Lights, Camera, Action!: Behind the Scenes of a SCRC Livestream

The Special Collections Research Center has collaborated with departments and units on campus to host live "unboxings" of archival collections. In these unboxings, SCRC staff and guests present to the audience interesting items from the archives. Previous unboxings have covered topics such as pop-up books, navigating the archives, bees, comics, university maps, and more. These events are free and open to the public, and livestreamed on the NC State University Libraries YouTube channel. For more information about upcoming events, please refer to the NC State University Libraries’ events page. New unboxings this semester include “Processing Mysteries from the Archives” and “Asian & Asian American Lives in the Archives.” 

Setting up a livestream requires several stages of planning and discussion. First, staff pick a topic or theme. Generating ideas for livestreams is a creative and collaborative process, as the department works together to suggest engaging topics for the event. After a topic has been selected, staff members hosting the stream will spend a majority of the planning time carefully curating items to highlight during the event. Collaborating with other staff members is crucial at this stage, and others may have ideas about which archival collections to incorporate into the stream. 

At this time, SCRC staff may reach out to faculty members or units on campus to inquire if they would be interested in providing their expert knowledge or campus spaces for the stream. In the past, the department has even collaborated with the Public Sciences staff on campus to film in their labs. Finally, the last part of the planning process is conducting research on the topic and each archival item selected. It is important to show viewers a certain level of interest and knowledge in a topic, so staff will draft up talking points and research notes prior to the filming date. 

Now, here comes the fun part — filming! SCRC staff coordinate with the Learning Spaces and Services department in the Libraries to set up the equipment and prepare for filming. The department typically uses a top-down and front-facing camera for filming, so that the hosts and the items they are unboxing are shown on the screen simultaneously. One or two staff members operate the technical equipment, including the audio and screen view controls. After the recording goes live, the co-hosts begin the discussion and start unboxing archival materials while another staff member moderates the chat feature on YouTube Live. The stream is later captioned and uploaded to the Libraries' Youtube channel, where viewers can watch the stream at their convenience. 

Technical issues are bound to happen while conducting livestreams regularly. It has been helpful to rely on the “be right back” feature of YouTube Live, which temporarily pauses the recording, and lets viewers know the stream will resume soon. If any issues arise, the stream can pause until the problem is resolved. If it is a minor issue, like the host’s lavalier microphone needs to be adjusted, then those monitoring the technical output can signal to the hosts to fix the microphone without pausing the stream.

After airing a number of livestreams, SCRC is reflecting on what we’ve learned from the process. Technical issues, scheduling conflicts, and coordinating with other units on campus can be a challenge. Hosting livestream events requires flexibility and adaptability from everyone on the team, so that these problems can be quickly resolved. Staff have also discussed the importance of unboxing new or "hidden" collections in the archives, as well as addressing silences in the archives through the live format [For more information about SCRC's efforts in addressing archival silences, please refer to the Reparative Archival Description webpage]. Lastly, we’ve learned from this process that improvisation and creativity can create the most wonderful experiences for the audience and staff members during a livestream. 

If you have any questions or are interested in viewing Special Collections materials, please contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu or submit a request online. The Special Collections Research Center is open by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm and Saturday, 1pm–5pm. Requests for a Saturday appointment must be received no later than Tuesday of the same week.