Among the more difficult challenges facing many research groups are those related to how their data can be archived and shared by other researchers in the field. These are often not trivial problems to work out, and has prevented many paranormal groups from sharing their data on a regular basis. In this two-part article, I am going to discuss some of the new services and technologies AGHOST has utilized and developed in an attempt to solve some of these problems, and ultimately take a step closer to providing all of our investigation data online for the world to access.
Throughout its five-year lifespan, AGHOST has organized more than 200 investigations at various locations across the United States and Europe. And, as you can probably imagine, we have A LOT of data. Investigator reports, data-logging output, photographs, video and audio data of all kinds have been collected by our researchers and archived on various storage media. The trouble is, much of this data has typically been stored offline and is often not immediately available to other investigators or even to other AGHOST members.
So, as the Technical Director for AGHOST one of my goals for 2006 was to help remedy this problem. The results of this effort was the AGHOST Media Archive, and the AGHOST Reporting Database. In this article I will discuss the AGHOST Media Archive, an online archive of AGHOST photographs, video and audio data - all of which is immediately available via the web to other AGHOST members and researchers.
About the AGHOST Media Archive
It is not uncommon to see many ghost hunting groups post a few of their photographs, and sometimes even audio and video clips from their investigations on their website. AGHOST, as well, has done this sort of thing in the past. But as many quickly discover (including myself), posting this data can quickly become a tedious task and ultimately often only provides incomplete information anyway; a small sample of the entire investigation.
So, we clearly needed a better system. Something that can archive ALL of our data yet still allow immediate access to anyone who desires to see it. As with any system, I needed to think carefully about the workflow and how we could quickly publish and archive our data while eliminating any potential bottlenecks. I knew that I needed a web-based solution, something that could scale to thousands of data objects and ultimately handle many gigabytes of data. The system would also have to handle different types of data, from photos, video, audio as well as written reports.
After researching multiple solutions, I ultimately decided to utilize the open-source Gallery2 software. Gallery2 is a web-based PHP/MySQL application primarily designed for digital photos, but can also handle video and even audio data reasonably well. There are also a large number of add-ons available which allows us to enhance its functionality, or fill in any gaps if needed. And it even integrates quite nicely with the Joomla! backend we use for our AGHOSTOnline.org website.
Gallery2 has allowed us to archive and make immediately available much of our older investigation data that was previously not readily available to the rest of the AGHOST community. Now AGHOST members can upload their own photo, audio and video data immediately after the investigation so that other members can view and comment on them.
The archive currently contains nearly 33,000 items, many of which are digital photographs, but the audio and video content is also significant. Even with over 30,000 objects, the archive is still not complete. AGHOST still has many thousands more photos and video clips that are still waiting to be dusted off and uploaded for all the world to enjoy. This will be an ongoing project for 2007.
The Media Archive is currently only available to AGHOST and AGHOSTOnline members. This is done primarily for privacy reasons. However, anyone may obtain an AGHOSTOnline account for a small yearly fee - basically a small donation that helps offset the cost of a dedicated server. Please visit AGHOSTOnline.org for more information.
What About Reporting?
Photos are nice and all, but what about the reporting data? All AGHOST investigators are required to submit a report after a walkthrough or an investigation. How do we assure consistent and accurate reports, and provide immediate access to those as well? How can we be sure that the investigator has turned in their reports on time? How can we immediately correlate and search data from, say, 100 reports from 15 different investigations? In the next part in this series we'll discuss the AGHOST Reporting Database and how AGHOST is helping to solve the reporting problem as well.
So, where is your data? (Part 1)
Ghost Hunter's Getaway 2006, Recap
Well, the 4th Annual Ghost Hunter's Getaway is over. A BIG THANKS to all volunteers and supporters who helped make it such an amazing success! I've been meaning to put up a recap of the GHG '06 events, so I thought this was a good opportunity to test out AGHOST's new blog. So here it goes...
For those who aren't aware, AGHOST organizes a conference every year called the "Ghost Hunter's Getaway", to help raise funds for the group. Last year we held the event in Port Townsend, WA. This year with the help of author Jefferson Davis, it was held at the Hotel Elliot in Astoria, OR on November 11th and 12th, 2006. Details of the event can be found here.
Most of the AGHOST members and guests began to arrive the Friday night before the conference (November 10th), and congregated at the Hotel Elliot's lounge. Ross Allison (AGHOST President), Jeff Belanger, and I drove down from Seattle that Friday night as well. With the typical Seattle traffic and the bad weather it took us close to six hours to travel from the Seattle area to Astoria, a trip that normally only requires about three hours :-s We arrived at the Hotel Elliot around 8PM, and after socializing for a while, we finished setting the conference area for an early start on Saturday morning.
The event kicked off the next morning with author Jefferson Davis, and then a double-header by AGHOST's president, Ross Allison. All in all, I think the event on Saturday went very smoothly. We had some great speakers, some of whom are AGHOST members, and great vendors such as the Gargoyle's Statuary. We also had our share of technical glitches, but nothing AGHOST's most awesome Technical Director couldn't figure out ;)
Unfortunately, many of us were manning the tables most of the day so didn't get to see many of the lectures. I missed Jeff Belanger's lecture, which I was kinda bummed about, but heard it was very well done. I had the opportunity to help out with some of the multimedia aspects of Joshua Alper's lecture, which I think everyone enjoyed, despite a few glitches. I was also really excited to get to speak again this year, and discuss some of the technical projects I've been working on at AGHOST. After working so hard on these projects it was a real treat to be able to discuss some of the cool tech-related aspects of the group, such our Media Archive and Reporting Database.
The agenda for the next day was to be primarily tours and other outdoor workshops. Unfortunately, the weather turned a bit sour in Astoria on Sunday which I'm sure dampened some of the planned tours. I didn't stick around, as I had a cold-stricken wife to get back to in Washington. But I understand all the tours took place, regardless of the less than ideal conditions.
Finally, I have to say, Astoria was a great location for this event. I visited Astoria a total of three times in October and November, investigated some of its most haunted locations (such as the Liberty Theater), and met some really great people such as Lorrie from the Rosebriar Inn. I'm certain AGHOST will be visiting Astoria again very soon :)
New AGHOST Blog!
Hey folks!
AGHOST now has its own blog! Here you'll find articles and editorials written by AGHOST's officers and directors. Learn more about our research, current projects and what it's like to be a part of the greatest paranormal research organization in the pacific northwest.
Enjoy!
