Class Blog 2

Digital Humanities Projects

~ Annie Swafford
  1. User friendly interface: Your project must be easy and acessible for people that are not experts. If your website, for example, is too complicated then people won’t know how to use all its features and some of your work can be never seen or never found.
  2. Realiable information: One important thing is that all the information in your project must be truth and don’t express only your personal opinion. Search tons of infomation to get as many as you can, cite them correctly, make a biblyography and if you want express your opinion based on what you found and very briefly. Let people create their own opinion based on what they found on your project.
  3. Focus: Focus on the theme you want. If you digress a lot people might lose interest and the objective of your project will get lost along the way.
  4. Visually appealing: Your project must be pleasurable to look at. If you have a messy aestethics people will lose the interest to look through it. So even if your project is really good, you will still lose audience.
  5. Easily navigable: People must be able to easily understand and find what they want in your project without that much effort. It’s always good to have a search engine so they can navigate better and go straight foward to what they are looking for without wasting too much time.

Analysing all the previous characteristcs and looking at all the digital humanities projects you can notice that a good digital humanities project is made not only thinking about the data you wanna show itself but it must be made think about who will see and use it. A good project is reliable, visually appealing and focused on one especific theme so people can earn from your project tons of information that they would never be able to find so easily without it.

This kind of project reunites a lot of information in one place, a lot of them information that has never been digitalized before and this helps researches for scholars. For example, Locating London. It reunites tons of informations of old london going from crimes to the density of the population by area. This is can be found in a unique place and compared, giving scholars new ways to see the data and come up with more questions that if they had to search different places and come up with the individual conclusion of the data they found.

Quality Digital Humanities Project

~ Annie Swafford

1.)User Friendly Interface

The project whether it be an archive, database, map or whatever else should be both easy to access and to operate. Some projects that we have reviewed such as Old Bailey Online were very complex and difficult to use and that is not a very desirable trait for a project.

2.)Organized

A good project will be set up in a way where it is very easy to maneuver through all of the information. This is much more possible when the project is very clean with links available to easily access each part of the site. A bad example of this would be artintheblood.com, because the only way to navigate through it is with just two buttons, and once one leaves a page on this website it is very hard to return to it later because it is severely disorganized.

3.)Visually Appealing

In my opinion, a person will have much more fun navigating through a project if it is pleasing to look at. Clever layouts and color schemes can help catch the reader’s eye and keep them interested in the subject.

4.)Credible

It is very important that the project lists out sources, so the scholars that view the project are able to see where the information came from. If the project is using unreliable sources, the readers would be able to find out and dictate whether or not it actually is a useful project.

5.)Importance

The information on the project should appeal to some type of scholar or academic field. Anybody can put information about anything on the internet, but for a project to have quality in the eyes of a scholar, the information being put on it must be useful knowledge.

A good digital humanities project is made up of knowledge. Out of the five points mentioned above the most important is the last. When push comes to shove, judgement on a project will come down to how useful the knowledge can be to the public eye; whether it be for scholarly use or recreational use.

A good project allows scholars to ask questions by showing them different perspectives or interpretations to certain subjects. Projects should be unique and present information in a way which scholars have never seen before.

What Makes a Good DH Project?

~ Annie Swafford

Content: The content of the digital humanities project should be organized around a clear goal or centralizing theme that draws the archive/map/topic modeling together. This should not only be stated somewhere within the project, but be seen clearly throughout the project.

Clarity and organization: Just as important as content is the way in which organized within the project. A project should be easy to navigate and search within. It should be connect in ways that

Design: The project should be, again, easy to navigate, but should also be aesthetically pleasing. Design should not interfere with the users ability to read or navigate the site. If possible, design should be related to the topic at hand.

Scholarly approach: The DH project should use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. Citations should be accurate and consistent with one citation style. Overall, the content should be appealing to an intellectual or a scholar in a specific topic area.

Relevance: All sources within a project should be relevant to the central idea of the topic. The core content should be relevant to the times as well, interpreting and analyzing sources that make sense within the popular topics and media. A project on children’s artwork may be popular with children’s mothers’, but less so with the popular crowd like a project on Victorian literature would be.

 

Good digital humanities project are collaborative works by scholars to further an understanding about a topic. This central topic should inform the content of the project, whether it is articles in an archive or locations on a map. The project should be clear in this topic, but also easy for a user to navigate. The content is only usable if it can be found and understood. This brings in the design on the site, which should allow for ease of navigation without being too confusing for the user and without interfering with the central topic. A background picture of rockets has no place on a map on London, and etc. Relevancy of sources to the topic is crucial in creating a scholarly project. This involves accurate grammar and citations, formulating a project that can be used to further an understanding of a topic.

DH allows scholars to ask new questions by giving them access to information they may not have had before. In compiling these projects, scholars have instant access to tens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of sources on a single topic at one time. This is not possible with print texts, which have to be found through libraries that these scholars may not have access too. To compile these sources into a single print source would be a thousand page book or series of volumes. Given access to new information insights a storm of valuable new sources to analyze, perhaps even question theories by pas scholars. Digital humanities is crucial to the future of understanding because it puts thousands of years worth of sources at your fingertips, from any computer worldwide.

The Art and Significance of a DH project

~ Annie Swafford

A Digital Humanities project should contain a necessary amount of aspects that methodically convey a leitmotif and theme of the author. It is quite difficult to create a “perfect” project, but with these aspects it is feasible to make a prosperous one.

1) Central Theme & Focus:
The explicit date of the humanities project should contain a specific concentration with supporting details and substantiation that fully maintains the main idea of the author.

2) Aesthetic value:
A digital humanities project should contain a sense of attractiveness for the viewer to enjoy and stay focused on the material. It should contain a structure and organization and be somewhat colorful or themed for the aesthetic sense.

3) Citations and Reliability:
A digital humanities project should be properly cited so the reader knows what he or she is comprehending is accurate and proven. If the works are not cited, the information may be misleading and can prove to be unhelpful for the viewer.

4) Facilitated Interface:
A successful humanities project should be simple and easy to utilize, so the viewer gets the most proficiency and advantages from the databases and information posted on the site. It should be properly structured, with the interface highlighted and bolded for the viewer to flagrantly notice. It should also be recommended that the project contains a key or a search bar.

5) Significant and noteworthy:
A project should contain a preeminent subject or topic that a numerous amount of people can relate to. It should be centered around an explicit theme that society is introduced to and it should contain a primary relevance to most of humanity.

A Digital Humanities project should contain a sense of importance and significance, alongside the facilitated capability of searching through the interface. It should be properly researched with reliable sources and authors and should contain cited links. It should be easy and fun to look at, designed with an attractive layout and color scheme. Overall, the project should be focused on a topic methodically with the utilization of all of the aspects listed above plus more. It should contain significance throughout the whole project, with variability and points of interest.
The significant subject of Digital Humanities provides an interface for students and scholars to use technology to ask questions and find out information about a numerous amount of topics in society. The utilization of these projects creates novel and original perspectives that cannot be seen in a regular and mundane form of researching. An example that supports this statement is the practice of distant reading as MALLET methodically aids in letting scholars read and utilize thousands of texts and examine patterns in seconds. Instead of thoroughly reading through a large amount of text,MALLET allows one to read a text and grasp the prominent topic within a few pages.

What makes a good DH project?

~ Annie Swafford

There are several components that are needed in order to create a good Digital Humanities project:

1. Clarity – DH projects must have a clear outline of what it is the person is making. The point of the project and what it is describing or showing must be obvious and helpful to the viewer.

2. Easy to understand/navigate – To have a successful DH project  it must be easy to understand. Whatever it may be, the best DH project is easy to navigate and accessible to everyone. If it is a word cloud, it must be legible and not distracting or over the top. If it is an archive, navigation must be clear and not confusing to the users.

3. Aesthetically pleasing – A DH project must be aesthetically pleasing and interactive. When looking at it, while it should be pretty or fun, keep in mind that to it should also be easy to understand. And although beautifying the project has no impact on the content, it does help catch people’s attention and draw them in.

4. Theme topics – DH projects must be consistent and have clear thematic topics. The information within the project should all have the same themes and subject ideas; you would not want to have a project that is compiled of random topics that do not go together or make sense.

5.  Made for a reason – To make a DH projects, there must be a reason behind it. You must use scholarly sources and have a reason for creating whatever the DH project is. Do not just make  a project about something that no one is interested in. DH projects are for the public, and should be made with the needs or interests of others in mind. It should be created to help scholars, students, or people who are studying the subject that you are creating the project for.

A good DH project contains all of what I have listed above. It should be clear and concise, and give information that people are genuinely interested in. The project should be attractive and grab peoples attention, pulling them in so that they can enjoy looking and learning. Whatever you project is, it should be easy to navigate and understand. The archive, word cloud, website, map, etc. should be accessible to everyone and not a confusing labyrinth. The theme(s) should be evident as you enter the project and should stay consistent. All the topics within the project should remain revolving around the big theme idea and should use reliable, scholarly sources. Finally, the project should be made with a goal in mind. It should not be made with a completely bias or pointless subject or range of subjects that do not make sense. Since others will be looking at your project, they need to be able to rely on your information and use it for what they need. DH projects bring up ideas and topics that one might never have considered before. It should also be able to reach people all around the world, and be interactive so that people can work together, even if they are separated by the ocean. DH projects should make people think and come up with even more project ideas.

With new DH project topics and ideas, scholars are able to question and considered this material from different angles. This then leads to new ideas and further questioning. Since DH reaches all over the world, projects are able to give people glimpses into a culture they might not know about. Through this, people are able to educate one another about traditions that might not be celebrated in other parts of the world. It can also show people information that needs to be acknowledged on a larger scale.

Digital Humanities, a collective effort.

~ Annie Swafford

At the moment, the digital humanities carries a broad definition. The aspects that allow for a successful DH project are however a bit more rotund. We’ve looked at many projects from the beginning of the semester, and the aspects that make them successful become increasingly evident when reflecting back upon them.

First of all, consistency of subject matter throughout the project is essential. A mapping project of victorian London that includes images showing the evolution of flip flops wouldn’t make sense. On the contrary, it would likely confuse a user looking for information on the geography of Victorian London. While the map included on such a project may include valuable information, irrelevancy detracts and can easily render the project inutile.

Making the information included clear to the user is additionally important. Carrying on the map example, if a map is derived from bad scans it quite simply cannot be used. In the same vein, putting a high quality rendering of the same map online is of little use if the largest it can be seen at is only a few hundred pixels wide.

That is to say, the quality of materials included in a project are important. But even if the project is relevant to one topic and has high quality information, poor organization and ease of use can detract potential users. Here, interaction design (IxD) is important. We have certain expectations of a tool when using it (being able to zoom in on a map, access information from different pages on a website). When a project does not meet these standards it becomes a bit more unsuccessful.

Next to IxD is user experience design (UX). Perhaps the clearest way to explain this is by referencing industrial design. When we see a flip light switch, we expect that by flipping it one way or another a light will receive or be deprived of power. If the flip switch is meant to be pushed, then the design fails. Similarly, faux drawers that are only there for aesthetics. Seeing a link that doesn’t look like a link may cause a user to miss an important function of a site, and static element that looks like a button will work to frustrate the user.

The ability for a project to expand is yet another important aspect of a successful DH project. The internet is such a malleable medium that a project should be built in a way that more information and materials can be added with time. It’s not set in stone, nor should it be.

A good DH project is accessible, has clear intent, intuitive project navigation, and the ability to grow. Collaboration is also an important aspect that is aided tremendously by the ability to work with others by the means of using the internet. A good DH project also allows scholars to ask new questions.

This can be achieved by the nature of a project. By concentrating a DH project on a facet of a subject, projects about adjacent subjects can be enriched. That is to say, we can read a text set in London (as we’ve done) and increase our understand why certain events occurred in specific locations by using a variety of different DH projects, each complementing the other. Reading crime reports allows us to see what types of crime are committed, allowing the question into the state of poverty (or lack thereof) inherent within a neighborhood during a specific period of time. Other starting off points lead to using different DH projects, each focusing on an aspect of what one is researching. The aspects not covered by a specific project can provoke questions, which may be answered by other projects. The cycle can easily repeat itself, but when a question cannot be answered? That might just make good fodder for the beginnings of another DH project.

Good Digital Humanities Projects

~ Annie Swafford

We’re back again are we? With final projects coming up it’s important to consider what makes a good project for the Digital Humanities. Let’s get started.

One very important quality for a good DH project to have is that it be open and accessible to other scholars through the internet. Collaboration is the name of the game here. By sharing our work with others it contributes to an ongoing process of academia.

Another key element is that any facts listed or stated are accurate, fact-checked, and cited properly. Without proper citations to legitimate sources our work becomes meaningless. The standard that we need to achieve as scholars is high but also important.

In addition to having accurate information, a good DH project is easy to use, navigate, and read through. If information is inaccessible or hard to read then it quickly becomes useless. A key element in DH is using the tools provided to create fast and easy ways for scholars to learn efficiently.

While it is by no means a necessity, better DH projects tend to have higher quantities of data to look at. Larger sets of data help give a look at the full picture and ensure that any conclusions being drawn aren’t based only on outliers in the data but on the bulk and majority of material.

This next quality isn’t one that must be met in a DH project but is one that all the best projects have. A project that is interesting and engaging will make for a better project that others will take interest in regardless of the subject matter. An engaging project will be one that sticks in the back of your mind or makes you feel compelled to share it with others. The best projects also raise questions and hypotheses.

So to conclude, the best Digital Humanities projects are collaborative, accurate, large, easy-to-use, and engaging. Digital Humanities allows scholars to easily share their work and thus ask new questions and arrive at new ideas or conclusions that wouldn’t have been possible without the tools computers and technology provide.

The Essentials of Effective Digital Humanities Projects

~ Annie Swafford
Although “good” is mostly a subjective term I think a majority of us can agree on a standard of qualities that make Digital Humanities projects most effective.
My personal list in no sequential order goes as follows:
1. Thematic Context; there should be a definitive theme with goal oriented content that embodies a specified topic.
2. Practical Applicability; a quality digital humanities project should offer a reasonable body of knowledge with a practical appeal to its intended demographic.
3. Interactive Interface; this isn’t a requirement but having a searchable or participatory interface can help users get the most out of a digital humanities project.
4. Aesthetic Appeal; although beautification doesn’t directly enhance the quality of the information presented it can make the data easier and more enjoyable to digest.
5. Scholarly Reliability; perhaps the most integral quality of a good digital humanities project, from accurate sources to proper citations the information given in any digital humanities should be unbiased and reliable.
 So what else makes a digital humanities project “good”? & How do good digital humanities projects enable scholars to ask new questions? Excluding the aforementioned qualities there are still many factors that enhance DH projects and their ability to do so. When determining what qualities can benefit a project its important to consider the underlying aspiration of digital humanities in general, which is to be informative and thought provoking in new and inventive ways. A good DH project does this by providing its user with valid data that not only answers questions but poses new ones. This should be accomplished with a creative inclination towards presentation that utilizes technological resourcefulness to offer otherwise inconceivable perspectives. It is through these cutting edge mediums of analysis that DH enables scholars to ask new questions.

What Makes a Good DH Project?

~ Annie Swafford

Five qualities of a good DH project include:

  1. Goal oriented: Clear specifications of what the project is and the content it creates.
  2. Organized: No one likes a confusing and hard to understand tool they are using for the first time. Therefore, an organized DH project will allow for easier navigation of the website, and using the tool in everyday life situations.
  3. Aesthetically pleasing: If a DH project is dull and boring, chances are people will begin to stray away from it. Therefore, a project must incorporate techniques that will grab users attention right from the start.
  4. Clear citations: Many DH projects are used by researches (especially students who may be writing a paper). Therefore, having clear citations from where information is taken is essential for both legality purposes, and for viewers who also need citations.
  5. Thematic: Each DH project should have a central idea that their website is based on. Having a central theme allows scholars to narrow down which websites they will find useful in their studies, and which they will not.

Besides the five qualities listed above, I believe a good DH project is one that brings scholars to understand the information that is otherwise looked passed. For example, before actually completing the mapping unit, I had never thought of looking up certain streets in Sherlock Holmes to see if they were actual streets. Instead, I just assumed they were. However, DH projects prevent assumption, and prevail actualization. By completing the mapping unit, I was able to see which streets were actually real, and which were falsely created. I also feel that a good DH project will provide scholars with knowledge that they hadn’t known before visiting the website. It is easy to find websites that reiterate what everyone knows, but it is difficult to find websites that teach everyone something new, and have citations to prove it! I have quickly learned that the DH projects and websites we have taken a look at in class have done that very well, which is specifically why I have enjoyed using them.

DH lets scholars ask new questions, because as I mentioned before, every time they go on a DH website, they are learning something they hadn’t known before. Therefore, I can imagine questions such as “Is that true?” or “How have I never used this digital tool before?” have become frequent questions. Not to mention, because DH is relatively just becoming prevalent in the digital world, many DH scholars may question what other DH projects are available to them and how they can use them in their studies. DH projects also allow for peer-to-peer interaction, as well as peer-to-scholar interaction, allowing for everyone to ask questions and have them answered by the DH community.

How to create a successful Digital Humanities Project

~ Annie Swafford

My ideas of what creates a well done digital humanities project, it should include:

1. It should be easy to use which makes the project more desirable to that project over others.
2. It needs to be visually appealing with a well-constructed layout so the information is easily seen.
3. The project should be focused on a theme makes it more relevant for readers interested in that topic.
4. The data needs to be cited correctly, data that is from academically or scholarly sources is preferred.
5. The project should be searchable, when there are different collections of data in one area.

Questions:

1. What makes a good DH project?
A good digital humanities project is almost all of the things I stated above but can include much more. For instance, interactive DH projects make it easier for an individual to obtain more from the project with a sort of fun learning experience. Also, along with being cited correctly, a project should have an “about page,” so the people visiting these projects knows what exactly is trying to be shown through the collection of data. That data needs to be clear and focused for it to be a usable and good DH project otherwise the project will be pretty irrelevant to researchers and individuals interested in these themes. You want to make sure your DH project has a well done concept along with these other guidelines unless you want it to be an example of what not to do for a DH project.

2. How does DH let scholars ask new questions?
Digital Humanities is a newer concept that has been growing over the past few years. It is creating newer ideas and tools to help the fast paced age of technology. It has given the ability to digitize books and give us new tools and resources. This newer way of thinking lets scholars ask new questions in itself to come up with new tools that can help groups become better with literature, knowledge, and technology. For example, it helps scholars ask questions by putting together new ideas on themes that others would maybe have not paired together. Certain Digital Humanities tools lets you combine topics to see the data that comes up behind it such ask the project we did on topic modeling. You can search through many different themes that you maybe did not think they would have anything to do with each other through out novels in history.