Data Visualization

One type of historical data set that I found impressive is a weather data set. While it is not specifically history based, Weather Underground provides a look back into time of the weather on any day of the year, all the way back until 1930. It was quite surprising that they have the details of the specific temperature at any given time, amount of precipitation, and even wind direction! 

My final project is also coming along very smoothly. I have been able to upload all of my photos to the story map and organize them in the order that makes the most sense. I am still in the process of writing the details of the pictures but I have managed to label them all. My color scheme is also not final. I have just been messing around with the colors to see what would look best. Here is the link to check it out: https://arcg.is/CTH8S

Digital Online Archives

The Northern Virginia Digital History Archive website was fairly easy to upload an image to. I had a little problems at first with images being to large but I managed to figure it out. One archive website that I really enjoy is the National Archives website. I love how you can view the famous founding documents of United States history, such as the Declaration of Independence. They provide easy zooming and even descriptions of the conditions of the documents.

As for my project, it is coming along nicely. I have taken all of my photos and have begun creating a layout of how I want my story map to look like. I still need to upload my photos to a website, such as Flickr, since unfortunately I cannot upload the photos directly from my computer.

Real vs. Not Real

Everyone wants to be able to see an artifact in person because it holds the memory of its past. Seeing the object online or in a book just somehow isn't the same. The real and not real aspect of history is an example of museums and libraries becoming more modern and accessible. For example, last year there was a giant fire that destroyed the National Museum of Brazil and all of its artifacts. Thankfully they were able to document their artifacts, but it will never be the same without the objects. Read more about the fire here.

Another way museums capture their artifacts is by creating online tours. This helps people who can't visit in real life be able to see what it would be like. But for anyone who has visited somewhere and then explored the online tour version, it is nowhere near the same. Some type of charm it lost within translation of putting the information online that you can only truly get in person. For example, Mount Vernon has a fantastic online tour but once again, it is just not the same as being there. View their online tour here.

Project Proposal

For my final project I have decided to make a story map about the historic buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. I have always loved this period of time and to make my project, I will be traveling down to Williamsburg to take lots of pictures and learn about the various colonial buildings. The story map seemed to be the best way to showcase this information, specifically because I will have an aerial photo of the town with labels for all the buildings. I felt that if the viewers were able to see the location of the buildings, then it might be easier for them to understand the buildings context and proximity to others. The map will hopefully help others learn more about the sites even if they never get the chance to visit Williamsburg.

Libraries provide loads of information on various topics, but mainly information from their specific town or region. The Thomas Balch Library will likely be the most useful for locating historical documents and images. Unfortunately since my project is about a town in the south of Virginia, it is unlikely that I will find any useful information on their database. The library resource I will likely use will be the NOVA database or the Library of Congress online archives.

Digitizing and Sourcing

I am familiar with many of the digital materials, such as YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Wikipedia, etc. and I am likely to have an account with nearly all of these websites. Knowing how to use these websites has made me realize that I would like to take my project in a direction I am familiar with. I have decided to take a trip down to Williamsburg, Virginia and document the historical buildings in the area and I believe the best way to document the trip is by posting a board to Pinterest. I am well versed in the art of using Pinterest but I have never created my own post, instead I just reblog. My Pinterest account and my past personal website are the two main materials I have that someone can view and get to know a little about me. Through Pinterest you can see what I am interested in and my website gives you an insight on some materials in my life that mean a lot to me.

Copyright

For digital projects, such as our up and coming one, copyright rules can be tricky. It is commonly known that whenever you make reference to anything, whether it be online or hardcopy, the owner of the material needs to be credited. Most people know how to give credit to an author of text because their name usually sticks with their work. Images on the other hand, can be much more tricky to cite and avoid copyright issues. Simply googling an image and copying the link it was found on does not mean that that website is the true creator. In order to avoid copyright, one should try to reverse image search to locate the image's true origin. 

Typically, museums will let people borrow their images as long as you agree to their copyright terms. As I was looking at the different museum websites, the one that I found most intriguing was the Loudoun Museum's policy on their image reproduction and use. According to their website, you can use their images if you purchase them. No other details about their copyright policies were given which seemed odd. The other museum websites did not really feature copyright policies either but they all did have the copyright symbol with the "All rights reserved" statement. 

Project Ideas

I have been thinking about different project ideas for a while and a topic that has always intrigued me is Colonial America. A few topics from that time period that interest me are:

• The Revolutionary War 
• The Culper Spy Ring
• Women's Fashion
• Slavery and its Impact

I really enjoyed the Story Map of the First Battle of Bull Run by Patrick McKinney. It really inspired me and I think that I want my project to follow the same type of format used there. He used the website, Esri Story Maps, which is what I will likely do as well. I have created an account and will continue to explore and familiarize myself with the site.

Citation: 

DaFunOne. “Please Enjoy This Post to Usher You Some Knowledge About the 4th of July and Its Corresponding Events. Hope You Read It All!” Imgur, 4 July 2018, imgur.com/gallery/9d96iRc.