For my future digital project, I would consider the following models:
Parallel Archive
A project developed by the Open Society Archives in Budapest, which according to the About section of the site, "is at once a personal scholarly workspace, a collaborative research environment, and a digital repository." The project started in 2008 and is still a beta version. As a matter of fact, the website is designed to be a gathering place of numerous documents hidden in the personal computers of the researchers or other professionals in the preservation and scholarship business. In order to gain access to the full functionality of the site, the visitor should register with the site. The site features two kinds of possibilities for the members to keep their collections: they can either place the documents in the public collection or they can keep them on 50 MB of a private collection for two years, after which if not deleted the private collections automatically turn into public documents. Any non-registered visitor to the site can browse through the narrow public collection. One of the positive aspect of the repository is the possibility to search through different collections of OCR-ed files. Among some weak features of the site, I would mention the limited number of documents available in English and the overwhelming dominance of documents in Hungarian, which as we know is not a easy language to speak or to learn. Another weakness of the website is their copyright policy. The contributors to the website cannot apply any type of Creative Commons licenses on their uploaded content, and instead all the documents are under the copyright laws. This also limits the possibility for contributors to make use of attribution as one of the main gains of the digital media.
The Valley of the Shadow
This is a well-known website, which represents a milestone in the first attempts to explore possibilities offered by the digital media in the research of the past. This web project started with the idea of Edward Ayers, a scholar from the University of Virginia, to write a book on the different experiences of the Civil War by the people of two communities from the US. In turn, this initiative has developed in a different direction, along with the new possibilities which the Web offers for the comparative study of two local communities. As the years passed, the once envisioned analogue, individualistic and static book has been transformed into a digital, collective and dynamic repository of numerous possibilities to research the history of the Civil War from different perspectives. The idea for the book came to Ayers in 1991, and the final version of the site has been released in 2009. So, it has been 18 years of experiments, but the work is not finished yet. Now, the library of the University of Virginia works on the preservation of the whole website in its digital collection. If the Parallel Archive provides some examples of preservation techniques, then the Valley of the Shadow is in line with my intention to shape a repository or, to what Roy Rosenzweig and Michael O'Malley refers to as "an invented archive," of two neighbor communities. Among the positive features are the ease of use and the clarity of the design, as well as the ability to capture a multiple audience for this site. In my view the main weakness of the website is the same concern with the copyright. All the content on the website is under the ordinary copyright law and does not allow for a diversification of the options provided by Creative Commons.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
in the process
The other day, I found this guy, who succeeded in his endeavor to backup the now extinguished geocities.com. I think this might be an interesting case study for tonight's class on digitization and preservation. It is a good example of how some enthusiasts can make a difference in this "professional area."
Monday, November 2, 2009
by the way
In this class we are talking much about different strategies of coping with "the digital revolution" in humanities. This semester we have a lot of online sources to read. At least for me this has been a revolutionary or revelatory experience: prior to this class, I have never had this much of reading experience online. I have become so used to reading online that I find it difficult now, to return to the traditional format of a printed book. So, maybe we should also talk about the readjustment to the print environment? What do you think?
digitization
After reading NINCH Guide to Good Practice, I can say that now I fully recognize the workload and responsibility of the people who try to deal with the Scarcity or Abundance of the future histories. In addition to this major achievement, these readings convinced me once more that simplicity is the recipe for any successful digital project.
When I am referring to the term "successful digital project," I have in mind not a one day short-term exercise in PR, but rather a durable project, which, if it will not last 200 years, at least will manage to entertain the life of the contributors to the project. I do not intend to make a distinction between the audience and contributors, because, as we already know, and if you didn't, then you'll know that: "the ideal digital project is the project when the distinction between the audience and the contributors is if not non-existent, then at least it is very blurred."
Referring to the value of digitization for my project, I can say that it plays a crucial role. At the same time, since it is not yet associated with any institutional framework, then I suppose all I need is to do some more or less qualitative job with cheap equipment and with almost zero funds. In this sense, I will proudly sacrifice my Sony Cybershot digital camera in order to transfer the material from analog to digital realm.
Nevertheless, apart from many other objective issues, such as natural or, not less natural, human-generated disasters, that can be solved with a good backup strategy, there is a one objective issue, which is totally independent of my control: since my web project will rely on a collaborative framework with the local communities, then I will have to choose either between a centralized digitization of the materials or to rely on the skills of the each contributor to renounce his bias and to capture his personal history in a professional manner.
When I am referring to the term "successful digital project," I have in mind not a one day short-term exercise in PR, but rather a durable project, which, if it will not last 200 years, at least will manage to entertain the life of the contributors to the project. I do not intend to make a distinction between the audience and contributors, because, as we already know, and if you didn't, then you'll know that: "the ideal digital project is the project when the distinction between the audience and the contributors is if not non-existent, then at least it is very blurred."
Referring to the value of digitization for my project, I can say that it plays a crucial role. At the same time, since it is not yet associated with any institutional framework, then I suppose all I need is to do some more or less qualitative job with cheap equipment and with almost zero funds. In this sense, I will proudly sacrifice my Sony Cybershot digital camera in order to transfer the material from analog to digital realm.
Nevertheless, apart from many other objective issues, such as natural or, not less natural, human-generated disasters, that can be solved with a good backup strategy, there is a one objective issue, which is totally independent of my control: since my web project will rely on a collaborative framework with the local communities, then I will have to choose either between a centralized digitization of the materials or to rely on the skills of the each contributor to renounce his bias and to capture his personal history in a professional manner.
Monday, October 26, 2009
copyright issues
As long as the majority of my sources will be self-generated or provided by different state institutions, then I would guess that my copyright problems will hopefully be minor issues. Although, you never know how the dices will be arranged. As we've seen from the readings the dilemma of "to copyright or not to copyright" is a false dilemma and the researcher with all his non-profit desire is left to the mercy of a couple of greedy corporations.
Aside from these "wild capitalism" rules, there is also another issue of a special concern for me: It is clear that the copyright law applies to one's work even after "the death of the author", then what about the copyright conundrum of a dead state? For example, the documents, which I am going to use were mostly produced by now physically defunct, but still psychologically influential Soviet Union. By the logic of the field, I might say that all the content produced by former or present states is open to the use of the public.
Since in my focus on the first half of the 20th century, I am going to use also some primary sources, which were produced by some individuals there are concerns about their private lives. In this sense, referring to some diaries or letters by current survivors, I will try to reach them and to ask for their permission. Finally, while recognizing the premature nature of my gesture, I will apply a Creative Commons "Attribution Non-Commercial License" to my final product.
Aside from these "wild capitalism" rules, there is also another issue of a special concern for me: It is clear that the copyright law applies to one's work even after "the death of the author", then what about the copyright conundrum of a dead state? For example, the documents, which I am going to use were mostly produced by now physically defunct, but still psychologically influential Soviet Union. By the logic of the field, I might say that all the content produced by former or present states is open to the use of the public.
Since in my focus on the first half of the 20th century, I am going to use also some primary sources, which were produced by some individuals there are concerns about their private lives. In this sense, referring to some diaries or letters by current survivors, I will try to reach them and to ask for their permission. Finally, while recognizing the premature nature of my gesture, I will apply a Creative Commons "Attribution Non-Commercial License" to my final product.
Monday, October 19, 2009
project outline
Abstract
This project will potentially be a part or an annex of my PhD dissertation, which I will hopefully write during my participation in the PhD program of the History and Art History Department, at George Mason University. As my dissertation project will focus on the comparative analysis of two neighbor towns-Ribnita and Rezina-situated in the north-eastern corner of this map, which represent a de jure non-existent, but a de facto entity called Transnistria, my web project will entail a structure of different layers (maps, images, photos, texts), which will illustrate the evolution of these two localities during the first half of the 20th century.
The necessity of the project
In addition to the objective necessity of fulfilling certain academic requirements, the project will focus on the achievement of following goals:
First of all, it will be a web based collection of different tagged items pertaining to the history of the region. Secondly, it will be possible for visitors not only to comment on each entity of the collection, but also to tag different elements inside the items. Finally, the web resource will also have a section, which will deal with my dissertation. This section will display an interface similar to a blog, with entries referring to my ideas on the dissertation and readings on this subject.
Audience
I have mentioned some thoughts on this issue, in my previous post. Since at that time, I was thinking about two projects, I might say that at this stage, the audience is a sum of the both projects' audiences. Thus, it is targeted toward scholars and local communities.
Technologies
For this undertaking I consider mainly two technologies such as: Omeka and GIS. First tool is for the management of the collection and second is mainly for the creation of complex environments from the individual items.
Interactive elements
Referring to the existence of certain Web 2.0 applications, I would say that, initially this project will rely mainly on the "Comments" feature enabling each visitor to comment on the items and on any blog post. The next step would be to develop the trust of the community and to involve it into the online mechanisms of documents collection.
This project will potentially be a part or an annex of my PhD dissertation, which I will hopefully write during my participation in the PhD program of the History and Art History Department, at George Mason University. As my dissertation project will focus on the comparative analysis of two neighbor towns-Ribnita and Rezina-situated in the north-eastern corner of this map, which represent a de jure non-existent, but a de facto entity called Transnistria, my web project will entail a structure of different layers (maps, images, photos, texts), which will illustrate the evolution of these two localities during the first half of the 20th century.
The necessity of the project
In addition to the objective necessity of fulfilling certain academic requirements, the project will focus on the achievement of following goals:
- It will serve as a platform for the cooperation involving both the scholars in the field and people in the region
- It can be an instrument for the exploration of the online environment in different conflict-resolution strategies
- It will serve as a valuable tool for teachers and students who want to explore the journey of "real people" through different political, social and economic contexts.
First of all, it will be a web based collection of different tagged items pertaining to the history of the region. Secondly, it will be possible for visitors not only to comment on each entity of the collection, but also to tag different elements inside the items. Finally, the web resource will also have a section, which will deal with my dissertation. This section will display an interface similar to a blog, with entries referring to my ideas on the dissertation and readings on this subject.
Audience
I have mentioned some thoughts on this issue, in my previous post. Since at that time, I was thinking about two projects, I might say that at this stage, the audience is a sum of the both projects' audiences. Thus, it is targeted toward scholars and local communities.
Technologies
For this undertaking I consider mainly two technologies such as: Omeka and GIS. First tool is for the management of the collection and second is mainly for the creation of complex environments from the individual items.
Interactive elements
Referring to the existence of certain Web 2.0 applications, I would say that, initially this project will rely mainly on the "Comments" feature enabling each visitor to comment on the items and on any blog post. The next step would be to develop the trust of the community and to involve it into the online mechanisms of documents collection.
some thoughts on a great movie
For those who enjoyed or who are going to enjoy this article by Errol Morris, I would recommend to dedicate two hours more and to watch the movie "Memento" by Christopher Nolan.
The movie is a multidimensional saga of one guy who is suffering from "this condition" of a short term memory loss. It is multidimensional because the action is not staged according to a classical linear time framework, but it is a series of flashbacks, which starts from a certainty and lead to an illusion. The certainty is represented by a murder, the illusion is represented by the tricks and traps of memory and of interpretation. In a sense, if the story would have been developed according to a typical detective story it would not have the same appeal.
Instead, the director added some layers on the subject of the murder. The murderer is a typical human enraged by a cause, which to him seems to be a "just cause" of revenging his wife's murder. As is so often the case, what to him seem to be a series of certainties, actually are no more than illusions, which are rendered possible by his guilty consciousness. As a matter of fact, it turns out that the murderer and his chaser proved to be the same person. Finally, the murderer decide to surrender to "his condition" and to tell his story in his own way. Instead of coming into terms with his own personality, he is becoming a prisoner of his mental condition.
In addition to this fascinating narration of the story, the movie entails some great historiographical questions, such as: the issue of memory and its mechanisms, the objective/subjective value of historical interpretation, the multifaceted nature of identity.
The movie is a multidimensional saga of one guy who is suffering from "this condition" of a short term memory loss. It is multidimensional because the action is not staged according to a classical linear time framework, but it is a series of flashbacks, which starts from a certainty and lead to an illusion. The certainty is represented by a murder, the illusion is represented by the tricks and traps of memory and of interpretation. In a sense, if the story would have been developed according to a typical detective story it would not have the same appeal.
Instead, the director added some layers on the subject of the murder. The murderer is a typical human enraged by a cause, which to him seems to be a "just cause" of revenging his wife's murder. As is so often the case, what to him seem to be a series of certainties, actually are no more than illusions, which are rendered possible by his guilty consciousness. As a matter of fact, it turns out that the murderer and his chaser proved to be the same person. Finally, the murderer decide to surrender to "his condition" and to tell his story in his own way. Instead of coming into terms with his own personality, he is becoming a prisoner of his mental condition.
In addition to this fascinating narration of the story, the movie entails some great historiographical questions, such as: the issue of memory and its mechanisms, the objective/subjective value of historical interpretation, the multifaceted nature of identity.
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