“3D Printed Guns”- Controversy Analysis

Hey Nick, I also posted something on a similar topic, and am very intrigued about what will occur in the near future. I think that the invention of 3D printing has ushered in a new era of “gun control” (which has recently become a prevalent issue within the United States). However, the issue did not start here, and has emerged from the “internet revolution” which had started the global phenomenon of file sharing. Some major instances are obviously Napster, Pirate Bay, Limewire etc. The problem lies with the idea that people can spread information and files quickly, without the governments permission (which is another topic on its own). Furthermore this technology knows no boundaries, and has not been handled well by the government, as millions continue to download every day. But regardless, the gun control issue is solved by Chris Rock, in some of his standup, stating that the issue isn’t with guns but with bullets. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and the problem goes much further than this but I thought I would just add a little to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuX-nFmL0II

via “3D Printed Guns”- Controversy Analysis.

Vince’s Project Review

Hello all, today I’ll be reviewing Vince Fecteau’s final project that was presented to the entirety of the digital humanities students. Vince topic focused on the birthplaces of NHL players from the 1900’s who have played a minimum of ten games, and displays this information through an online interactive mapping site. This project aims to allow both the professionals, as well as the day to day hockey enthusiasts to utilize this site and its information.

The first aspect of the project that I would like to touch upon within this review is the type of content that is available to users. Vince chose to use mapping software to display the information that he collected, and through this find trends that exist, or have existed within the past 100 years. To indicate areas on the maps, Vince used blue pin markers to show where the players were born, while simultaneously linking the markers to the year that they were born in. All of the information was provided on the Geocommons website, which is apparently only available to those who subscribe to the site. However, it was shown through the presentation, which allowed the viewers to understand the process. Furthermore, the website that was utilized by Vince provided pictures and youtube videos that showed the information that was readily available through the Geocommons website. Overall, I personally thought the platform was a good way to convey the information because it provided visuals (which I always find useful, even if they weren’t interactive), as well as youtube videos, and facts that are useful to the particular study of NHL players birthplaces.

Throughout the presentation, some problems were addressed by Vince, including the Geocommons website (as stated above). Another problem that was addressed was the fact that some cities do not come up when they were input into the excel program that placed them on the chart, thus causing them to be placed in nearby cities to compensate. Another problem that was available was the spacing of the pin markers, which looked clustered throughout the page and often covered up the region where they were making it harder to interpret. These problems may have been solved by using other software, including GIS, which was presented earlier in the semester. The last problem that was associated with the project was the colourization of the markers. Vince had mentioned that the colourization of the markers would provide the ability to distinguish between the variables, thus allowing for better visualizations as well as interpretations.

Overall, this topic was very interesting to me, and I was glad to review the project. This project added to the digital humanities collection and did not stray from the base purpose of creating a website to further the pursuit of knowledge for the public. I think that the idea that vince came up with had a lot of merit and was unique in its own right.

To view the site, follow this link: http://vfecteau.wix.com/nhl-hist4170#!north-america/cjg9

 

Project Update #4

Hey everyone, this post has to do with my fourth project update. So the next step of our project has been dealing with the actual exhibits. As mentioned before, the group members and I decided that the best way to organize the website was by creating sub exhibits that are specifically themed to our individual focuses. Throughout our group we have one on heroes, alcohol, humour, fairy tales, scots and non scots, and lastly, my project theme of romance. At this point, I have my topic set up and my pictures have all been digitized and uploaded to the Omeka  digital repository for images. This next step in this is to select the images that relate and support my theme and post place them on the exhibit, and input the metadata. This process has by far been the most annoying part of the project because of the time that is required for each image. The way Omeka was set up allows only one image to be associated with the given metadata, even if it is the same collection, thus each image has to be processed individually, which as most of you can understand is a very time consuming and tumultuous process. However, once this is done, the only step left is the input of information that supplements the exhibits.

Project Update #3

Hello again, I am happy to report that the Scottish Chapbook Collection project has gone as planned, with no major complications to mention. At this point, I have completed the scanning of all the chapbooks that I plan on using, making up a total of 7 books. Furthermore, I have just begun the final stages of placing them on the web platform that was offered to us, which involves many unseen steps. The first step that is done once the digitization process was completed was the post processing. This step involved taking the master TIFF that was just digitized and bringing it to an image manipulation software (I chose Adobe Photoshop, however many used Paint or Preview). Through this software the objective was to create an accurate facsimile that stays true to the original image. This step was some what troublesome to me as I thought that it would take away from the original image, as it had been changed from the original state. However, I was reassured that the process was common practice, and it would represent an accurate depiction of what it would have been like when it was new. Upon completion of this step, the next was to save the file as a JPEG, so that their would only be one TIFF master file, which would reduce future complications on validity. Following this, the file was uploaded to a collection drive on Google, which was shared by the group members of the project. This was very important step because it gave the group members the opportunity to see the progress of the other members as well as share files that were similar in nature (thus allowing for other group members to utilize and share work). The last step in this process was uploading the images to the Omeka platform, which leads to another major part of the project.

The next segment of the project focuses on the omeka.net website platform that we are using for the project. This platform was not chosen by the group members, but was given to us by the archivist Melissa Mcafee, who was one of the main directors of the entire project. I personally, wanted  someone just give us the platform rather than leaving me with the selection (I’m not too tech savvy). Moreover, this webspace was already made, and the plugins were installed, thus leaving us with the job of designing our personal exhibits, and uploading our pictures and data to the website. At first glance, it would seem that it’s not too difficult, but because of the group dynamic, coupled with an artistic license, it became a difficult process. The design piece of the project involved choosing a layout that would facilitate and bring forth the message that we were trying to convey, while simultaneously achieving an aesthetically appealing product. Within this, we chose to use a theme that brought forth all of our objectives. Once, this was done, we were able to create subsections within our exhibit and upload our newly created JPEG’s to the site. Which is where I am currently at with the project, I hope to complete the next few steps soon, until then, thanks for reading. 

 

 

Project Update #2

Hello all, the process for the chapbook collection has continued as planned, with little to no problems coming forth. The group has decided that the best time to meet everyone is on Thursday at 10am, which has been working swimmingly. Furthermore, we have all had fairly good communication with each other via text, courselink discussion, and gryphmail (posing no problems at all). I am becoming more and more accustomed to this new group dynamic, we do seem to work individually,  thus making the transition to group work easy. I should also add that we have also connected to twitter to further prompt awareness of the current project. Personally, I think using social media to spread “the word” is amazing, because we are allowing people to view it on their own time and not forcing the presentation down their throats.

I should probably stop talking about the group dynamic and start talking about the ACTUAL project at hand. I have now pulled all of the chapbooks that I plan on using from the reserve and begun the process of digitization. This process involved taking the chapbooks and using the University of Guelph’s high resolution scanners to create a master file that will be presented on the finished product. So far I have only scanned three chapbooks, but the process was not lengthy, and I will complete another 4 this week.

The next stage of this project is incorporating the metadata and uploading the files to the site whilst creating an online exhibit for people to use. I have not personally gotten here yet, but I will have later on this week and I will be sure to update you all. Thanks for reading.

 

Project Update #1

Hello everyone, I have been working away with my group members looking for our individual themes that will be used for the final project, and have finally found my theme. I will be focusing on romance and its presence within the chapbook collections and how 17-19th century authors depicted it. I found this theme while reading through some secondary source material that was put on course reserve by professor Ross. The books present topics that exist within chapbooks around the world (not necessarily the ones we have at the UofG). Thus, I thought it would be a good idea to see what chapbooks had romance as a central theme.

To find these chapbooks is not the most simple of tasks and involved a lot of tedious work. The first step in this process was to log on to the UofG library site and begin searching through the special collections database for titles that dealt with either love or romance. This process was done through the Universities Trellis platform, which catalogued the over 500 chapbook collection. This was undoubtedly the most annoying process, as it would log out after 1 or 2 minutes leaving the opportunity to look at one book title at a time. The second stage of this process was to gather about ten titles (numbers were chosen at the start of the project), and give them to the archivists and allow them to retrieve the chapbooks so that I could have the opportunity to look through them and decide whether or not they are fitting for my final project.

within the process I was able to come up with a list of over 10 titles that dealt with romance and love and here are some examples:

– True country courtship, or love in a barn, showing how a london lord was tricked by a farmers daughter

– Hermit of Powis; a ballad of romance of the olden times

– famous history of two unfortunate lovers, hero and leander times

– hodge of the Mill, or an old woman clothed in grey, to which are added.

Those were just a few to provide an understanding to what I am working with. the titles are very obscure and do not provide the best understanding for what the book is ACTUALLY about, but it does provide a decent starting point. The next process was to read through them which provided more challenges as they were written in different periods of time and contained language that I would guess hasn’t been used in hundreds of years. While reading through these texts I also pondered if there were examples of romance that did not have any indication through the title. I pushed thoughts like that aside as I do not have a full year to look through all of these books and focused primarily on the books that had it in their titles. However, with the help of the group members we have been able to coordinate, and find books for each other that we may have passed over or missed.

Lastly, for the group, we have been able to meet at a mutually agreed upon time and have run into no major errors.

Final Project

I have chosen for my final project to tackle the Scottish chapbook collection with 5 other group members.This project involves reading through the universities chapbook collection and finding a theme that exists within more than one chapbook and exploring it. Furthermore, we must present our findings in the form of an online exhibit, whilst collaborating with Melissa Mcafee (archivist). The final project will be presented using Omeka software, which is an open source web publishing platform, designed to aid in the creation of web pages for libraries and exhibits. Following the final project, the group members and I have the opportunity to partake in a colloquium held at the University of Toronto to present our project to the Scottish Societies in the surrounding areas, to which I would add that I would love to partake in this as it would not only show our project but other projects or ideas that other people would have. 

This is the first time throughout my tenure at the University of Guelph that I have had to work with other group members (in fact I have always avoided it), and I am excited to see what a group dynamic will be able to produce. The group that I am working with seems to be very interested in the project and will undoubtedly be a pleasure to work with. However, the only difficulties that I can see us running into is coordinating our schedules so that we are all able to meet and discuss where we are with the project. 

 

Kyle Garland Review (Royal Hamilton light infantry in WW2)

Kyle’s project focused on the topic of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry during World War 2. This projects purpose was to create an interactive mode of learning that would be accessible to all interested in learning about Canada’s (specifically Hamilton’s) contribution to the war, while provoking a sense of national pride. This project was meant to be research oriented, as well as educational, and ultimately creating an awareness of the infantry unit. (Read about it here.)

The first mode that is going to be used is that of an interactive website that displays pictures of the unit and where they travelled to, as well as a historical timeline that animates the journey that the soldiers made, while providing battle statistics and visually appealing images. The timeline, as it was shown within the presentation uses software that allows for video footage to depict the above mentioned journey. I personally like this as it allows those interested to better  understand what was occurring and when it occurred. The only suggestion that I could offer to this segment of the project would be to create visually stimulating images within the animation as well as providing a pausing option so that no one misses anything.

The second segment of this presentation dealt with the creation of a twitter page that would update followers on the actions that the division. This segment seems to be much more catered to the casual historian and thus supplements the works other segments of the project. I think using social media to spread information is amazing and should be used, however, I think that the best course of action would be to get software that allows the tweets to be lined up and automatically put on your page, and put them on the actual dates that they occurred, rather than on arbitrary dates. This would allow for the readers to reflect on where they are on that day and create a compare and contract situation thus further engaging the readers.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to this project and am excited for the final project that will be presented on the 26th.

Project Ideas

I know I’m a little late with this post (and apologize for my tardiness), but I thought I would share what my various project ideas for the final assignment anyway. The project itself is very open ended and had very few stipulations, thus allowing for an abundance of creative license. 

The first project idea that I had involved the RAF throughout WW2. This particular topic sparked my interest, as my grandfather had fought in WW2 under the RAF Squadron 50. I was hoping to create an interactive website that tracked the progress of the bomber command during the  battle of Britain, portraying the sites of bombings, when they occurred, and the casualties that were inflicted. However, the challenging issue that plagues this vague idea is the access to the records (as many of them were destroyed or bombed during the war), thus making the project very hard. 

My next project idea, I really wanted to somehow incorporate sports and statistics and portray them in an interactive manner, that could be used by the general public. The idea that came to mind dealt with the the height and weight ratios coupled with players success to create a generalized image of the average ratio that a position has. I think this project would have been very interesting and been useful for coaches and athletes when determining what they are looking for. I’m not sure which sports, but because of my background in track and field, lacrosse and hockey, I would likely pick one of those sports. 

Lastly, another potential project idea would be the Scottish Chapbook collection. This idea was brought forth by professor Ross, and dealt with the creation and development of an online exhibit that display digitized copies of the chapbooks and would provide information on various topics within the Scottish Chapbook collection within the University of Guelph. This project seems to be the most interesting as it would mean the collaboration with other students as well as the school, and would provide me with useful experience if I ever chose to follow a similar path later on in life. 

How have my studies at Guelph been affected by digital tools and approaches, and what future possibilities do I see?

When I think about my studies at the University of Guelph, my first thoughts do not consist of digital tools, instead they are on the endless book stacks provided by the university. As a history major (as many of you know) I deal with books on a daily basis, it is inescapable. I have found that the process of book gathering, carrying, and checking in and out is very tedious and annoying (as it is usually accompanied with a fine for those with poor time management skills).

However, on second thought, within my last few years I have been enlightened and brought into a new world of online digital sources that provides instantaneous access to various texts and articles. The use of such technology in today’s society is becoming more and more prevalent, as computers have become personalized and thus has allowed the access of such sources to span beyond libraries, and into your own home. 

The University of Guelph has made significant strides towards creating a digital tool kit for students to utilize throughout their academic endeavours. The tools that have been made readily available to the students are Trellis, Primo, Tri University libraries, and many more. These allow for access to published literary works providing students with appropriate primary and secondary resources to work with. I have personally used all of these tools to help with writing and have found them very useful. Furthermore, the major push of historical societies to digitize and publish works online has brought forth many opportunities to utilize texts that would have been otherwise unattainable. The movement has undoubtedly affected my tenure at the university in a positive way. 

The University also provides an interactive website (Courselink) that connects students and professors in a virtual classroom allowing for interactivity outside of the confines of a classroom area. Furthermore, this tool provides people with the chance to catch up on missed lectures, and assignments or take courses overseas (DE). 

Overall, I would say that the use of digital tools has impacted me greatly, as I have been able to do things that would be inconceivable in years past. The paradigm shift in digital technology is very important and has impacted students across the world.