Creating Digital History » Paula Wagner

Maps and forms

Paula Wagner — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:16:37 +0000

Is there anyway to show location(s) on a map on the site after it has been loaded? Second question, can we add forms for feedback or contributions (not money) on Omeka?

Preservation

Paula Wagner — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:05:49 +0000

Amanda- Which practices of digital preservation to you suggest for our projects using Omeka? Which ones do you regularly use for your projects?

Project

Paula Wagner — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:09:57 +0000

My project focuses on the photo album of a little know ethnographer from Sag Harbor, NY, William Wallace Tooker. He lived on the East End of Long Island at the end of the 19th C. and first part of the 20th C. The album are photos he took in the environs of Sag Harbor.

Wagner question

Paula Wagner — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:37:46 +0000

Do I need an FTP for my Mac OS? How do I find out if I have one? (Sorry if this sounds dumb..)

Wagner Discussion question

Paula Wagner — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:47:33 +0000

Edward Tufte’s visualizations have always intrigued me. Digital History seems to be taking some of his concepts about the visualization of history to another level or dimension. It is using historical data in creative ways that challenge the engagement of the user. In the discussion, The Promise of Digital History, the participants talk about about how the structure of the medium of the web will determine how to create successful digital history. How will this be taught? How will creative architectures of historical websites be taught? One can always learn from looking at current historical websites for ideas, but what are the elements of really creative websites that also incorporate a focus? Sometimes non-linearity gets confusing….
Website for annotated bibliography
http://www.zotero.org/pw638nyu.edu/items/collection/1283989

Collaboration

Paula Wagner — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:37:00 +0000

It is interesting to see the evolution of the idea of collaboration in the humanities among the authors of these articles. The earlier articles (Unsworth and Rosenzweig) note that a computer specialist definitely needs to be part of any humanities collaborative team. Spiro’s articles, on the other hand, emphasize the user friendly software available for easy and seamless collaboration. Unsworth (1997) and Davidson (1999) give few examples of collaboration and discuss very general projects, whereas Rosenzweig (2007) and Sprio (2009 WOW!) present a variety of concept projects and functionalities for collaboration.

In my teaching experience from the early 1990’s to the present, there has been a deliberate emphasis on ‘group work’ and collaboration in the classroom as an effort to change the ‘individualism’ our traditional culture encourages. Certainly this course is a step towards changing the culture of the academy towards more colllaboration. I am enthused and excited about the collaboration that is taking place — more minds are better than one. So why are we doing these class projects individually?

Wagner Research Topics

Paula Wagner — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:44:49 +0000

I am thinking in two directions; one is to work on research I started 18 years ago on Catherine Weldon, a social reformer who lived in Brooklyn and deserted her family to live with Sitting Bull in S. Dakota; the other is to pursue some line of inquiry about the working class culture in Sag Harbor, Long Island. I feel that the Catherine Weldon topic might have information more accessible on the Internet and therefore, more appropriate for this course. The information on Sag Harbor would entail using archives not on the web, but from the local library (primarily–I would think…) Another line might be to extend the research I am doing for the Visual Record course, which is about Western landscape photography. I am open for any suggestions re: approach, questions, CONTEXT or anything else that might be helpful!

Discussion question 9/16

Paula Wagner — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:36:32 +0000

Is it useful to use a Darwinian model (survival of the fittest?) when considering information abundance? Rosenzweig’s article states the problems with preserving digital information, one being that there is a limit to how much information can be preserved– the web goes on to infinity! When archiving traditional media (books, photo, film, etc.) not everything is kept; why should it even be a consideration to keep everything in digital media? Which leads to another question; if governments don’t take on the responsibility to preserve digital ‘records’, and the responsibility becomes privatized, what are the ramifications for the issue of censorship?

Discussion Question

Paula Wagner — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:54:13 +0000

Friedman and Rosensweig’s historical analyses of computers and the Internet make it clear that rapid change is the primary constant in the field of computer science (e.g. Moore’s Law). How does that rapid change in computer/cyber/digital technology influence the preservation of knowledge (as in the Archival discipline)? Bush correctly states that all the information humans have accumulated is worthless without accessibility. How will accessibility be standardized throughout the technological changes that are inevitable in computer science?

Hello there!

Paula Wagner — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:18:05 +0000

Paula Wagner here…For the past 15 years I have been teaching high school history in a Brooklyn public school. I have also worked as a photographer (MANY) years ago and am looking forward to combining my two loves–photography and history– in this program. I have enrolled in the certificate program, full-time. Friedman’s book is nostalgic for me, as well! I’m enjoying the dichotomies he sets up for each section of the book.

My academic background is an undergraduate degree in Social/Cultural Anthropology and a Masters in Social Science Education. I am currently interested in early photographs of the New York Public School system–particularly the high schools.

‘Looking forward to meeting and learning much from all of you!