Author: JamesLetts

This week in class we played around with correcting and really specifying our Omeka items in terms of mapping items and mapping items with multiple locations. The corrections were all very constructive criticism and helped me really specify and make my items very neatly entered and to fit the guidelines to an appropriate standard. Mapping, and making a neat line to this extreme is another way to really lazar focus and put the exact finishing touches on our entered items. I was running into a little bit of trouble because in class today we also talked about marriages and marriage invitations, a third of my items are invitations and have multiple locations. Like did Morrow go to all these locations and the ceremonies and the receptions? They have the location of the ceremony and the reception on the invitation and then we are at the crossroads again of which to map it to. So, on top of the stadiums, I also have the multiple locations on the invitation to map and hopefully the neat line can get me started with that. I just started getting into mapping the schedules, but I missed class on Wednesday and a little lost on how to map something on the neatline. I’m not sure the appropriate ways to fill out all the categories correctly and efficiently. Like the titling and mapping and description I can do and figure out I’m just not totally clear on the correct selections for the drop-down menus. I don’t want to do it incorrectly and mess something up because I know that these items and information about these items need to be clear and specific.  

This week in class we warmed up with the idea of hopefully adding a location to our items installed into Omeka. The first two classes of the week we really played around with just the possibility of seeing if we could put our items on a map. It was really to just get our ideas flowing and thinking about looking at our items breaking them down then critically thinking about the appropriate spots to place the items. Today in class, we broke down and started to map our inserted items. Today I looked at and started to place three of my items on a map. A football schedule, a soccer schedule, and a little poem titled “The Skater.” My items were challenging to put on a map. The football schedule was the easiest one to place. It was the home location of Westchester state colleges football stadium, then there were many other locations. I had the idea of just placing it on a map at the location of our football stadium. The home games were held there, and it was Westchester’s stadium so by default I figured it would be an appropriate location to mark it as. The soccer schedule had no games at home and just a bunch of away locations, so I did not know where to place it. It got me thinking about all the locations for the soccer and football schedule that had away locations. Yes, I could ballpark it and place these in the area, but which set location do I pick? Should I go back and research which games were the biggest, and set the location there? What do these locations say about Beryl foster? Did she attend these games? Visit these towns? Or was it something she might have just wanted to have the option to attend? The most logical explanation is that these are some events to look forward to if she had wanted to attend if she had nothing else going on. “The Skater” I believe is not mappable. It’s a picture of an ice skater and a mini poem with a name underneath it. I looked up the name of the writer I’m assuming and got nothing and then I looked up the lines of the poem and still did not get anything. I think it is one of those things that aren’t mappable, but I will ask for confirmation for sure before I just write it off.  

This week in class we really focused on meta data. More specifically how to install forms of meta data. We are doing this in the form of inserting old artifacts from a scrapbook into Omeka. In class we are learning strategies on how to navigate Omeka properly and effectively which gives us a good sense of the installation of meta data. When I think about and reflect on class this week, I think of two things. The first thing I think about is the Netflix show “You” in this show the main character in season one has a job at a bookstore. There is one room in the shop that only he has access to. In this room there are the bookstores rarest most priceless books. He takes exceptionally diligent care of the books and is always stressing their conditions. He makes sure that the room temperature is set cold, there is little to no sunlight and nothing that could potentially harm the books. Ultimately, he does not do the best job at protecting the books due to some extremely bad decisions, but it reminds me of floor six of the library. It is very cold up, there is very minimal light and Ron is always telling people to get their water off the table with the potential that it might spill and ruin the scrapbook items. The next thing that classes this week has reminded me of is work back at home. I work at a gym and sometimes when new cooler drinks come in, I must insert them into inventory. It is remarkably similar to the process of inserting something inside Omeka. There are a lot of steps that go into it. Some of the things that overlap between the two are analyzing the product, naming the item, inserting pictures, and applying descriptions. Both take a little bit of time to do but once you get the hang of it, it becomes satisfying.  

In the classes this week we spent a lot of time going over letters in the Willa Cather archive. The point was to get us to navigate old information and data. This was simply just an introduction to meta data. Meta data is very much a complex thing to grasp, like how complex the definition of DH is. Meta data is information about another piece of information. When we talked about this in class it made me stop and slow down and really think about it because it sounded funny. Information about information, then it made me think about what we did in class with the letters. There were the letters and all the proprieties of one, and then there was information about the letter. Where it was written and when it was published, all installed into the archive. This made me think, can we use meta data to record our lives so that when we inevitably die, we have a way of being remembered forever? I then realized that the scrap book was a way of doing this. I just wonder if it is possible to document your life more thoroughly and less frequently and over a longer period. Like only installing big and important moments of a person’s life. First steps, first date, first cars. Stuff that when you eventually die someone can look at and know how you lived your life and what you contributed to the world. Meta data is our best outlet for humans to do this. I’m starting to become familiar with all that it entails, the only doubt in my mind that using meta data would come up short is documenting both forms of information over a person’s lifespan. Can it say active and be updated over the course of someone’s entire life? Also, where would people go to access this data some sort of page or outlet would have to be set up in order for this to workout.

Durning this first week of class, there has been a huge emphasis on the digital humanities’ definition. We have been doing this by breaking it down and focusing on the definition of “digital” and “humanities.” It’s such a wide topic we have been getting a understanding by narrowing it down and focusing on bits. I have learned a deeper understanding of how to define DH and devolved my own opinion of how I interpret it. From the first couple classes and homework’s I have been able to define DH, as using digital tools and software to discover new knowledge not just about humanity but also to record humanity. I wasn’t too sure much about DH before joining the class, but as I learn more about it, I’m starting to realize it is the future. Digital tools and aspects are going to be the future of our humanity. Even though this is how I define this there are infinite ways to describe it and there is no set-in stone correct definition of what DH truly is. This reminds me of something I am extremely passionate about, which is working out. There is no perfect workout spilt or style. Whatever it may be cardiovascular, calisthenics, weights, CrossFit, they are all effective. People argue and people debate on which is the best and most optimal form. If you ask a variety of people, all answers will vary, and everyone has their own style and workouts that work for them. It’s like DH in a sense. There’s no correct or most effective way to use or define it, but it contributes and is helpful to humanity just like working out is, just because people can’t see eye to eye on it exactly doesn’t mean that it’s not effective and important. Also, by no means, means people should stop using DH or stop exercising.