Tag: digital archives

Categories
Blog #1

Olivia Smith- Blog Post #1

Creating digital artifacts from archival documents has allowed for historical documents to become more accessible. For those who are interested in viewing and researching such topics related to those artifacts, they are able to view them digitally through websites like the ones we have explored in class. The benefits of utilizing digital artifacts is that it decreases the chances of them being destroyed. Over time many of these documents can get lost, so converting them into a digital form will help prevent this from happening. A disadvantage to this method is that when they become digitized, the person who is transcribing them could be challenged by the language or handwriting of the artifact. Important information could have the potential to get lost in this process.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BXfNKGrbhVY/maxresdefault.jpg

After exploring the Moravian Lives project, I was able to connect it to the other large-scale DH projects we have explored because of how interactive it was. Many of these projects take old archives and make them more interesting with a technological twist that is both educational and involving. Personally, I found the Moravian Lives project website to be the most educational because I was interacting with the artifacts. I was plugging in information and learning about the different migration routes that people took from the Moravian Church. This website and the Old Weather website also allow people to add their own contributions to the project by helping transcribe. In addition, already transcribed material is easily accessible on these website. Viewers can access this material at any point.

Moravian Lives Transcription Desk

Since transforming historical texts can sometimes inadvertently remove the history of the actual artifact, transcribers can work to create an online reading interface that still presents the history of the document. It could be something as simple as photoshopping the transcribed digital artifact onto the document. Also, if it is possible, the website could include a 360 degree view of the artifact so that the viewer could gain full experience as if being in the actual presence of it. I know that it is very hard to completely replicate the idea of reading an actual artifact, but creating a way that the viewer can both see and move the document digitally is very close to replicating the physical experience of reading it.

Because these websites are easily accessible, it has allowed for a shift in educational opportunities. Students can now access historical documents at any point in their education due to the work that transcribers have done. These documents might be ones that students would have never been able to see if it weren’t for their digitization. Though they are not provided with a hard copy of the material, what they can access is free and attainable. This material can provide educational experiences, just like the Moravian Lives project, that contains interactive material that can benefit many students learning experiences. Digital artifacts has greatly enhanced educational experiences for students around the world because it has combined historical artifacts with modern day technology to create a way that everyone can enjoy history.

Categories
Blog #1

Blog #1: “On Material and Digital Archives”

Creating a digital artifact from archival documents allows for a much more pleasurable experience for research. Digital artifacts are able to compile vast amounts of information into one place. This allows for much more accessibility, than traveling the world viewing artifacts in each location. Many more people are able to view artifacts online, where they do not have the time or money to view all those artifacts in person. Additionally, many artifacts are in old handwriting styles that not everybody can understand, so digitizing these allows everybody to be able to easily view. Also, many artifacts are old and very fragile, but digitizing these allows anybody to view artifacts without risk of damaging preserved materials. I feel these digital artifacts are sufficient enough that there is basically no need to view the physical original artifacts. When transcribed and put together well, these digital artifacts provide all the information you would acquire from viewing the physical artifact. These articles are often categorized allowing you to more specifically research your interests.Overall, digital artifacts allow for viewers to easily find more information in one place than ever possible before. 

One problem I could see occurring from digital artifacts is human error. When texts are transcribed by humans, there is always the possibility of something being transcribed poorly. This would result in the research of an inaccurate representation of an artifact. Another issue is these digital artifacts need to be maintained well also. The digital world is constantly evolving, so these resources need to have people making sure their artifacts are staying up to the standards. This causes more time and money to go into the process. However, if everything is transcribed well, digital artifacts are much more efficient for researchers, though take much effort from authors.

I believe while the world is evolving, so are the research strategies. Researchers are often interacting more with the material on the screen rather than the printed page. This allows for accessibility to more researchers, creating even more information. As research continues to evolve into the digital world, we will continue to have more information provided at the click of a button. This is truly a remarkable evolution, as there has never been so much knowledge in one place than we have today.

Also, digitized texts are able to highlight key pieces of information one might not even notice through printed texts. Long artifacts would be skimmed through by most people. But through design of a digital source, authors are able to highlight pieces of information they find important. For example, the Selfie City (http://selfiecity.net/#) page I explored provides statistics on what they believed to be their most important findings. This clearly shows viewers the key pieces of information they might not pick up on while researching on their own.

The Moravian Lives project contains a map, which shows viewers where the authors found all their information. This is the same experience I had when viewing The Early Map of London (https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/agas.htm). These authors make sure to provide exactly where their sources come from allowing users to easily verify the authenticity of their work, limiting any possibility of error in one’s research. Additionally, they both start with a distant view, but allow you to zoom in on areas of focus, giving researchers full control over their work.

 

Categories
Blog #1

Blog #1: On Material and Digital Archives

Some advantages to creating a digital artifact from archival documents is that the digital artifact is more easily accessible and there is no to little risk of damaging the original artifact. Also, some documents could be written in handwriting that is hard for people of the twenty first century to follow along with, so a transcription will make it easier for users to actually read old documents. Additionally, these tools can help with, what Whitley calls, distant reading, which helps identify the overall interconnection between data. Once there is a transcription available you can use tools to manipulate and analyze the text for patterns that may not be obvious to the naked eye. Some of the disadvantages of digitization are the time and money that goes into the process of creating the digital artifacts. In addition, there is maintenance and upkeep involved in preserving these documents digitally. Technology is advancing all of the time, so it’s important to keep these sites updated. I noticed that The Moravian Lives project is similar to other large

Moravian Lives Project

-scale DH projects in a few ways. Both Moravian Lives and Old Weather has a place where people can get involved and transcribe materials themselves. Similar to the Jane Austen Manuscript project, you can access documents that were already transcribed and you can view the transcription and pictures of the original document. Also, the Quantifying Kissinger and Moravian Lives projects both have visualization maps that help people actually see the connections between the data. Yes, society as a whole is interacting with textual material on screen more than on the printed page. With the advancement of technology we have more accessibility to information and digital artifacts than ever. Research practices are changing because of this technology. Instead of looking up where a resource is located and dealing with the hard copy, now we can just look up whatever we need online and more often than not we will be able to find what we’re looking for. Open-source and free digitized materials offer new

 

Quantifying Kissinger Visualization Map

pedagogical opportunities. For example, we can take the digitized data and approach it a different way by using visualization tools. According to Whitley, these digital tools and visualizations produce more questions and problems than answers; this leads to an even deeper analysis of the data.  Students can reference and compile information from artifacts and centuries old documents that are located across the globe because they have digital access to them. According to Whitley, serendipitous discovery is possible in digital and physical form. In physical form, your perspective could be widened by a newspaper for example. Your eyes are drawn to different articles across the page prompting you to make new discoveries. On a digital platform, a search engine could help the user serendipitously find information that they might not have found on their own. Overall, all of these DH projects use tools that Whitley claims will, “challenge us to read texts differently than we otherwise would.”