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Digital Project: Roundabout Kentucky

My digital project is up and running at this website: roundaboutkentucky.wordpress.com.

I am using the Library of Congress website, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, to tell the stories of the people who lived in Frankfort, Kentucky at the time the Frankfort Roundabout, a local newspaper, was being published.  I have chosen to do this because I want to make local history come alive for people.  Reading the stories behind the names is always more interesting than reading a list of people.  In order to find the stories I have delved into state government records that are open to the public, archives, and other treasure troves of information available thanks to the internet.  I have had success in finding birth and death certificates as well.  Another feature that has added greatly to my project is google my maps.  I created a tour of buildings in Frankfort, that were contemporary with the publications dates of the Frankfort Roundabout.  This has added an element of interactivity to the blog.

I would like to attract readers of all ages and backgrounds.  Schools may find this site interesting and useful to teach local history.  It is linked to the Lexington History Museum website already.  I am still waiting for a response from The Lexington Herald-Leader, which published an article about Chronicling America back in February; which can be found here.  The article states that local genealogists would find Chronicling America helpful; I’m hoping to attract these same people to my site because they may be able to add depth and richness to the conversation.

I have run into a few problems with wordpress so far.  One of these is that wordpress has shut down on me twice.  The second problem is that no matter what I do I cannot seem to get my headline picture clear.  Everything else is running smoothly.  I have had consistent readership at an average of 6 people a day.  Unfortunately there have still been 0 comments.  This is a number I would like to change drastically before the project is due.  Any suggestions regarding this would be appreciated.

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Kirschenbaum

Matthew Kirschenbaum is an associate professor of English at the University of Maryland.  He is also the associate director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, making him more than qualified to write Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination.

Mechanisms takes a new approach to studying new media and born-digital writing.  Kirschenbaum explores the contemporary by using case studies from earlier decades to show how technology has changed over time.  In the first chapter Kirschenbaum explains what he describes as ‘Forensic Materiality’ – which “rests upon the principle of individuality” – data leaves distinct marks that are used in computer forensics.  The second chapter is given over to storage technology, specifically, hard drives.  This makes the book unique in its field, as this is a topic that has not really been explored or written about until Mechanisms.  Kirschenbaum argues that it is essential to understand the hard drive in order to fully comprehend new media.

The third chapter focuses on, what Kirschenbaum labels, ‘Formal Materiality’ – “the impositions of multiple relational computational states on a date set of digital object” (9).  The example he gives for this is a digital media file, which contains multiple layers.  Using a walkthrough of the game, Mystery House, Kirschenbaum proves how Forensic Materiality and Formal Materiality complement each other.

Chapter four and five are similar to chapter three in that they use examples (Joyce’s Afternoon and Gibson’s Agrippa, respectively) to show how new media and electronic writing are changed, erased, repeated, and stored over time.  Using computer forensics, Kirschenbaum illustrates how the digital is more material than it may first appear.  It is a tangible thing whose layers can be peeled back despite that fact that we cannot touch the files.

The book is well written though I find it a bit dense.  I was slow in understanding what he meant by Forensic Materiality and Formal Materiality but with later chapters that included the walkthroughs, I was able to gain a better understanding.  This book was definitely written for an audience with some prior knowledge of the history of technology.

How do you think Kirschenbaum’s argument influences us to think differently about storage and born digital media?  Considering how deeply computer forensics can probe into a hard drive or other storage, what should remain private and what should be public?  What effect will this have on ethics?

I leave you with a quote: “Product and process, artifact and event, forensic and formal, awareness of the mechanism modulates inscription and transmission through the singularity of a digital present” (23).

 

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TIME Magazine Corpus Practical Practicum

Mike Davies’ TIME Magazine Corpus of American English is a search tool of the online archives of TIME Magazine from the 1920’s through the 2000’s.  The tool is free and can be found here.  Once you have played around on the site it will ask you to create a free username so that BYU can keep track of how the site is being used.

On the front page of the website, Davies claims, “You can see how words, phrases and grammatical constructions have increased or decreased in frequency and see how words have changed meaning over time”.  The website certainly meets the challenge of the mission statement, however, it can be a little complicated to navigate the site.  The examples on the first page are good to play around with for beginners.  One of the examples given is –gate, and how the use of it changed in the 1990s (e.g. Monicagate).  Click on –gate and the top box will show words that use –gate.  Scroll down to Monicagate (number 5 on the right), this will pop up the year and magazine articles which you can click for further context.

Another useful feature is the option to compare multiple features in the search.  For example, you can compare two words like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ and then you can further limit the search by adding the collocate ‘divorce,’ this can be even further restricted by choosing a time range in which to search.  Once you pick an actual article, TIME Magazine Corpus directs you to the TIME Magazine website where you can email the document to yourself, print it, or share it via blog, twitter, facebook, etc.

You have to be familiar with the specific ways to search the site in order to really be able to use it.  There are plenty of ways to find help on the site, take a look at the information that pops up when you click the question marks by the search boxes.

 

Even with this help, the site takes some getting used to and can be rather time consuming to use.  It is certainly easier to use than to try and go through the texts yourself to see how words have changed over time.

As far as complexity, TIME Magazine Corpus is similar to Voyeur.  It is also reminiscent of the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website, though I find Chronicling America much easier to use.  The example page is great but perhaps some sort of short instructional video to go along with the example would be helpful.  At least a tutorial would be great.

Though the site is limited to TIME Magazine, the amount of material is huge, ‘100 million words,’ and still growing as TIME keeps releasing publishing.  A researcher could use this site to study almost anything, I conducted random searches in gender studies, film media, parts of speech, phrases, etc. and very rarely did the search conclude with less than three examples to pick from.  In fact, the amount of information that normally pops up can be overwhelming.

Please play around on the site and let me know if you think that it is a useful site.  Do you find it a bit difficult to navigate?

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USS CONSTITUTION: Living History

While exhibits can travel, museums are, for the most part, stationary.  The internet is quickly changing this concept, allowing museums to educate people thousands of miles away by reaching them via their computers.  We’ve experienced this in HistoryWired; the National American History Museum’s website.  Social media like facebook, yelp, and twitter provide free advertising for these museums but also invite reviews, reactions, and even criticisms.  The power the internet holds for museums is no longer just advertising but educating.  An example of this is the USS Constitution Museum and ship, in Boston, Massachusetts.

USS CONSTITUTION has a long and storied history; named by George Washington and launched in 1797, the ship served in multiple battles.  The most famous battles took place during the War of 1812.  ‘Old Ironsides’ was decommissioned and recommissioned multiple times before she began service as a museum ship in 1907.  The ship is both a memorial and a national symbol of both the US Navy and the US Marine Corp who have served on the ship for almost 200 years.

The Naval History and Heritage Command is still in charge of everything to do with the USS Constitution Museum.   The museum’s mission statement can be found on their website.  It reads “The USS Constitution Museum ensures that the stories of USS CONSTITUTION and those who shaped her history are never forgotten, always remain relevant, and inspire as many people as possible.”  In order to accomplish this task, the museum uses social media like facebook, twitter, yelp, and their own website to promote their events and advertise their museum.

The Bicentennial Celebration of the War of 1812 is fast approaching.  Thanks to the important role USS CONSTITUTION played in the war, the USS Constitution Museum will front and center in the quest to engage people and educate them about the history of the war.  I propose to explore how the museum uses social media and their own website to entice people to the celebration and educate them in their own homes.  I would like to compare the ways USS CONSTITUTION portrays itself on the internet with the kinds of reviews it receives on sites like Yelp.

On the review and advice site, Yelp, USS CONSTITUTION has received many positive reviews from people who were touched by the way the museum has the power to make history come alive.  The ship seems to garner praise from civilians and military personnel of all ages.  These reviews are from people who have physically visited the ship and have felt the history around them.  I would like to compare these reviews with the activities USS CONSTITUTION’s twitter advertises and the ways in which the ship has the power to touch the lives of people who have not yet visited it.

USS CONSTITUTION is unique in the sense that it is truly living history.  It is still an operational ship, complete with a crew.  The ship will sail again during the Bicentennial Celebrations.  USS CONSTITUTION is still a place where international treaties can be officially signed.  It will be interesting to see how the USS Constitution Museum balances the past with current events that will soon be a part of their history through the different outlets provided by social media and the power of the web.

The primary sources for the print project will be the USS Constitution Museum’s twitter, yelp, facebook, and website.  The secondary sources will come from books and articles about the museum and ship, many available online through the Naval History and Heritage Command website.  Other secondary sources will come from class discussions and readings.