My New Insight into Wikipedia

This was a very interesting assignment. I personally use Wikipedia mostly to obtain a cursory understanding of concepts and definitions.  Using Wikipedia  as a primary source for history or related subjects, I rarely do. On this assignment,  I examined some of my favorite psychologist and historians biographies. I was struck so little information was posted on them. John Henry Clark, a notable and well cited historian within the field of Africana Studies had only a blur of information. The contributors snap shots of his life were over simplistic and took some intellectual cheap shots as to his academic credentials, which was the first time I have seen that cited in reference  to his life.  The question of accuracy of facts cited on Wikipedia is reinforced when you  see such slanderous facts incorporated into bios of famous people. The discussion tab which is an unique feature of Wikipedia had a plethora of different views about this historian.    It was reinforcing to see other post question the accuracy of this wiki.   Besides some of the obvious errors, I found on people who I am very familiar with like Naim Akbar, a prominent  psychologist who has written several articles and books about the psychological and behavior functioning of Africans scatted throughout the  Western Diaspora, I was struck by the information not included on certain historical subjects and individual bios such as his.  The discussion tab gave me a unique perspective on the developing  body of work on some of my favorite history subjects and historians. Even though I might not agree with some of the information I found on some sites, I think historians should help shape the discourse on subjects within the discussion tab and refer the general  consumer of historical information to reliable sources. The discussion tab is a good way to help patrol and shape the discourse on some of your favorite subjects.    

The Glue that Binds Us: Developing a Digial History Contract

The first thing I realized after completing our contract is it allowed me to truly understand some of the minute things which help separate a historian and the layman who attempts to create historical websites. The ability to thoughtfully plan out your project and incorporate historical methodology in the collection and narration of the project was clearly reinforced during my experience with creating the digital history contract.  Also the process of creating this contract personally helped give me some focus after debating and sharing ideas with colleagues. Unlike many undergraduate group projects which I dreaded with a passion, I like the fact that the contract clearly holds each individual accountable and defines their responsibility in a clearly objective fashion.

My early research on this project is leading me to discover some very interesting and exciting facts about Charlotte music history. Finding one of Charlotte’s most obscure nightclubs which was a hub for developing Black music artist and cultural life has been an exciting discovery. Also my tentative collection of African American musicians, deejays and the impact of WGIV radio station within the black community will contribute significantly to the growing body of knowledge on this subject. Potential problems I foresee on this project, are securing some of the interviews with local artist.  Already, I have experienced one major disappointment when I discovered one of  the major custodians of knowledge within Black music circles I had on my list to interview, died recently.  Other barriers I might encounter on this project are securing some photographs of historic Black clubs that are no longer in existence.

The Powerful Benefits of Omeka's Plugins

Omeka plugins are a great way to enhance your website. For my project investigating African American contributions to music history within Charlotte, I plan on using a myriad of plugins from the Omeka website. The GeoLocatoion is one of the plugins my project will incorporate . The Geolocation allows you to represent individual data . A tentative examination of the Charlotte Public Library Charlotte Music Archives suggest it would be a good ideal to place significant events, places, performances, and musical artist in the context of their visual geographical spaces within the community. The tool can also help accentuate the monographs of the various artists and stories on this subject matter. The Neatline is an additional unique plugin that I will use on this project. The Neatline plugin allow users to plot archives, objects, and concepts in space and time. Neatline Plugin will allow me to plot archival documents, narratives, texts, and multilayer pictures on interactive maps with timelines. This plugin would greatly benefit me in displaying my interpretive analysis of archival data. Highlighting significant dates, places and other miscellaneous data from the public library archives relating to African American contributions to Charlotte music history with visual data mapping, and linking their relevancy with other important events with the city are both key features the Geolaction and Neatline plugins will provide me on this project.

For further information on the utility of these plugins or to download them refer to the links listed below :

http://omeka.org/add-ons/plugins/

http://neatline.org/2012/06/30/neatline-sneak-peek/

Review of Hurricane Katrina Digital Memory Bank Website

For the second blog post I examined the Hurricane Katrina Digital Memory Bank website . This website purpose is to provide, “ electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital records of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita..” The website allows readers to easily navigate through the information provided on the site. One of the unique features on the Hurricane Katrina Digital Memory Bank site is the ability for readers to contribute personal artifacts and special memories about these storms. Allowing readers to participate in the unfolding process of building the historical archives about these storms, is a unique feature of this site. Users of this site have open access to donate archival information about their experience of the storm through the website Dropbox plugin. The Dropbox plugin allow users to upload data and share their perspective of the tragic events of both of these horrific hurricanes that devastated many communities and cities along the Gulf Coast. The Dropbox plugin allow users to share their stories within three categories ( stories, audio or images). The additional ability to add descriptions to items along with specifying the source of the material is a bonus feature of the formatting of material within this cite. Historians and other academicians will love the citations which are listed under many of the archival documents on this site. Follow this link http://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/45904 to view citation example.

The site also is a very collaborative effort with other scholarly organization to promote the evolving public history archive on hurricane Katrina and Rita. The primary intellectual organization which provided the technical and scholarly guidance for the digital history project were Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and the University of New Orleans. For more information on this site please visit the Hurricane Katrina Digital Memory Bank website www.hurricanearchive.org/ .