As part of the Powerpoint Unhinged challenge, Matt Gold, Zach Coble and myself have put together a presentation/performance based on a title by Matt Gold.

We’ll see how it goes.

We hope you’ll join the team from the Innovation Office of the National Archives to learn more about the Citizen Archivist Dashboard and take part in a transcribathon!

For the first Transcribathon session (Friday @ 11 am) we’ll do a quick overview of the dashboard and walk you through the National Archives Transcription Pilot and then we’ll get to transcribing!

In addition to the documents already on the site, we’ve uploaded Harriet Tubman Davis Widow’s Pension File — all 112 pages of it! — just for the event.  It’s a fascinating document and we hope you can help us make it more accessible.

For the second Transcribathon session (Friday @ 1:30 pm), we’ll do a quick overview of the Citizen Archivist Dashboard and demo how to tag in our online catalog and National Archives records in Flickr.  We imagine this session to be a bit more freestyle – you can tag, transcribe, or try out another project on the dashboard.  We’ll answer your questions and assist you as you try out the tools.

We love feedback — let us know on this post or in person!

<a href="http://digitalhumanitiesnow.org" target="_blank">Digital Humanities Now</a> and the <a href="http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org" target="_blank">Journal of Digital Humanities</a> are experimental publications that aim to surface digital humanities scholarship from the open web and highlight work that moves the field forward. But where is this work and how can we discover it? We have a particular editorial and technical method, but are there other possibilities?

It seems fitting to invite an open conversation at THATCamp about how these publications run and what you think we're missing. Are there additional methods or sources we could use to monitor the field and discover non-textual work in particular? Do you have any feedback or suggestions for how we can improve these publications? This could turn into a "what's up with DHNow and JDH" session or we could think broadly about where DH scholarship is and how we find it (and build on it, review it, reference it, etc.). I look forward to the conversation!

I’d like to propose a discussion session on the whole issue of collaboration across institutions.  William Pannapacker recently wrote in the Chronicle about the potential value of creating partnerships between research institutions and teaching colleges.  He mentions one good example as his starting point. There are other kinds of examples such as the collaboration between Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore.  What are the best examples out there and why have they worked?  What are the impediments to creating cross institutional projects and alliances and how are they best negotiated?  Can such collaborations grow organically, from the ground up so to speak, through small scale collaborations between individual researchers, or do they require institutional level initiatives on a much larger scale?  If there are collaborations between small colleges and large universities, how can we make sure that the institutional cultures, visions, and priorities of the smaller players are equal partners in the project?  How are cross-institutional projects of any sort best sustained over time so that they don’t die off once individual faculty members go in different directions.

I am in the process of working on a collaborative venture with Harrisburg University and my own institution, Messiah College.  We are hoping to bring together a number of different institutions in the Central PA region–the strong liberal arts colleges in the regions, state cultural institutions, possibly Penn State regional campuses–on larger scale Digital Humanities work than we can accomplish working in isolation.  I’m hoping there will be others interested in discussing what has worked or might work or wouldn’t work during the course of such a venture.

Long long ago….
Once upon a time…

Digital storytelling is buzzy right now, and I think it would be interesting to gather and talk about what that means for the way humanists communicate with the public. This could be in terms of personal or organization branding or presenting research. I’d also like to dig into why scholars revert to common narratives and how thinking with the lens of storytelling can disrupt those narratives for better(?) engagement. There’s an increasing number of storytelling tools (Cowbird and Backspacesto name two) that are circulating as ways for people to tell their own digital transmedia stories. So how do scholars take this into account in how they present themselves and their work?

I propose a session in two parts. First, talk about what’s out there, how ideas of digital storytelling can/cannot help scholars communicate, and then a second part where individuals or groups put together their own short digital stories. At the end we could share the stories around a campfire (or maybe just circle around a screen with this).

In anticipation of the terrific sessions proposed, I’d like to suggest that those who would like to start conversations this evening stop by the Mason Inn’s The Well for drinks and conversation.  6:00?

After reading Fred’s proposal about R (and now Lincoln’s about scripting languages), I’ve been thinking about how much DH is focused on the analysis of text. This is understandable, given the interests and backgrounds of most people involved in the community, but I’d like to have a discussion of other areas in which community members are interested and are producing innovative work. This could include a conversation about trends and new directions in DH, which would be great for us newbies who are trying to get a sense of where this field is headed.

I can think of a few non-textual areas that seem to get a fair share of attention. That would be with geographical information and images, with Trevor’s proposal as an example of the latter. Is anyone doing work that’s even more original? Two more examples that come to mind are William Turkel’s work with sound and Kathryn Tomasek’s with financial information, though the latter might fit more into the text-centric mold. Regardless, if you’re working on an original project, non-textual or otherwise, let’s meet and share. We might discover new directions to take DH.

Of course, we should also talk about the technologies that are driving our new projects. What programming language or application are you using? Have you had success with an application that hasn’t had much attention?

I’d meant to blog about this following the talk at WebWise about competitions, but sadly never did it. So I’ll try to redeem myself here.

Challenges/Competitions, much like THATCamp Prime’s own Maker Challenge, are a great way to facilitate open and wacky innovation.

Anyone want to talk about experiences or ideas with them? What works and what doesn’t? Best practices for them to get the most out of them? Ideas or plans to take away to implement one locally?

Let’s see if coders and organizers can get together to put together some principles and ideas for how to make these things work on whatever scale.

We all have to summarize research, promote ourselves, and win over indifferent audiences, but how do we do all of those things simultaneously when our listeners don’t understand our aims or vocabulary? Elevator pitches are about presenting a product or idea, using a distilled message to make a sale or win over a key player, but summarizing DH for people used to authority and concision can be a challenge.

I’d like to talk about good approaches to advocating effectively and quickly for DH, whether talking with the general public, administrators, or potential donors. I think doing DH in the open means, at least right now, not just putting files online, ensuring public access, going CC, etc.: I think we have to be able to communicate to the people who don’t come knocking at our door. I categorized this as a “Talk” session, but depending on who’s interested, we might want to play around with practice pitches + instant feedback, or role playing. Here are some conversation sparks:

Shock & Awe. What are some of our favorite phrases or facts for talking about the power or breadth of digital humanities approaches? How about sharing our favorite sites or apps to showcase on phone or tablet?

Business Cards. How do you represent yourself–DH first, middle, or last? Do you use any jargon? Do you give people formal business, cards, informal cards, share your Twitter handle?

If you’re at an institution without a huge DH presence, or you’re meeting with someone who’s not that interested in it, how do you demonstrate the value of DH? What are some good strategies to use when your Provost/Dean/Principal/Lead asks why you haven’t produced a monograph (or three) yet?

Finally, why do I care about this? I’m a librarian, and while I work with students and faculty “doing” DH, I also work with people who have varying levels of awareness of it, or who might be interested but have little time to find an entry point. Maybe most of all, I want to be able to speak more effectively with people who are interested in contributing time, money, or energy to DH efforts, but who need convincing.

Hi Transcribers.

Make sure you sign up for a Scripto account. If you want some background on Scripto and Crowdsourcing, you might like this article.

Let’s get together and brainstorm new possibilities for publishing humanities scholarship. If we’re not satisfied with digital versions of journal articles and monographs, what alternatives can we propose? Are there any models that look promising or interesting experiments (like Scalar) in the works? Let’s dream up what would be exciting and useful without getting bogged down in a conversation about tenure and promotion. If scholarly communication is the goal — rather than checking boxes — what do we want to do?

This conversation could focus on the specific challenges of digital humanities scholarship, or approach humanities scholarship more broadly. But let’s focus on the production and dissemination of scholarship, not on getting credit.

Just a note for people planning to attend the Intro to Omeka Plugins workshop that it has been rescheduled to the first session after scheduling on Friday.

Why? For fame, glory, and fabulous prizes!

Whose fame, glory, and fabulous prizes? YOURS!

If you have an idea for an Omeka plugin and want to dive right in, you can make your work part of the THATCamp Challenge. Take what you learn at the workshop and start building, join other new and seasoned developers in the Makerspace (RRCHNM central in Research Hall, room 470), and build something new to show off at the end of THATCamp.

Good luck!

Hi Folks,

Want to warn anyone who is driving to ThatCamp on Saturday, that there are three high school graduations scheduled at the Patriot Center (which is on the same side of campus as the THATCamp festivities, near the Braddock Road entrances to GMU). Graduations will be at 9:30am, 2:30pm, and 7:00pm.

The biggest challenge will most likely be getting in for the Saturday morning sessions.

According to Mason Parking:
“Be prepared for heavier traffic up to 90 minutes prior to each ceremony and allow more time to drive to and from campus. Parking and Transportation Services encourages staff and students to use the Rappahannock River Parking Deck or the Field House parking lots to avoid traffic. Mason will be best accessed through entrances off of University Drive or Roberts Road. Check Parking and Transportation’s Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on conditions on and around campus.”

David Phillips and Tyler Pruitt, Wake Forest University

What do you need to consider in planning and designing a website for a DH project meant as both a resource for the public and a vehicle for outreach and public input? What strategies can you employ in creating such a site?

We would like to explore and have a discussion about experimental ideas and best practices in creating multi-modal sites that have these goals.

What platforms work the best for particular objectives, and why? What web design tools and platforms are most effective for a public humanities DH project?

If you’re in the early planning stages of site design for a DH public humanities project, come discuss your ideas, your questions and your insights.  We’ll work collaboratively on developing ideas for a ‘matrix’ of solutions that looks at the relative advantages of a variety of API, plug-ins and platforms.

Can someone teach an intermediate workshop for Omeka? Somewhere between an intro and advanced class. I know how to install Omeka and plugins, now what? The workshops I see are either too simple or too advanced. I would like to attend a workshop that would include how to modify a theme with some basic CSS and also setting up exhibits and simple pages. Are people linking their EAD finding aids in their Omeka sites? Is there an EAD plugin compatible with the updated Omeka? Can we discuss Omeka best practices. How are people naming files and digitizing collections that already have paper/Box/Folder/versions with pdf finding aids. How are CSV files of metadata working out for you? How are we actually working with Omeka and how are people teaching with Omeka?

This is a plea for a workshop on creating interfaces to digital collections using Viewshare and Omeka Exhibit. I have used both with my students but do not feel anywhere near proficient enough to facilitate a workshop. Both platforms seem to have a lot to offer for both academic and community-based projects.

Why should STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) have all the fun? It is time for the humanities to embrace the studio model as a pedagogical means to foster intellectual curiosity. MIT has NuVu; let’s create THATClass! Bring your ideas on partnerships, collaboration, technology integration, hands-on projects, uncovering content, and ways to apply knowledge and skills rooted in the humanities to develop the future of secondary (and post-secondary) education. ==> Saturday