This week’s technical activity was one of my favorites for the very fact that it felt like here was a platform that could successfully pull together a project. I could see how our previous technical activities, OpenRefine, QGIS, WordPress, BaseCamp, etc were all little parts of what a final vision of a research project would look like, but Omeka showed where and how they could live together in a final presentation. The learning curve was much lower this week too! I think the first week’s activity around Reclaimed Hosting and WordPress helped build into how to use Omeka so the skills translated nicely as I built an exhibit of my two beautiful dogs. I can see myself using this tool beyond ClioWired and it’s likely that our group will use it for our final project at the end of the semester (so be on the lookout for that!)
On a more serious note, the readings and discussion we had on copyright was very illuminating. The readings highlighted problems that I was only vaguely aware of. I have personally had to reach out for copyright permissions last semester when I used archival materials collection at the National Park Service in a published work – but I was lucky to have no real roadblocks (mostly because where my article was being published was not monetized.) Where I was most surprised was the enormous costs of academic journals – especially in the science field. It almost seems counterintuitive to have these academic journals require such a high cost of entry despite the original reasons for copyright laws to “promote the progress of science and arts” per Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution (as seen in the Crash Course video.) To me, the way modern academia functions (in the journals and publishing realm) seem counter to this kind of open sharing. Obviously, that is a reductive framing of the entire problem in articles/journals/access to research – this isn’t the space to discuss the intricacies of that – but I can say that I am firmly in the pro-prepublish and piracy camp.
Finally, I perused the recommended Digital History websites before class, but I didn’t linger as long as I liked due to a busy weekend. A few days after our Monday class I returned to the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank regarding Hurricane Katrina & Rita with Helene’s aftermath fresh on my mind. I approached this memory bank now with a different mentality – that these items, snapshots, and memories are precious and contain meaning and represent historic moments that would be lost to the public if they were not sustained in this way by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. The digital realm is not a perfect place for memory, but then again, no place is so – this week made me reflect on not only the work that goes into maintaining a site like this, but also the intentionality of upkeep. I’m glad this project continues to be accessible for future generations. Here were some interesting items I found while perusing the collection:
5 replies on “Omeka, Copyright, & DH Exhibits”
Hi Jess,
I really enjoyed your reflection on this week’s readings. Putting journals and articles behind thousand-dollar paywalls is completely hypocritical to the tagline of “promote the progress of science and arts.” It feels like the only way to truly follow that mission is by adding, “but only if you can afford it,” which has become painfully obvious today. I touched on this at length in my own post and when we spoke in person, but the classism embedded in pursuing higher education is no secret, and it becomes especially clear when conducting more niche research. The articles we read this week have only helped amplify those sad, but real aspects of research.
I too landed on the Hurricane Digital Memory and found it really impactful. I liked how it allowed the images to explore the experience rather than a heavy hand in thematically designing the project. The move from one image to the next, through each personal experience tied to the rest through the same lived event, was far more powerful than I would have expected. The sheer number of captioned images was a story in itself. It’s a lot of fuel for thought on how I might pursue future digital projects.
Hi Jess,
I agree with you about the constant paywalls in place to access information and I myself am also pro-republish because access to information should be free or at least affordable. I wanted to touch on your mention of the Hurricane database especially since you mentioned Hurricane Helene and you may be aware of the new one currently on its way to Florida. As a Florida native, that hurricane database was very interesting and honestly emotional. Hurricane Katrina was so devastating and I hate to say it but they’re becoming worse which could lead to more hurricane databases being created. Its one of those things that a is so awful but a beautiful thing can come out of it, such as this alive digital archive to educate and keep the stories of these individuals alive and available to the public.
A Digital Exhibit is undoubtedly an important place that preserves the collective memory of history and communities. Considering real-world challenges, many cultural heritages disappear over time or due to changes in national policies. A Digital Exhibit allows the public to still access things online that have vanished in reality, and this is incredibly valuable. While I have always been a strong supporter of the pro-piracy camp, after browsing multiple digital exhibits, I believe that digital exhibits are essential for the high-quality, logical uploading and categorization of vast amounts of information and resources. This undoubtedly requires a significant investment of time and effort from researchers. I believe it is crucial for the government to allocate more funding towards digital exhibit projects.
Jess, your comment about the “intentionality of upkeep” caught my attention, particularly as the approach to our final project must have intentionality in how it’s put together and presented. As our project’s topic is memorials to fallen military servicemembers, the project itself is “memorial-adjacent” and benefits from us having the same intentionality and respect as those who might visit our project not as historians but as family and friends of the fallen. Like the class-linked projects on Hurricanes and 9/11, the need for both reverence and open-access is critical to how we want the project to be received. I began to think about open access a little more critically after your comment.