Austin's History Made Interactive

The City of Austin is going to be rolling out their recently completed project to coincide with the start of SxSWi: an interactive DVD, titled Austin Past and Present, which tells the history of Austin. The DVD incorporates historical documents from local archives (mainly the Austin History Center) into 300 slideshows and stories about our fair city. You can learn about the geological beginnings of our area, learn more about the beginnings of neighborhoods such as Clarksville, or check out the 160 biographies included in the disc. Austin Past and Present can be viewed (starting Friday) on public access computers at public library branches, and will also be available for perusal at the Convention Center during the Interactive fest and on sale at the SxSW store.

The city is hoping to soon set up permanent kiosks at the airport, city hall, and convention center to make this interactive program available to tourists and others. A.I.S.D. has plans to use the program in local schools.

If you want one of your own, the DVD will be sold at BookPeople and the shop at City Hall. Proceeds from home sales of the DVD will go to the Austin History Center Association (which works with the Austin History Center).

[Official site]
[Austin Chronicle: Community Access (article about the project)]

Photo by mcorry at flickr