Category: Reflections

After several attemps to get the Atlantic Slave Trade Site connected and could not, I became a little afraid that I may not be able to complete my analysis.  So, I chose to analyze Virtual Jamestown.

For my analysis, I plan on using the Hurricane Katrina/Wilma Digital Archive site (the one that is off of the September 11th Digital Archive site). I have decided to choose this site because it is one of the more recent digital archives that have probably been posted. I have also chosen this site because this is fairly recent material it will be interesting to see what types of formats have been used for this archive.

For my third media analysis, I plan on analyzing the Sept. 11th Digital Archive.  I think that there is a ton of valuable information on that site, from pictures to stories.  It should be an interesting project, exploring the site and analyzing it.

For the final media analysis project, I choose to work with the digital archive Valley in the Shadow of Death which pertains to the role two seperate towns played during the Civil War.  I choose this site for the following reasons:

• The site has a complex structure modeled after an actual library with extensive research files.
• This topic interests me as I have already done presentations AT Manassas and Gettysburg National Parks.
• The setup has interactive material, such as maps and newspaper articles.

For this assignment i will be focusing on the archive about the 1930’s.  There will be plenty of information to be analyze and the archive seems to be very extensive.

Ok, I am not quite sure if this site works because many of the archive links are linked to other archives and universities.  However, I enjoyed the site, the "lost museum" and it’s 3-D digital reconstruction of P.T. Barnum’s American Museum.  The museum was lost in a fire and there are images and background information on the exhibits and historical context of the museum’s existance.  I simply enjoy it’s design and interactivity, I should have asked in class but I didn’t think of it until later. -Jen-

I would like to study the web site that is published for Alcatraz.  During class I read through quite a bit of the site and it really held on to my attention.  I think it would be interesting to be able to investigate about the layout and workings of the site, as well as learn something from a historical perspective.  Thanks!

   During our Calvino project where we linked our page to separate and for me often newly visited sites I considered the instability of internet media.  However, I did not consider the historical repercussions until reading Roy Rosenzweig’s article on this subject. What kind of portrayal will be left of our cultural history?  Similar to censoring a history book though actually devaluing and erasing certain representations of the spectrum of our experience.  Though, I think these individual collections will fill in the holes like in other time periods.  Unfortunately, these will only be preserved if there are physical and non web based archives as back-ups.  I found this article very interesting, it was easier for me to relate this information to our studies.  Many of the other readings while also entirely relatable did not grasp my attention quite as quickly.

In class today we discussed the several possible directions and ideas for our media analysis.  It was very helpful to be given some time to explore the possible sites.  However, I especially appreciated the list of sub-questions even though we had discussed the questions.  It will help to have something to look at when deciphering the archives.  Many of the archives I have looked at have been somewhat limited.  So, I am veering toward the comparative analysis of a couple of sites.  At this point I need a few more hours to explore my options.  I will post my decision tommorrow. 

-Jen-

            Roy Rosenzweig made a statement that historians believe that it is the job of the archivist to preserve digital history.  It is the responsibility for all individual to have input on preserving our digital history.  If student and citizens alike are not made to understand the importance of saving these digital records a portion of history will be lost.  He wrote that there was no separation in the work of a historian or a person titled archivist.  The historian believed that it was their responsibility to preserve as well as research the past.  

I perceived from Roy Rosenzweig’s article that it is of vital importance to preserve digital history.  I believe that we need the collection of digital history for accurate assessment in the future.  We have struggled to collect bit and pieces of the past but now, we have an opportunity to begin at the forefront of the Digital era and save the information without it being an after thought.  Digital information is as much a part of history as great works of art, music, social events.  The information saved to day may possible help in new frontier for tomorrow.  If they are lost future generation will struggle trying to peace-together the information that it took ages to develop.  We do need scholarly engagement to address the situation that we may provoke public action to preserve digital information because many minds working towards a common goal is less of a struggle.

With the abundance usage and reliance on internet material comes the problem of organizing and preserving the data as noted by Roy Rosenzwieg’s in "Scarcity or Abundance? Preserving the Past in a Digital Era".  Rosenzwieg raised a genuine concern for historians and many other scholars such as librarians, curator, and archivist.  There are disadvantages and advantages in preserving information in digital form.  One of the disadvantages are the ephemeral quality of digital information.  In under 50 years the form or instrument used to preserve the digital information may become obsolete in light of the rapid technological advancement.  Another disadvantage is if there is one tiny problem or corruption with the diskes or files in which it is saved the entire work might be lost completely.  Also there is the issue of who will continue to fund the continuation of the archive after the originator is gone?  How can one assure that the site will continue to exist?  There are many issue that arise with the idea of how best to deal with internet materials and abundance of things online, but with all the problems, Rosenzwieg argues that it is necessary to start an attempt to preserve the information.  Even though he recognizes that it is impossible to create a flawless retainment of documents or the "perfect plan" of implementation, it is better to save some then none. The advantage about placing things on internet archive and digitizing materials is so that many people can access the infomation with more efficiency and convinence.  Information can be made readily available to the public.  There can be an availablity of numerous perspectives on one single issues that can complicate and enrich historical perspectives. 

 On a personal level, the essay brought to mind the idea of perserving emails.  Emails are regarded as a quick form of memo and is not appear to be on the fore front of the need to put email in preservation as mentioned in Rosenzweig’s essay.  Nonetheless, with the recent emergence of google email, the idea of the site is so that the users will have enough space in the mailbox so that they will not have the need to delete a single email.  Also google brought the idea of facilitating searching mechanism through your emails.  Just to think, many years in the future, instead of going through paper bound diaries and letters, people can find ways to access online journals and emails of an important character.  If only there are ways to continue preserving emails sites and some ways to posthumously make public emails account in an archival forms.