#createcaribbean

I identified the key terms of this article and found standardised definitions for each. A collection is a group of things or people. Interfaces enable user interaction with hardware or software. The ability to have a strong influence on something or someone is power. People are human beings in general.

Like life, these definitions are subject to change, especially after reading this article by Tim Sherratt, It’s all About the Stuff: Collections, Interfaces, Power and People.  By discussing the processes of digital humanities projects, including the real face of white Australia (TRFWA) and Remember me, Sherratt explains what collections, interfaces, power and people are.

TRFWA is made up of collections of photographs that were extracted from digital copies published by the National Archives of Australia. The interface was made using open sources, which brought the collection to life. This project is the pathway to viewing, comprehending and desiring to analyse the lives of the people, rather than seeing them as the hopelessly oppressed population in 1900 Australia.

An archival interface “is a site where power is negotiated and exercised”. We think we build simple and straightforward projects that address whatever we want, when really we build projects that leave space for open interpretation and criticism from the audience we accidentally built. In general, digitisation and searching tools remove any forced perspective on any project. It is a finding aid that helps to bring power back to the people by providing an unbiased form of display. Building common ground between the author, the reader and the subject triggers the audience to, ‘do something, think something, feel something’. Power is also exercised behind the scenes of the interface, by the shift of who is in charge of that information. We no longer have to depend on the cultural institutions to display and analyse the history for us. We can display it how we want to whoever requests it, with an understanding that is our own. These records can therefore find new meanings, and reclaim the power that originally belonged to them; we can make new history.

Remember Me entails photographs taken during the aftermath of World War 2 of children who survived but were separated from their families. The project seeks public help to identify and trace the children. They find the oppressed, the vulnerable, the displaced, the marginalised and the poor. The new technology gives us once again the power to pursue our passions. They allow us to engage with records in new ways.

As digital humanists, we do not only work to pursue our passions, but we work so that others can, while new history is made in new and different ways. We develop research tools based on the questions we would like answered and provide unbiased collections via interfaces that are highly interactive. Users and subjects regain their entitlement and the people who matter connect other people who are curious or fascinated by them.

William G. Thomas writes in this article about the fact that Digital Humanities is not what we really think it is. He explains that what we build or aim to build is not what we think we build, and that this difference or disconnection can provide opportunities and challenges. The disconnection is so tremendous that what we do is no longer fixed, but becomes dynamic and open-ended with heterogeneous datatypes, as per a previously analysed article. Thomas displays his work in a structure that is familiar to me, as one of my assignments involves a question-based presentation. The main idea of this article, or research paper, is to answer this question: how does scholarly practice change with digital humanities? with an interrogative thesis:

Is an archive an argument? Where is our scholarship? 

Thomas considers an archive as his main form presentation. An archive is a collection of documents and other resources in digital form. Yet, this archive, while providing easy access also wishes to contain analysed notes that can not be digitised because of its format. The archive then lacks key information and its author does not get to publish the archive that is really needed or originally imagined. A digital humanist does not only display authentic information, but also usually creates new history, a newly discovered aspect of a theme. In order to get that discovery to an audience, one must participate in collaborative efforts that help to model, to preserve and to create availability.

How do we work in terms of scholars in the humanities?

Digital Humanities projects are often characterised by multi-authored features. Collaboration used to mean teamwork, to a certain extent. Scholars and students only worked on the background of a project, like preparing the media that will share the project, finding resources and other works. Scholarly practice however has changed with digital humanities in that, it is no longer up to one person to make publications, but a team. Teams are now responsible for publications and creating their own audience on certain projects. Like at Create Caribbean, where interns are assigned a project and get to do their own research based on a theme that will be published on the website for students and teachers who are interested in that theme and believes it is important to share that publication.

What does scholarly argument look like in digital form?

As an intern taking this course (Digital Humanities), I can get away with calling myself a Digital Humanist. This week’s reading is the most significant, in my opinion, since its focus is on what we do.

Paige Morgan wrote an article that answers that question, entitled What Digital Humanists Do. She addresses the fact that Digital Humanities is an ever-changing sector by explaining several types of projects. These include knowledge sites, and digital editions of texts, both of which I can relate to or I have had experience with. She breaks each type down using subtitles such as “what is it”, “why do it”, ‘what’s involved” and “how big is the project”.

A knowledge site, as per Morgan, is a collection of sources, whether primary or secondary, and resources for research and teaching. A familiar example is S-Cool, a revision website for A-Level and GSCE subjects. A digital edition of a text is just the online edition of a book that is either specific to one aspect or just an online copy of the whole text. Darwin Online is an example of a digital edition of all the published and unpublished works of Charles Darwin.

The purpose of projects like these are very related. Accessibility is a common goal among Digital Humanists. As mentioned in recently studied reading, having a website provides free and open access to an audience. It allows the owner to communicate their ideas and concepts to their audience, and it allows the promotion of unfamiliar aspects and subjects to students and writers (example: historians). Additionally, these projects are ways to store newfound resources for further use and to find collaborators with mutual interests.

To begin and end a project, there are steps to take that are detailed and important. You must first choose a topic and identify your audience to build foundation for your project. Then other things follow such as the display of your work, considering the extent of contribution and developing standards and logs for sake of interaction. Over time, maintenance and updating must be put in place if you want the project to be continuously accessed.

The size of a project would depend on many things. The audience, the main idea and the purpose of the topic are considerations. Morgan explains that a good resource, one that is maintained and updated regularly would be long-term.

Exactly 2 hours ago, I was chatting with a friend and we were discussing our career plans. He told me he wished to obtain a PhD in Philosophy. That was a bit surprising to me since he did not seem like the “philosophical type“. I decided to make it a conversation on beliefs and whatever else, and of course, religion came up. For the whole two hours, we discussed very lightly (nothing close to a debate) about what religion and spirituality is and our perspective on their significance in the life of a human being.

This is not the first time I have been asked about religion since I go to church often. Like I always say, the definition of religion depends on perspective. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, religion is a cause, principle or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. To me, religion is a lifestyle that enforces spirituality in accordance to a supreme being. It is worshiping my God by following a doctrine.

Many people think that there is no need for religion when there is spirituality. However, personally, it is religion that helps me to grow spiritually. Religion allows me to make boundaries in order to stay consistently spiritual and appreciative of the God who made me and my purpose here on Earth. I would prefer to live and endure by faith rather than live and endure by chance.

In the article, 10 Reading Revolutions Before E-books, Tim Carmody discusses the transformation of reading over many centuries. To start the well ordered list, Carmody addresses the popular “reading revolution” that was invented by a German historian. While he ends with his favourite revolution created by Walter Benjamin.

The Lesenrevolution, by Rolf Engelsing, according to Camody, compares extensive reading to intensive reading.

 “ Engelsing was trying to describe something he saw in the 18th century: a shift from "intensive" reading and re-reading of very few texts to "extensive" reading of many, often only once.”

He uses the Bible and the newspaper to contrast how intensive reading, (while it still exists), transformed greatly in the 18th century to extensive reading. In my opinion, it is truly what makes us modern readers, with a hint of old fashion.

Additionally, I believe that Walter Benjamin’s reading revolution is the most significant, yet the most subtle. It is simply the change from “reading vertically, to horizontally, to vertically once again”.

An example of reading vertically would be reading on scrolls, the fourth revolution (rolled scroll to folded codex). He explains how this revolution revolves around the whole history of the book, which is quite agreeable. The fact that there were scrolls then bound paper sheets and then e-books proves this theory of a revolution that is continuous. We can flip pages while laying our Kindles flat down on a desk and in contrast hold up the Kindle and read in bed.