Hi Elisabeth,

Thank you very much for your response! First I have to clarify that the idea is not to abandon the Flickr database or any existing channels, which are really nice and well appreciated, but to update and upgrade them. Since now there are plenty of new contents with different forms of media emerging on the internet everyday, we think that "multimedia", rather than "audio-visual", is more inclusive and can better accommodate any type of new media products (and to my knowledge there is no audio content in the current audio-visual database yet). Another reason for the changes is to make the platform more lively, interactive and up-to-date, to connect people with more resources.

For photos we plan to stick to the Flickr database: updating it and redirecting users to it. But for videos beside SuSanA's YouTube channel, we can also share links to other videos. Indeed we'd like to sort out  media products in a similar way of what you made for the Flickr database, namely by region, language, theme related to WASH, but only with links to the original content (YouTube Channel, Podcast webpage) rather than files to download. So that people can find what they need easily through one platform.

I hope this answers your question and I am happy to discuss more about it with you : )

Best regards,
Yuxiao

Hi Yuxiao,
You wrote: "we are planning to build a new WASH multimedia database in SuSanA's knowledge hub to replace the existing "Audio-visual products" section", I am just wondering if you have decided to abandon SuSanA's existing photo collection which was hosted on flickr? If so, why?
Here is the link to the current audio-visual section: www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/audio-visual-products
From there it links to the flickr photo database like this: www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/collections/

I personally thought the flickr photo database with about 12,000 was great (I'm biased, as I was involved in setting it up and maintaining it). It meant those photos could easily be found by anyone who's searching the internet for photos. We also imported all of them to Wikimedia Commons, which is the photo database of Wikipedia. And they were all under an open licence: CC-BY SA. 

The photos were grouped by themes and regions and included keywords. They had good detailed captions. 
We also had a kind of "best of" collection although this would be in need of updating: www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/collections/72157625292787565/

With regards to videos, they were stored on SuSanA's youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/susanavideos
A listing of cartoons had been started here: www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/audio-visual-products/cartoons

So I am curious what the thinking is behind the new WASH multimedia database?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hello, I like the idea as I often want to find "sanitation stock photos" for presentations. So ideally:

• They would be under CC license, with an easy-to-copy and paste attribution line.
• I would be able to use search terms (e.g. specific technologies, locations, etc. like when searching for publications)
• There should be good global representation and avoiding stereotypes.
• Having used internal databases in WaterAid and previous employers, what I found super useful is a selection of "top images" that the team curated, for a few topics (maybe along the lines of the main topcis covered by SuSanA).

Thank you!
Rémi

Hi Paresh, thank you for your suggestions! Yes we should bear in mind that all voices need to be heard, and I believe an inclusive database can be a nice channel for the south-south exchange as well. 

Best regards, Yuxiao

Hi Kris, thank you for your valuable advice! I think it's a great idea, considering how it can facilitate the education and capacity development work of WASH professionals. I will discuss with the team and see how to include this component.

Best regards, Yuxiao

Thanks for posting about this Yuxiao. 2 suggestions below for making the database inclusive

1. Conciously include works of marginalised groups and authors from the Global South 
2. Make the database accessible for physically challenged individuals. 

Regards
paresh

I think it would be nice to have some water & sanitation themed comic stip components to quickly assemble your own comics. Something simple, black line vector art only (without text & with transparent background). Creative Commons licensed of course.

Ideally something compatible with this nice comic strip creator app: github.com/gramener/comicgen

Dear SuSanA community,

to facilitate the knowledge exchange in the WASH sector and make the best use of the era of media, we are planning to build a new WASH multimedia database in SuSanA's knowledge hub to replace the existing "Audio-visual products" section. The new multimedia database will tentatively be composed of five types of media products, including pictures (photos, comics, etc.), audios (podcasts, songs, etc.), videos (documentaries, events recordings, cartons, etc.). And it is supposed to be a living database which  i ntegrates up-to-date media release.

How do you like this idea? What do you think we can do to make it serve the users better? We are currently on the planning phase for the new database, therefore your ideas are very valuable for us. If you have any suggestions or concerns regarding the content, structure, operation and so on, please do not hesitate to share with us under this post or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Thank you for your support as always and we are looking forward to hearing your opinion!

Best regards, 

Yuxiao

on behalf of the SuSanA Secretariat