After visiting several websites based on archival materials, I realized that there are both advantages and disadvantages to creating a digital artifact. One advantage to creating a digital artifact is the fact that it is progressive. At this day in age, technology is increasingly growing and becoming more and more important to our daily lives in many respected aspects. Physical and tangible manuscripts are going ‘out of style’ because there are so many virtual tools. Another advantage is that with technology comes increased productivity and speed.
According to Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts “many of the Austen manuscripts are frail; open and sustained access has long been impossible for conservation and location reasons.” Another line that stuck out to me as an advantage was “digitization at this stage in their lives not only offers the opportunity for the virtual reunification of a key manuscript resource…” What a lot of the projects have in common are that they are a collection of a bunch of manuscripts. Also, the artifacts are usually kept in an important library or museum.
Some of the disadvantages to creating a digital artifact is that it is digital. To some people, they do not like change (change being the technology in this case). Technology can be extremely helpful but also has its cons. It is expensive, takes time to learn how to figure it out, and can have bugs and crash especially when first starting up. Another huge disadvantage in my opinion is getting rid of the tangible aspect of an artifact. For example, there is no more “flipping the page”.
Are our physical and emotional relationships to our objects of study shifting in a digital age?
I think that our physical and emotional relationships to our object are both changing and staying the same. An emotional attachment and relationship to an object in my opinion does not change just because technology comes into play. However, our physical relationship with an object does change because of the tangible aspect of it going away. Reading on a screen is much different then reading off a physical object.
Do digitized materials supplant our need to view the physical originals, or enhance the necessity of and desire for archival work?
Digitized materials enhance the necessity and desire for archival work. With new technology, there is new publicity, and this is how word spreads which may create a higher desire for archival work.
Are we interacting with textual material on the screen more than on the (manuscript or printed) page, and if so, how are our research practices changing?
I think that we are interacting with textual material on the screen more than a manuscript or a printed page because a lot of the manuscripts are very old and hard to read because of the damage done to them just naturally weathering over the years. With technology becoming a bigger part of our life, it is easier to interact with the textual material as a lot of educational tools and even work-related items are online.
Morgan Graning is a junior at Bucknell University. She is a political science major and sociology minor. Morgan is from Long Island, New York.