Building Together - Teaching Technical Skills through Library and Faculty Collaboration

Deborah Boyerdeborah.boyer@villanova.edu @debstingPhoto from PhillyHistory.org, 1959.

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Background

• Digital history at Villanova and Temple• Graduate student, 2-3 hour, seminar classes• Not all students are historians• Taught with a public history slant• Both group and individual projects• Focus on collaboration and technical

experimentation as more important than final product

Nothing but a fad

A set of methodologies

The use of digital tools for humanities research

Just a construct

Humanistic inquiry using digital technology

An interdisciplinary community of practice

A current term that will soon be just how we refer to the

humanities

A big tent where all are welcome

The research we’ve always done just with faster tools

A brand new field

Provide new ways to

Access Resources

Philadelphia City Archives Photo by Deb Boyer

New methods for

Historical Analysis and

Sharing DataVisualizing Emancipationhttp://dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation/

Explore connections with

New Audiences and

New Media

The Ward - www.dubois-theward.org/

Key Debates

• Too focused on doing/making at the expense of theory and criticism (more hack, less yack)

• Overly obsessed with data at the expense of interpretation

• Elitist, opportunistic, and self-aggrandizing

• A place to escape - DHPoco (Postcolonial Digital Humanities) - http://dhpoco.org/

(My) Benefits of DH

• Interdisciplinary• Encourages experimentation• Collaborative• Promotes discussion and outreach

with diverse audiences• Provides opportunities for multiple

forms of narrative

How do we support students in gaining tech skills and joining the DH

community?

Founders Week – 1908PhillyHistory.org

Three Guidelines

1. Explore tools and ideas

2. Learn from others

3. Make mistakes and try again

Online Resources• Bamboo DiRT - http://dirt.projectbamboo.org/

• Intro to Digital Humanities - UCLA

• “Getting Started in the Digital Humanities” – Lisa Spiro

• “How Did They Make That?” – Miriam Posner

• A Short Guide to the Digital Humanities

• “Tales of an Indiscriminate Tool Adopter,” – Michelle Moravec

• Lynda.com, open source tutorials, MOOCs, etc

Teaching Tech in the DH Classroom

Typing Class – 1928PhillyHistory.org

What do we cover?• History of DH• Digitization• Data Organization• Digital Preservation• Online Exhibits• Blogging• Citation Software• Data Visualization• Topic Modeling• Mapping• Spatial Analysis

• Timelines• Digital Storytelling• Video• Audio• Mobile Apps• Intellectual Property• Social Media• Crowdsourcing• Gaming• Evaluation• Digital Project Management

Theory and PracticeTheory

• Background and development of the subject area or tool set (mapping, data viz, etc)

• How used for humanities research and presentation

• Critical analysis• Debate and discussion

Practice

• Overview of commonly used tools

• Demo of one or two selected tools

• Review other projects using similar tools

• Practice/lab time• Assignment?

In 15 weeks…..or maybe 8…

Student Photo – 1913PhillyHistory.org

69th Street Terminal – 1969PhillyHistory.org

Not us

The Basics• Assume nothing in terms of technical skills

• Conduct technical skills survey in first class

• No technology for technology’s sake

• Learn from other projects

• Start small and use existing free tools

• Collaborate!!!

Intro Tools

• Omeka - http://www.omeka.net/• Google My Maps-

http://www.google.com/mymaps/• TimelineJS - http://timeline.knightlab.com/• JuxtaposeJS - http://timemapper.okfnlabs.org/• Voyant Tools - http://voyant-tools.org/• WordPress – http://www.wordpress.com

Working with Digital Primary Sources

• Reading primary resources in new format

• Options to participate/crowdsource

• Connect to digital literacy

• Critique formatting and analysis

The Ward - http://www.dubois-theward.org/

Informal Online Writing

Wikipedia • Discuss collaborative

content creation – who is writing what everyone reads?

• Neutral point of view

• Linking to resources

• Wiki formatting

• GLAM:WIKI, Rewriting Wikipedia, etc

Build Something

Reviewing Digital Projects

Emigrant City - NYPLhttp://emigrantcity.nypl.org/

Critiquing Digital Tools• Find a digital project/website and analyze it like a text,

primary source, etc

• Digital tools (databases, visualizations, maps) are arguments. What decisions did the creators make?

• Who is the audience? How has the project been designed or constructed with their needs in mind?

• How could the tool be used differently, improved, or expanded?

Introducing the Library!!

Law Library – 1952PhillyHistory.org

Possibilities

• Collections (Special or Otherwise)

• Data and Digitization

• Hosting and Technical Support

• Technical Office Hours

• Workshops and Events

Advice, Experience, Perspective

Safety Sign – 1958PhillyHistory.org

What about resources?aka time = money

City Fair - 1967

Scant Resources

• Recognize the library or other partner has many competing responsibilities. Their time is not free, and they are not your minions.

• Specifically discuss a timeline and how to share tasks

• Be realistic - no is better than maybe

What We Built

Photo from Alma Clarke PapersBryn Mawr College Special Collections

Information Wanted

• Based on historic newspapers accessed through the library

• WordPress.com

• Student/teacher led

Remembering WWI

• Based on scrapbooks and other collections at Villanova and Bryn Mawr

• Hosted WordPress site via library

• Student/teacher/library led

Well, that didn’t go as planned…

Collision at Sesquicentennial – 1926PhillyHistory.org

Potential Issues

• Divided student attention

• “That took way longer than expected”

• One semester for a two semester project

• Lab time? What are we - scientists?

• Supporting additional learning opportunities

How do we keep on learning?

Southwark Elementary School - 1912

Find Local Resources

• PhillyDH - http://phillydh.org/

• GLAM Café Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/GLAM-Cafe-Philadelphia/

• Many, many local tech, geospatial, and design meetups

• College and library resources

Conferences and Workshops

• Alliance of Digital Humanities - http://adho.org/conference

• Digital Library Forum - http://www.diglib.org/forums/

• Museums and the Web - http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/

• Digital Conferences Calendar - http://digital-conferences-calendar.info/

Key Online Publications

• Digital Humanities Now - http://digitalhumanitiesnow.org/

• Digital Humanities Quarterly - http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/

• Journal of Digital Humanities - http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/

• ProfHacker - http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/

Excited? Overwhelmed?How do you want to collaborate?

Connie Mack Stadium – 1967PhillyHistory.org