Woman. Eastern Michigan University
Google Adwords.
https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=10000
00000&__o=kt&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS
Natural Hair Revolution. Essence.com.
https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=10000
00000&__o=kt&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS
Jackson, C. (2012). Is Natural Hair the End of Black Beauty Culture?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cassandra-jackson/natural-hair-black-
beauty_b_1593548.html