RadioWest Interview with Doug Fabrizio

Powered by WPeMatico

We’ve been very busy today. I created a twitter account, which makes me a twit I suppose. We’ll see how useful it really is. I also created this new domain in Reclaim Hosting and then downloaded the Word Press plug-in to make it more easily usable. I then tried to make it look nearly identical in feel to my existing Word Press domain, which is not a true domain at all. Rather than migrate my existing pages from a site that I will own for nearly another year, I created links in this domain’s menu system to take viewers directly to the other domain. They can only return to this domain by using the “back” button for now. We’ll see if anyone notices. If I have time after homework tonight, I’ll see about adding another post to my other Word Press blog about how to search newspaper websites. I like to keep my blog posts short and clear, so this is enough for my homework assignment tonight.

Powered by WPeMatico

In our first day of DoingDH16, we discussed the history and promise of digital history, explored some of the first endeavors into the field, plumbed the depths of participants’ anxieties about social media and online profiles, had a crash course in Twitter, and began to work with WordPress.  I’m both exhilarated and exhausted.  I’d like to learn how to create an Open Access Database of Information Wanted Advertisements taken out by former slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War.  If I can make a good start of that these two weeks, I’ll be thrilled.

Powered by WPeMatico

Just finished my first day at Doing Digital History 2016. I’m totally fried, but I left today’s class with some new skills, a new perspective on the importance of one’s web presence, and this nifty website!

I’m not sure how I’ll use this site. I really don’t see myself blogging very frequently, at least after the DDH institute ends. Maybe I’ll catch the blogging bug. Maybe not. Either way, it’s been in the back of my head that a personal website might not be the worst idea. Until today, however, I really had no idea how to put one together. I’m shocked how easy it is. At the very least, I’ll try to keep this page updated with my CV, publication information, course syllabi, and the like. Pinky swear.

I’ll also do my best to use Twitter more effectively. I’ve never really understood the purpose of Twitter, when Facebook seemed easier and more intuitive. But I’m intrigued with the idea of Twitter as a more professional platform, with Facebook serving as a personal repository for dog photos and food porn. I’m still not certain what my Twitter persona will be, but I’m going to do my best to find one.

I’m excited to learn more tomorrow. “Digital hygiene.” Intriguing.

Powered by WPeMatico

The 1890s accumulated a number of titles, among them the Belle Epoch, the Gay Nineties, and the Gilded Age. The Central American nation of Guatemala entered the decade in the control of General Lisandro Barillas and exited in the despotic clutches of dictator Estrada Cabrera.  Despite these bleak historical bookends the middle years between 1893 and 1897 were mainly bright and hopeful and matched the happy labels laid out in the opening of this paragraph.  Those interim years marked the election and presidency of General Jose Maria Reina Barrios and were characterized by high prices on the nation’s main export, coffee, and an influx of foreigners bringing wealth and ‘know-how.’ Bolstering the dreams of Guatemaltecos were the promise of a railroad project seeking to connect the Atlantic and Pacific.  Staged to draw the eyes of the world, the capital city was the site of the Exposicion Centro-Americana in 1897. It is to that period that we turn here by way of tracing the lives of seven ex patriot Estadounidenses (U.S. Citizens) who journeyed to Guatemala in search of opportunity and better lives.

General Pierce M.B. Young of Georgia, Minister Plenipotentiary to Guatemala and Honduras

Billy A. Clarke of Louisiana, African American Boxer and Entrepreneur

Reverend Edward Haymaker of Missouri, Presbyterian missionary and ethnographer

Francis Forrester-Brown of Tennessee, Mahogany Harvester

Juan W. Knight of Alabama, “The Negro King of Guatemala”

Henry Martyn Jones of Kansas, Adventurer and Contractor

Algeria Benton de Barrios of Louisiana, First Lady

Powered by WPeMatico

Doing Digital History 2016 – not as sexy but also not as scary as I had imagined. At least for the first day. The best part so far? 23 other people exploring fascinating topics and wanting to learn new tools to do and share their work. And this community of learners is being supported by experienced instructors who know their stuff and want us to succeed. Pretty awesome opportunity.

As much new technology as there is to master, I’m struck by how many of the challenges are  familiar. Who is my audience? What do I want them to understand, feel, and do? What are the key outcomes and how can I assemble my raw materials and frame my argument most effectively to accomplish them?

And what are the possibilities of all this new media to not only reach new audiences, but to do research with and for communities in new ways? Shared authority and community-curated content are laudable goals, but how does that really work in media and forums that are seemingly even more complex than traditional formats?

And, finally, how can I mobilize the visual power of technology in ways that are both more accessible and more memorable than text-dominated media? I want to engage people in the histories of social inequalities across space and time and to highlight the enduring significance of landscape in reflecting and reifying social relationships. Are there digital history tools out there that can help me do this? Looking forward to discovering ways to realize my vision for JustIndy and for translating California mission landscape history into compelling curriculum. Stay tuned!

Powered by WPeMatico

I am a serial adopter and abandoner of technology.  I confess.  Blogger, Zotero, Twitter–I have tried them all, employed them with great enthusiasm, and then lost interest.  I hadn’t really realized this before today.  Now, I find myself here, at Doing Digital History 2016, regretting the data I lost and finally ready to commit.  To make a plan.

Today I learned about several tools that will potentially change my relationship to technology as I know it (Tweetdeck and Reclaim Hosting answered questions I had been asking silently for years).  The most essential thing that I take away from today, though, is the importance of crafting a more intentional approach to technology.  This incorporates but reaches beyond Miriam Posner’s solid advice on creating a web presence to building a more coherent presence for technology in my real life.  (This process probably should include assessing why I subconsciously consider my online life “unreal,” but let’s leave that question for tomorrow.)

For right now, the first step forward is to publish this post.  I must confess that I am finding it difficult to push that button and make it publicly visible.  Is the post too chatty?  Have I written something that I will later regret?  Does it have insufficient depth?  I suppose that progress in the intentional use of digital technology is dependent upon actually using digital technology.  Here goes.

Powered by WPeMatico

I chose the classic IWW cartoon “Block Meets Block” from 1917ish for three reasons:

1. It was the first image I found saved on my computer and it made my life easier.
2. I’m working on a Digital History (dh) project about World War I in Lindsborg, KS, so it seemed at least a little bit relevant.
3. And my charge into the no-person’s land of dh seems a little like a suicide mission.

I mean no disrespect with these quips and wildly inappropriate comparisons to the Great War, for I am fully aware of the hellish conditions these folks – whether civilian or soldier – encountered.  I dearly hope that this little blog can inform modern people about the tragedy of 1914-18 and that relevant lessons can be learned from the experiences of 100 years ago.

Powered by WPeMatico