For those of you who are interested but could not attend yesterday, Nathan Humpal and Franky Abbott gave a “Building Digital Editions” workshop about basic vocabulary, project planning, and possibilities for creating digital scholarly editions. Resources from their presentation include video and their presentation outline with resources and examples. If you are interested in thinking through or getting started with a digital editions project, don’t hesitate to contact the ADHC to set up a consultation. Thanks Nathan and Franky!
Using Relational Databases
Understanding how databases function and why they are important is key to doing much of the project work we do in the ADHC. Steven Turner of Web Services gave an intro workshop this week: “Using Relational Databases for Digital Research.” He covered some basics about what relational databases are, how they work, and why they are important for organizing data and building web-based projects. Here are resources from the workshop: video, slides, and handout of useful resources. Thanks, Steve!
Intellectual Property Resources
Claire Lewis Evans, Editor for Digital and Electronic Publishing at The University of Alabama Press, gave a great workshop on intellectual property last week. She has made available many resources from her presentation: video (in Tegrity), slides, and two documents: Campus Copyright Rights and Responsibilities: A Basic Guide to Policy Considerations and The Association of American University Presses Permission FAQs. Thanks so much to Claire for giving us a great overview of the issues at stake within universities.
Accessibility in Digital Humanities
On Thursday, January 10, Melissa Fortson Green gave a very informative brown bag about accessibility and its impact on digital resources and practices. Here is her blog post about resources from the presentation:
The sources referenced in my session, along with some related resources, are listed below. They are also available via the Diigo collaborative bookmarking site: mbfortson’s adhc_a11y Bookmarks on Diigo.
A pdf of my slide deck is available here: Accessibility & the Digital Humanities. I am happy to share it in alternate formats!
Accessibility at The University of Alabama
Office of Disability Services – The University of Alabama
The Office of Disability Services is the central point of contact for students with disabilities at UA and works “to ensure that University programs and services are accessible to qualified students with disabilities.”
Office of Equal Opportunity Programs – The University of Alabama
This office “works with University Administration, departments, and committees to ensure that University policies and programs comply with applicable nondiscrimination requirements” and “serves as the Campus Coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” The Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act memorandum appears on the EOP website.
Technology and Learning Committee | OIT – The University of Alabama
The Teaching and Learning Committee, the University’s academic technology IT governance committee, “is currently working with the ADA Technology Compliance Working Group to develop a plan for the University of Alabama regarding technology accessibility in order to comply with new federal ADA regulations. The advisors for this project are the UA Compliance Officer, the Office of Disabilities Services, and the UA System Legal Office.”
Accessibility & Digital Resources
#a11y
#a11y is the Twitter hashtag for discussion of accessibility and technology (a11y is sometimes used as an abbreviation for accessibility; the 11 refers to the number of letters between a and y). Due to Twitter search limitations, users may need to use a search tool like Topsy to find some older tweets.
Giz Explains: How Blind People See the Internet | Gizmodo
August 2010 Gizmodo feature discussing how “the blind browse the same internet as everyone else, every day.”
How People with Disabilities Use the Web | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
“This resource introduces how people with disabilities, including people with age-related impairments, use the Web. It describes tools and approaches that people with different kinds of disabilities use to browse the Web and the design barriers they encounter on the Web. It helps developers, designers, and others to understand the principles for creating accessible websites, web applications, browsers, and other web tools.” This document is an in-progress draft.
Web Accessibility Tutorial – Screen Readers | YouTube
This short video demonstrates how a screen reader “synthesizes words on the screen into spoken text.”
Accessibility Challenges & Solutions
Considering the User Perspective: A Summary of Design Issues | WebAIM
Outlines design challenges and solutions for users with disabilities.
Accessibility in DH
The following represent some of the conversations happening around DH and accessibility.
“Accessibility and the Digital Humanities”
Accessibility and the Digital Humanities | ProfHacker
ProfHacker post by Jen Guiliano, assistant director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, and George H. Williams, a regular ProfHacker contributor. This “call to digital humanists” asked: “What is your project doing to address accessibility for people with disabilities?”
Disability, Accessibility, and the Digital Humanities
George H. Williams posted a link to this survey in a comment on the ProfHacker post he co-authored with Jen Guiliano, Accessibility and the Digital Humanities.
“Disability, Universal Design, and the Digital Humanities”
Disability, Universal Design, and the Digital Humanities | Debates in the Digital Humanities
Open-access edition of George H. Williams’s “Disability, Universal Design, and the Digital Humanities,” published in Debates in the Digital Humanities. Ed. Matthew K. Gold. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
The Principles of Universal Design | Center for Universal Design
Defines universal design as “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”
Principles of Universal Design Quick-Reference | Design Research and Methods Journal
“A simple guide that explains and illustrates the principles of Universal Design (UD), providing specific guidelines for implementing UD in any project.”
About UDL | CAST
“Universal Design for Learning is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.”
THATCamp Accessibility
THATCamp Accessibility 2012
THATCamp Accessibility 2012 was a one-day unconference exploring digital humanities, technology, and issues of accessibility. It was held October 27, 2012, online and at Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. This Google doc lists the day’s sessions: bitly.com/Souw3b.
#thatcampaccess
#THATCampAccess is the Twitter hashtag used by THATCamp Accessibility participants. Due to Twitter search limitations, users may need to use a search tool like Topsy to find some older tweets.
MLA
MLA Annual Convention sessions:
- Session 306: Disability Studies, the MLA, and the AAUP Report “Accommodating Faculty Members Who Have Disabilities”
- Session 353: Avenues of Access: Digital Humanities and the Future of Scholarly Communication
- Session 401: Digital Archives and Their Margins
- Session 441: Disability in Jane Eyre: The Madwoman and the Blindman
- Session 483: Disability Studies Methodologies
- Session 570: Avenues of Access: The State of Disability Studies
#mla13dis
#mla13dis is the Twitter hashtag for discussion of 2013 MLA Annual Convention sessions related to disability. Due to Twitter search limitations, users may need to use a search tool like Topsy to find some older tweets.
MLA Commons group: Universal Design in Digital Environments | MLA Commons
MLA Commons group for those interested in making “the digital environment accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.”
Discussion
Valerie Fletcher on redefining disability: “Disability is a phenomenon of the experience that occurs by the individual intersecting with the environment, including physical, information, communication, social and policy environments.”
The authors of “Accessibility and the Digital Humanities” evaluate their “own development and design practices by keeping the following questions in mind”:
- Are we building accessible sites and projects?
- Are we delivering our content (code, publications, digital objects, digital tools…) in forms that allow for use by blind and low-vision people?
- What do we need to know to integrate the work going on in braille and low-vision research communities into the work we are doing as digital humanists?
“Accessibility and the Digital Humanities” concludes with these questions:
“What is accessible design? What can we in the digital humanities do to improve the work we are already doing? And how can project directors evaluate projects and tools to recognize accessible-compliant design and development?”
MLA and AHA Roundup, 2013
Here are a number of resources available about DH-related conversations at MLA and AHA:
- The open access release of Debates in Digital Humanities –an important and well-received book about DH: http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/
MLA Presidential Forum “Avenues of Access: Digital Humanities and Scholarly Communication”
- Bethany Nowvisikie, “Resistance in the Materials: http://nowviskie.org/2013/resistance-in-the-materials/
- Matthew Kirschenbaum, “Distant Mirrors and the LAMP”: http://commons.mla.org/docs/distant-mirrors-and-the-lamp/
The Dark Side of Digital Humanities, MLA
- Wendy H. Chun: http://www.c21uwm.com/2013/01/09/the-dark-side-of-the-digital-humanities-part-1/
- Richard A. Grusin: http://www.c21uwm.com/2013/01/09/dark-side-of-the-digital-humanities-part-2/
- Patrick Jagoda: http://www.c21uwm.com/2013/01/09/dark-side-of-the-digital-humanities-part-3/
- Rita Raley: http://www.c21uwm.com/2013/01/09/dark-side-of-the-digital-humanities-part-4/
- Set of notes about the MLA session “The Dark Side of Digital Humanities” from Alexis Lothian: http://www.queergeektheory.org/2013/01/mla13-the-dark-side-of-digital-humanities/
- William Pannapacker, “On the Dark Side of Digital Humanities from the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/01/05/on-the-dark-side-of-the-digital-humanities/
Others from MLA:
- Kathi Inman Berens, “Curation is Convergence”: http://kathiiberens.com/2012/12/29/curation/
- Doug Armato, Director, University of Minnesota press, “From MLA 2013: Considering Serial Scholarship and the Future of Scholarly Publishing”: http://www.uminnpressblog.com/2013/01/from-mla-2013-considering-serial.html
- Inside Higher Ed’s “The MLA’s Big (Digital) Tent: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/07/mla-discussions-how-digital-communications-can-help-level-playing-field
- Slides for MLA Session 369: “Two Tools for Student-Generated Digital Projects: WordPress and Omeka in the Classroom” from Amanda French and George Williams: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19MDFG9ptn6C_FVHMx2jgpe0EqDaxqWpAFz6uTzX52Bo/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000#slide=id.p
- William Pannapacker’s “Rebooting Graduate Education in the Humanities” – a review of MLA Session 749 in the Chronicle: http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/01/07/rebooting-graduate-education-in-the-humanities/ (He did another write-up on the dark side of DH as well: )
- Katina Rogers’ talk from “Rebooting Graduate Training”: http://katinarogers.com/2013/01/06/rebooting-graduate-training-mla
- Anne Cong-Huyen, “Thinking of Race (Class, Gender, & Nationality) in the Digital Humanities: The #transformDH Example,” as part of session #239, Representing Race: Silence in the Digital Humanities roundtable from MLA: http://anitaconchita.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/thinking-of-race-class-gender-nationality-in-the-dh-the-transformdh-example-mla13/\
- Kari Kraus’ “Alt-Research for Humanities PhDs” from her MLA session: http://www.karikraus.com/?p=234
- Sarah Werner’s responses in MLA’s roundtable, “How Did I get There? Our ‘Alt-Ac’ Jobs.” http://sarahwerner.net/blog/index.php/2013/01/make-your-own-luck/
- Lisa Rhody’s Prezi from MLA: “Doing Data for Humanists; or, How Not to Become a DH Cautionary Tale.” http://prezi.com/jon4fcsabyq2/doing-data-for-humanists-or-how-not-to-become-a-dh-cautionary-tale/
- Mark Sample’s “An Account of Randomness in Literary Computing” from the panel “Reading the Invisible and Unwanted in Old and New Media” at MLA. http://www.samplereality.com/2013/01/08/an-account-of-randomness-in-literary-computing/
- Kirsty Leuner, Talk on the value of grad student blogging on scholarly group blogs, MLA session 767. http://bit.ly/VIWGHW
- Brian Croxall, “Minor Differences and Divergent Paths” from the MLA session, “How Did I Get Here? Our ‘Alt-Ac’ Jobs”: http://www.briancroxall.net/2013/01/04/minor-differences-and-diverging-paths/
From AHA:
- AHA President William Cronon’s address on the power of storytelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUvtyYxABsg
- Sharon Leon’s write-up of Ithaka S+R at AHA, “Digital Methods for Mid-Career Avoiders?”: http://www.6floors.org/bracket/2013/01/05/digital-methods-for-mid-career-avoiders/. ITHAKA S+R report, “Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Historians”: http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/supporting-changing-research-practices-historians
- Storify of tweets from AHA 2013 Session 111: Front Lines: Early-Career Scholars Doing Digital History: http://storify.com/JohnOKDC/aha-2013-session-111-front-lines-early-career-scho
- Trevor Owens’ virtual participation on the AHA panel, “Front Lines Early-Career Scholars Doing Digital History”: http://www.trevorowens.org/2013/01/front-lines-early-career-scholars-doing-digital-history-virtual-aha-panel-participation/
- Inside Higher Ed report from AHA: “Educator or Historian?” http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/07/aha-session-focuses-role-teaching-discipline
There are undoubtedly more out there so feel free to send them to me and I will add them to the blog.
Keeping Your Digital Works Alive
At last week’s brown bag, “Keeping Your Digital Works Alive,” Jody DeRidder (Head of Digital Services, UA Libraries) led our discussion about important considerations for selecting items and avenues for long-term access to digital materials. She has also built this incredibly helpful wiki, Recommendations for Authors and Creators which offers info about standards, general suggestions, and resources for more information. Thanks to Jody for her presentation and this resource!
Video presentation about HootSuite
Sara Maurice Whitver, the First-Year Experience Librarian at the UA Libraries, has made a great video companion to her workshop, “HootSuite–Reclaim Control Over Your Social Media” using Camtasia. Watch her video to learn more about managing multiple social media streams through HootSuite. Thank, Sara, for making this video edition for those who missed the workshop! We appreciate your hard work.
Video edition of HootSuite workshop: http://youtu.be/m56ZqwX1nS0
Social Media in the Classroom Workshop
Thanks so much to Rebecca Johnson, Director of Instructional Technologies and New Pedagogies at eTech for her workshop, “Using Social Media in the Classroom” last week. She gave a great presentation and started an interesting discussion with participants about the pros and cons of various approaches to social media for pedagogy. We appreciate her contribution to the workshop effort. Her presentation slides and resources can be found here.
Lauren Klein’s visit to the ADHC
Lauren Klein gave a fabulous talk on Nov. 7 about her research in the Thomas Jefferson archive and her use of data visualization methods to explore archival silence. She also gave a brown bag about some her favorite projects and resources. Thanks to Josh Rothman and the Summersell Center for the Study of the South for sponsoring this event!
Lauren has been kind enough to share resources from her visit via her website: http://lmc.gatech.edu/~lklein7/2012/11/06/university-of-alabama-talk/
She also mentioned D3 as resources for finding visualization tools and methods:
http://d3js.org/
Geospatial Information Sciences Awareness Day
Additional information here: http://geography.ua.edu/news/post.php?p=163
GIST Awareness Day (Printable PDF)
The College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Geography are sponsoring a poster contest open to all University of Alabama undergraduate and graduate student users of Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing and other Geospatial Technologies.
Posters will be displayed and competition winners will be announced on Thursday, November 15, 2012, in the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library. The poster competition is part of a larger event sponsored by the University Libraries’ and the College of Arts and Sciences’ to highlight the widespread applications of geospatial sciences and technologies.
Undergraduate and graduate submissions will be judged separately, and the winners in each category will receive CASH PRIZES in the amount of the following:
1st place: $250
2nd place: $150
3rd place: $50