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 I found chapters 7 and 8 very interesting.  In chapter seven the Folsom v. Marsh case was discussed.  In this case the  copyright law went against Folsom.  This case, it has been argued, was used at  a later date to establish the concept of “Fair Use”.

Chapter 7 also dealt with Mark Twain and his pursuit of copyright for life plus 50 years ;(he lost the case) in    1906.  The 1998 copyright law  gives you   lifetime plus 70 years.  I reviewed the 1909 “Act to Amend and Consolidate the acts Respecting Copyright”; it was 23 pages long with quite few of the highlights mentioned in the margins.  One needs a corporate lawyer to understand it completely.

 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act “DMCA” bans tampering with copyright law and allows corporations the rights to limit use of their material.

 Chapter 8 discusses preservation of material on the web.  We certainly do have quite a bit to learn.  Technology is still leaps and bounds ahead of human capability to preserve.   I am optimistic, in that I think that soon we will catch up to technology.  In the meantime, I will keep my on hard copies, memory sticks, as well as on my PC.

The “Future of Preserving the Past” essentially stated what was found in  chapter 6 of the Digital History.  Dan Cohen made additional insightful comments, but in general it was a rehash of the reading assignment.

The name Institutional Review Boards, for history within living memory, sounds fairly intense and fear-provoking.  I understand that there should be some type of controls on the telling of history and that the IRB is a legitimate vetting institution.  My realization of its need does not make it any less intimidating.

The AHA has asked that oral histories be relieved of the IRB vetting and expresses concern about a proposed change to the guidelines that removes the exemption for “Research involving materials (data, documents, records, or specimens) that … will be collected solely for nonresearch purposes.” This change could potentially further extends IRB purview over gathering, archiving, and future use of oral histories and similar materials.” (AHA 2008)

Chapter six informs the reader of the possible downside to online collecting:  it will not be accessible to the less educated, older or those without the financial ability to purchase the technology.  I do not share these worries.  The technology is available to anyone who would like to use it in such places as internet cafes, libraries, community centers etc…  The less educated, not to sound condescending, probably do not know of the collections stored in brick and mortar.  The internet provides a platform for the inconsequential, the important, the good, the bad and the ugly.  This platform gives anyone who wants a voice, a chance to be heard.

Chapter 6 also touches on how to draw people to your site.  One way is the name of your site.  The article also touches on how to set up your contribution page, informed consent and ethical guidelines.  Because people see the internet as ephemeral, it is a good idea to associate the site with a reputable institution. This gives the visitor the feeling that the site is tangible.

The abstract was informative; explaining the differences between Tag servers (data stored separately from the source) and centralized systems, e.g. flickr, where tags and data are stored on a system that requires the participant to go there.

Steve.cm is a centralized system that brings the users to his site, where they can tag items which are added to a database for anyone’s use.  This Interface allows others to participate in creating new tags to make the collection or piece more accessible to the general public

Tag servers such as del.icio.us store, has the linking ability to bring users wherever they want to go.  The users can name (tag) the site anything they want.  For example, if a user is working on a paper. he or she  can tag the site “term paper” making it easy to find the information to be used.

I went to steve.com and created two unique tags. I felt uncomfortable doing this. While it does increase access, I feel that naming and creating narratives pertinent to museum should be left to the experts.

The del.cio.is a site I use frequently.  This allows me to categorize and identify information I use.  Everything is in one spot and the tag connects the site to any project for which it is used .

There were great resources in the case studies section.

Photos that Lie make me question any photo’s that I have not personally taken

Is it real or is it photo shopped.  The readings tell of many ways of ferreting out pictures that have tainted or changed:

A computer scientist, Hany Farid ,of Dartmouth College is developing mathematical tests to identify altered, potentially misleading images. Each digital image contains a grid of pixels that encodes information about color and brightness; collectively, the information in an image tends to form a distinctive statistical pattern. Algorithms can ferret photos that have altered, assign secret codes, tiny reflections in the centre of a person’s pupil and digital manipulations may leave telltale signs of re-sampling

Popescu and Farid’s method can be applied automatically to any image file. However, the method is not foolproof: for example, it cannot detect cases of shrinking without interpolation. Also, data compression, used in JPEG files and noise interfere with the algorithm. Nonetheless, the new software makes it harder for a digital photograph to be altered and not found out.  Sometimes the best scrutiny is simply more people looking. 

I found the case studies portion very interesting; I was intrigued with most of the sites.  The 9/11 digital archive with its interactive map was awesome:  the Museum of Chinese in America was informative, even with some of the links not working.  It brought the discrimination against Arab Americans to the forefront (not one of our shining moments in history).  There was so much to investigate, it became overwhelming.

The link to CHMN was working and brought me to many interesting things:

Who built America was good; it did not give much of information but it allowed you to buy the information. The Lost Museum was well done; the GUI’s were fun and informative.  Virtual New York was heavy in text; even though the site was still in development  there was a ton of information.

The Hurricane Memory Bank

The GUI was satisfactory. Had there been video, streaming or audio from the residents, this site would have too difficult to view and I would have skipped it.  The way it was set up I browsed, read stories and looked at pictures.  The impact was still palpable.

The Omeka site was interesting; however, I do not have Linux and could not set it up.

Citizendium vs Wikipedia

I found Citizendium friendlier than Wikipedia.  When I went to Wikipedia I attempted to edit Wikipedia: The Digital Humanities  where a citation was needed.  First I registered then I read the tutorial, went back to the page to edit with and froze.    

Then I went to the sandbox and became even more mystified.  

I have the citation

Brockhman, William S. Scholarly Work in the Humanities and the Evolving Information Environment. Digital Library Federation, 2001.

                                   (Brockhman 2001)

above in reference to the source.  I could not bring myself to insert the citation; the directions

were somewhat confusing.

Then I went to Citizendium.  I felt comfortable, there was a table of worries with corresponding

resolutions to my fears.  This wiki gives you step by step instructions on how to edit and create

your own articles.  Even though I did not write or edit anything; I feel that if I had to I would be

more comfortable at this site.

I found the Jefferson site a little more comfortable, since the contributors would in all likelihood be Jefferson Historical buffs.

I then went to the American Historical Archives and registered; the site would not allow me to make a contribution

I appreciate Sangler over Wales.    Mr. Sangler’s Citizdium has an hierarchy, whereas Mr. Wales has everyone on the same level (student in 7th grade = a Ph.d

The book “Digital History” speaks of exhibits, films, scholarships and the need for all Historical Societies to set their mark on the web. Historical Societies should realize that all information can be digitized and disseminated at a small cost, making the information available to anyone with a computer. This could be a good or a bad thing. Good if name and location are made available to everyone; bad if the exhibits are digitized and the society loses admission money.

The Fundamentals of Digital Humanities addresses and informs the reader of the similarities between physical, hands-on library research and online research (e.g. keyword searches, hierarchical lists, and bibliographical research, which require some luck and intuition). Catalog cards in the physical library are irreplaceable. The force of computer algorithms has proven far more useful than the catalog of old.

The online research uses the same type of searches, but differs in mutability and openness. A library will often find the need to change and update, which takes time. The web updates in a click of the mouse. The openness of the web is both an asset and a detriment. Everyone can contribute; however. some contributions are faulty or downright wrong. The superhighway has five dangers: quality, durability, readability, passivity and inaccessibly (broken links). The assets are capacity, accessibility, flexibility, diversity, manipulability, interactivity, and hypertextuality (nonlinearity).[1]

The World Wide Web Virtual Library’s History Index is a good resource for the Historian. However, a comprehensive and clear categorization of the History Web has proven elusive[2]

I enjoyed the section on “sampling” (the law of diminishing returns) as a guide. The more I do research the more I rely on sampling to inform me of what is reliable information. Sampling reveals the name of the author, pertinent reviews and how often they occur. While this is a good rule of thumb, you are cautioned to use other forms of authentication

Scan this Book and Librarian Central both speak of collecting books and establishing a collection that makes the Alexandria Library look like a library reading nook. The capabilities of the computer, when put to good use, are spotlighted in both of these articles.

In summary, to paraphrase a thought stated in Digital History p15, a properly designed and well stocked history website brings to mind a tree falling in a quiet digital woods, completely unappreciated, if left unvisited.

Week Three

Cynthia Tremaglio