Creating Digital History » Sarah Hodge

discussion, 12/9

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:24:53 +0000

Clay Shirky discussed the amateurization of professions such as journalists, photographers, and publishers that were previously defined by the community, the work, and also the scarcity of professionals in that field. Now that everyone can essentially write, photograph, and publish their materials online – breaking down the idea of who constitutes a professional. Is this something that is or will happen to historians?

question, 12/2

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:51:32 +0000

If I add a document to my archive and do not make it viewable to the public, because I only want it viewable in an exhibit. I want to add the finding aid from the collection my scanned files are from, but I was thinking of making each page of the finding aid an item and create an exhibit for it but rename it to Finding Aid — instead of uploading a pdf and having a link. But I probably just need to play around with this.

question, 11/18

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:27:00 +0000

I’m transcribing all of my items – which are handwritten original court documents from 1717 – to include on my site. I’m unsure if I should stick to the spelling used in the documents or if I should modernize it. I’m mostly asking this because the modernized spelling would help when visitors try to search the site or should I simply input the words exactly how they are to give a more accurate depiction of the sentence configuration and spelling of the early 18th century.

Also, due to damage to the documents over the years there are missing edges, sections, and corners. This has led to a loss of words and even entire paragraphs. How would I represent these missing sections? Is there a best practice or standard for transcription?

Student Project

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:18:41 +0000

http://sarahhodge.net/project/

My project focuses on a 1717 piracy case of the Vice Admiralty Court of the Province of New York concerning the pirate Richard Caverley. The collection consists of depositions from witnesses, accomplices, and pirates.

question, 11/11

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:11:19 +0000

I had some difficulty in distinguishing the Dublin Core elements “source” and “relation”. Both elements were described in Omeka as a related resource. Is source the physical collection the digitized item is a part of?

question, 11/4

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:46:52 +0000

Are we just describing the digital version of our resources or should we include metadata for the physical object as well? Dublin Core has “type” and “format” elements – for type I put “text” and for format I put “image”, but noticed in the examples that you could also enter “physical object” for format. If we do describe the physical as well, how will that read to an audience, as the physical object’s metadata is not separated form the digital version’s metadata?

Also, is there a way to change the layout of the metadata pages? I have four pages for one item and it stacks the thumbnails on top of each other with the metadata below. It just looks a little strange.

question, 10/28

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:43:00 +0000

I was interested in including a component to my site that would allow for zooming in on documents. Prof. French – when we last spoke you expressed that this may not be possible. Is there a way to get at the code of Omeka to test this out? Or will I run the risk of breaking my database if I tried to code on my own?

discussion 10/21

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:58:20 +0000

Steve Krug suggests to not overthink the design/layout of one’s website, to stick to formulas and conventions already established on the web, and to keep the site intuitive to keep visitors interested not frustrated. While I like and agree with his overall idea of not re-inventing the wheel, I felt that ultimately, as he was mostly addressing a commerical audience, his ideas on scarcity of content are not applicable to academic sites. Cohen and Rosenzweig suggest a middle ground between the word sparse Krug site and design heavy site of aesthetes – where a historian’s ideas be the focal point.

discussion, 10/14

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:50:25 +0000

In Interchange: The Promise of Digital History the contributors discuss the power of museums to authenticate or validate the artifacts in their holdings – something that Taylor said could not occur online. They also talked about online exhibits and the need for them to embrace the nonlinear presentation of museums to encourage discovery. While the online exhibit is the next area for communicating and interacting with history, there seem to be limitations due to the conceptualization of a site as it is bound within a creator’s preception of history as a linear, controlled item. That said, even museum exhibits experience a type of control through signage and pathways, but these help contextualize a vistor’s experience and provides a richer understanding of the artifact’s history and significance. Online exhibits should not be entirely nebulous or free form to combat the criticism of being a “linear and controlled” medium, but rather should incorporate digital signposts and pathways to present integral information to documents and also allow for discovery.

Discussion, 10/7

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:50:08 +0000

This week’s readings and particulary Vaidhyanathan’s Copyright and Copywrongs looked at the discussion of an author’s originality and creativity rewarded by copyright, which initially was intended to allow the author/artist to reap financial rewards for a frame of time and provide incentive to create more works. Vaidhyanathan pointed out that many of these “original works” are derivatives or reconstitutions of public domain works or oral traditions that do not have credited authors. Corporations (Disney) and individuals (Mark Twain) make full use of these public domain materials and then block future artists/authors from benefiting from a balanced copyright law by lobbying for continued extensions to the copyright term. Copyright law turns into this strange concept that awards long term proprietary control over a work that itself was born out of the materials available in the public domain.

Discussion

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:51:49 +0000

Rosenzweig stated in Our Cultural Commonwealth, “Digital technology favors openness and collaboration.” Scholarship is stepping into the digital world, sharing resources and encouraging feedback and commentary on ideas and projects in many, many different forms. The one thing holding any rapid progression is the technology of the devices through which we interact digitally (as I believe was mentioned in class a few weeks ago). This divide between digital technology and the machine to view it struck me and I wonder what collaboration in the digital sphere would like like if the technology of the machine (such as kindle) ceased to be an obstacle.

Research Musings

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:31:15 +0000

My research interests are fairly broad and eclectic, which will hopefully be dwindled as delve more into each topic and am faced with the realities of which would be more feasible for class. That said – I’m still thinking about a project on Henry V or the Battle of Agincourt (1415). I’ve always be fascinated by this time period and the English goal of “reclaiming” the French crown. I will also be looking into the Federal Writers Project – a part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as I would generally like to know more about it. Also, I was thinking of creating a project around Herman Melville, his works, and life in New York.

Discussion Question

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:43:09 +0000

Roy Rosenzweig discusses the idea of the fragility and vulnerability of evidence in the digital era. We are moving toward a culture of digital documents and attempting to leave paper and printed matter behind. How will this impact historical documentation? Historians will need to adapt to recording/relating history in the digital era – dealing with documents that are in flux and lack the static stability of printed materials.

Discussion Question – Sarah

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:32:34 +0000

Both Friedman and Rosenzweig discuss the multiple narratives of the origins of the internet. This flexibility in its history is akin to its ever-changing, fluid nature. Information is updated or deleted – it seems to always be in flux. Regarding the internet there is not a static record that archivists can confront and handle in the same terms as analog materials. Moore’s Law, a “self-fulfilling prophecy” as Friedman calls it, states that pace of technology will accelerate exponentially. Documents created on “new” software one year may be obsolete in two.

How can archivists capture the fluidity of the internet and also contend with rapid pace of technology?

introduction – Sarah Hodge

Sarah Hodge — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:21:12 +0000

My name is Sarah Hodge. I’m starting my second year in the LIU -NYU dual degree program. So, hopefully by May I will have an MA in archives and an MLIS to my name. I have worked at the National Archives in New York for a year and a half – mostly toiling in the processing room. I graduated from Southern Illinois University with a BA in English/Creative Writing several years ago.

I’m mainly interested in the conservation/preservation side of archives. My historical interests are roughly the 15th and 16th centuries of England (Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt).

I once had Myspace, but migrated to Facebook because I liked the cleaner layout. Before I started the MA program I worked at an internet company called ThomasNet where I basically tagged clients’ sites with WebTrax, a traffic tracking software. Last year I took a website architecture class at LIU, so I have a little experience with HTML and website building. I am looking forward to improving on my knowledge and feeling more confident of my web application skills.