You are all awesome!

It was a real pleasure to watch your videos today. You all did a wonderful job! Thank you so much for your hard work.

Michele

POPCORN

Hello everyone!

I am bringing popcorn to class today that we can pop in the handy microwave in our classroom (unless anyone objects or we feel it will disturb the people in the office...)!  I have Butter Lovers, Light Butter, and Kettle Corn!

See you this afternoon,
lori p

List of those to thank

Hey guys!  I know we said we would do this, but I cannot remember what came of it...or if we posted it somewhere.  Anywho, here is a quick list I compiled (alphabetical by last name) of everyone I can think of (including Gerald McElvy-- tomorrow's interview).  Let me know if I am forgetting anyone.

• Nandita Berry
• Dorothy Caram
• Kristin Deville
• Elizabeth Ghrist
• Bernie Kapner
• Howard Lorch
• Gerald McElvy
• Demetrius Pearson
• The Honorable Shearn Smith
• Welcome Wilson

I know that there are some names that I am missing.  Also, what should we do about titles?  I think we should include 'The Honorable' in front of Shearn Smith's name...thoughts?  

Please comment with your additions!

Thanks,

Lori

Something I found fun

I discovered that Shasta III, aka The Lady, was also featured in some car commercials before she retired from mascot duties in 1977. I can't use this in my video, but I thought it was kind of fun to see this commercial. The time frame is correct, so I'm guessing this is The Lady starring with Farrah Fawcett.

Cheers,
Deanne

converted video files

Hi All,

I've converted all the video files to mpeg and posted them to DropBox. Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing them or in using them for your project. I've saved all the original files that were in DropBox to my external hard drive so the uncompressed files are available also. If you want to bring me to flash drive we can transfer the whole works to it. I plan to also copy all the photos that Deanne has found.

Here are the logos:

 

 Be sure to start your video with; "UH Memories Presents" and the title of your video. You'll want to add a Creative Commons license at the very end of your video. There are several types to choose from. I suggest this one:

"

Attribution-NoDerivs
CC BY-ND
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you."

But you can be more open accommodating if you would like. I don't suggest that you be more restrictive. Just my opinion, though. Take a look at all the licenses here. Sign up for your Creative Commons license before you finish your video and export it because you will want to add the logo to the end of the credits. 

If you need any help please let me know.

Thanks,
Michele

Links to shared folders

Okay, I've caught up with the photo requests and I think that's all I'll be able to do. I've managed to find something for just about everyone who had definite requests, so I like to think I've been a help. It's just I have a boat load of my own big projects with fast looming deadlines coming at me and I need to focus on them now.

If I understand the sharing sites info page correctly, the following links should take you directly to the folders I've created for you. Fingers crossed this works.

Aimee's folder

Joe's folder

Katie's folder

Mika's folder

Sandra's folder

Stephanie's folder

Joe's Theme

Hello everyone.

As I am sure all of you know already, I will be focusing on the theme of sports history at the University.  With the interview of Dr. Pearson, I think I am going to focus on those students he has personally mentored.  Since he came to the campus in the early 1980s and was here at the very beginning of Phi Slamma Jamma, I think I will wrap my interview around those early sports figures.  I think I will also take a few seconds or so when I ask him about the future of the University, I think I will focus on such sports figures as Kevin Kolb and Case Keenum.  I am not quite sure how I am going to do this yet, but I have a storyboard in my head.

As far as pictures go, I think I will look for older pictures of the University during the 1980s and some of the pictures of that 1983-86 basketball team in particular.  I will also need pictures of former quarterback Kevin Kolb and maybe also a pic of Case Keenum.  I might even show 5 to 10 second video clips of these guys if I can somehow work it in but I am still working that out in my head.

See all of you in a few hours.

Joe  

Theme!

Hi all,

I'd like to focus on campus life - specifically the original Cougar Den (used from 1942 through the 1950s). It was built in 60 days as a very rushed project due to the boom in enrolled students after WWII. It was the hangout spot for students and Bernie Kapner mentions it in both interviews. Because Kapner's statement is brief I'm hoping to find other interviewees who mention this. I did find a picture in the 1957 yearbook with a caption about a petition to ban Elvis Presley albums from the jukebox in the Cougar Den. Basically, the goal of my project is to chronicle the life/history of this favorite campus hangout.


Photographs needed: Cougar Den (not to be confused with the Cougar Den in the UC or the campus pub). Maybe some aerial photos showing the large number of students on campus. The original Cougar Den was inside the Recreation Building (but from what I understand most students called the entire building the Cougar Den).

Any suggestions/feedback is greatly appreciated! Still not completely sure about this idea :)

Thanks,
Mika

Theme!!

Hey everybody! As I said in class on Wednesday, I am planning to use some aspect of the GI experience. Both Welcome Wilson and Hon. Shearn Smith talk about it in their interviews. Mai mentioned someone talked about the controversy surrounding tearing down the final army building on campus--if you run across that, please let me know where!

I want to use pictures of the barrack buildings or the trailers used for housing, but haven't found any as of yet :-/

See you soon!

Stephanie

Photos

Morning all,

I spent the morning rummaging for photos based on the requests so far. Lori, I got the impression you're taking your own photos (cool idea, by the way), so I didn't do any searching for you. If I misunderstood, please let me know. I have some images for both Aimee and Katie. What I've done is create an account with a sharing site. I've created folders with your names and put what I found in them. Each also has an "info" text file which gives you the URL for any photos I found that were not in the Digital Library collection.

Here is the link to the site:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/1kwyLZT3/_online.html#dir=126190809

If there are any problems, questions, let me know.

Deanne

Theme

Hi all!

I'm going to focus on Alumni Philanthrophy/why they give.  I'll be using the three interviews I have done so far-- Howie Lorch, Nandita Berry, and Elizabeth Ghrist.  I think I'm actually going to go take some photos myself of various buildings/streets named after people to show the impact of Alumni Philanthropy on the University...and that will kind of be a photo montage somewhere in the video.  I have only found a couple of pictures of Howie Lorch and Elizabeth Ghrist in the digital library, but I need to watch their interviews again to nail down specifics in terms of looking for photos in the digital library.

Thanks,
Lori

Hi everyone,

Like I said in class today I'm really interested in looking at the 1968 UH v. UCLA basketball game at the Astrodome as a microcosm of the issue of race. I'm using the Barry Kapner and Howie Lorch interviews and currently have a bunch of good images from the 1968 yearbook of the game as well as images of some of the players and coaches. One image from the yearbook was also used as a Sports Illustrated cover in April 1968, too, so that's pretty neat. Any images of that game or the fans in the Astrodome would be great.

Thanks!
Katie

THEMES:

Hi guys,

I am going to focus on diversity, particularly Arab students at UH. I am looking for any historic photos of Arab students of groups of students showing diversity.

Thanks!

November 2nd class reminders

Hi all,

Aimee sent out an email asking that if you have videos that you haven't uploaded to dropbox (or even if you have) please bring to class today. I will be bringing my external hard drive where we will be transferring this videos to it for safe keeping.

We also discussed walking down to the Den for class time. I'm all for that.

Updated Schedule
 11/9 TBA class held rm520
11/16 TBA class held rm 520 (shortened so you can work on your videos)
12/7 Show videos. bring them on a flash drive that I can upload to the libraries YouTube channel to the UH Digital Library and into my external hard drive for preservation. Class held rm 520

See you at 2:30 in our regular classroom.
Michele

Shasta

Hi again everyone,

I've accessed what I could of the interviews on the site. Aside from Welcome Wilson's story about getting Shasta, has anyone else made any mention of the various big cats UH has had over the years?

Videos

Hey everyone,

I noticed some stuff about Kristin Deville on Dropbox. Is there an interview? The videos that worked  (the fifth one is corrupted somehow) are just pans of her UH memorabilia.

Also, when will the other videos from the first interview session be in Dropbox? I ask because we're very quickly running out of time and it will take hours to just watch all of the videos.

Thanks,
Deanne

Updates

Here are my notes from yesterday's class.

Interviews:
So far you have 4! Great job everyone
For the game on the 27th Tom has set up 3 more. Aimee will contact him to get names, times and possible information about each if she can.
Joe has 3 UH grads that he knows from another group that he will set up interviews with.

Class dates:

10/26 we will meet in the Learning Commons of the Library. If you haven't signed up for a computer try to get a Mac since the software we will use is on them. We decided to buddy up into pairs of 1 person that knows the software helping 1 person that doesn't. We will talk about the software and about storyboarding.

11/2 we will discuss digital preservation in more length. Class held in rm 520

11/9 TBA mostly we will talk about putting together your project. Class held in rm 520

11/16 TBA. this class time will be cut short. Class held in rm 520


11/23 Off for Thanksgiving

11/30 No scheduled class. This will be your day to work on your projects.

12/7 Class will be held in rm 520. We will watch all of your videos.


Frontier Fiesta
Turns out that the Frontier Fiesta group on campus has videos of Bill McCurdy and Dr. Sam Quintero. I will give them a call to see if we can get copies. If they have other videos of Alums I'll see if we can get those also.

Dropbox
You will have to compress your video to an MP4 in order to deposit it into dropbox. Especially if you used the HD camera. If this is difficult for you please put it onto a flash drive or bring the camera up to me. I have software on my work computer that easily converts it.

That's all for now.

Thanks,
Michele

Appointments

Hi everyone,

I figured this was a good spot to post this: The appointment window for our class in the Learning Commons is open now (I went in yesterday, but couldn't access the 26th.) Remember to stop by and get your appointment for October 26h.

I assume that the iMovie software we'll be using (it's iMovie, right?) is available on both OS platforms. You have to choose whether you're using a PC or a Mac. I chose PC. If I need to choose Mac, would someone leave a comment?

Good luck with the Welcome Wilson interview Friday. I'd say I'll be thinking of you, but at that time I'll be just one short flight away from seeing my husband for the first time in over five weeks. You'll forgive me if my thoughts are elsewhere. :-)

Deanne

Digital Preservation webinar

The Library of Congress (or as they like to call themselves - "The Library") has changed the links from when I did the syllabus. Here is the link the the digital preservation webinar. http://digitalpreservation.gov/education/courses/NDIIPP_personal.html

I hope it works.

There are some other fantastic webinars available http://digitalpreservation.gov/education/courses/ There are 3 free ones.

Thanks,
Michele

October 5th class

Hi All,

We'll be meeting at the library for this class session. I'll be at the information desk to meet you. I'd give you directions to the scanning lab and our offices but we are located in the rabbit warren of the basement and I'm afraid we'd never find you.

Thanks,
Michele

Hi all!

I just want to provide a quick overview of the interview I did on September 24, 2011 with Bernie Kapner. There are three points in particular that I think someone else may want to get more details about in a second interview. I definitely missed a lot of opportunities to ask follow-up questions, but lucky for us he is more than happy to do a second interview.

Kapner was born in Houston, Texas in 1937 and attended the UH from 1955 to 1959.

1) He came to UH with a basketball scholarship. Kapner played on the freshman team his first year, under Guy V. Lewis (the legend!). The next three years he played on the varsity team (also under Coach Lewis, as he had moved to the varsity team at the same time).

Anyone interested in UH sports history/themes might want to talk to Kapner. Another interviewee mentioned that Kapner still holds a record in basketball (can’t remember exactly what for). 2)

2) Kapner received his degree in Education (physical education?). He mentioned a few names of professors; most interesting is his mention of a female instructor.

Anyone interested in the gender theme may want to ask Kapner about this person. Considering the time period (late fifties) and the subject he may be able to describe how his classmates and department responded to a female instructor..??

3) Kapner remembers the veterans coming back from Korea. He describes seeing tents on the east side of the campus, “qoanset huts” for the many vets. Interesting to him because they were much older and mature… this stood out to him.

This would be a great addition to the Major Events or Campus Life themes.

These are just the ones I thought someone may want to roll with….but other points he mentions briefly include: Frontier Fiesta, he was the first in his family to go to college, and his classes were all held in the E. Cullen and Hugh Roy Cullen buildings.

Have a good day, see you all in class!
Mika

INFORMATION AND UPDATES!!!!

Hi everyone! Mika, Mai, Lori, Katie, and I attended the football game and conducted three interviews. There was no tailgate there so we only did the scheduled interviews. It went fine and I've been coordinating with Tom Franklin so next time we will have parking issues for the interviewees all set. We were able to get two cameras and two tripods from the library. You can get these  in advance since you can have them out for three days. Be aware that if it's late by one day you owe a $9 late fee. Also, parking is crappy, but apparently if you are student or faculty with a parking tag you don't have to pay the $10 to park in a lot. I didn't realize this and Katie and I parked all the way over by the welcome center where lots were designated for students and staff.

GOOD NEWS!!! I have been in touch with Welcome Wilson Sr. who has agreed to do a longer interview with us. He has been at UH for 65 years and has many stories to tell. We already have an interview with him so I suggest that we all read through that before conducting the next one. Please email me for a copy. Since our guest speaker on October 12 is unable to attend class, we thought to go to Welcome Wilson's office this day and do the longer interview. We need some consensus on who wants to go and what times you can come. He is available in the morning 9 or 10 am and then also after 4 pm. It should take about two hours--an hour or so for the interview, some time to set up and then time for copies photos. He has tons of photos, etc. so I am going to get a portable photo scanner for us to use, and we should definitely bring extra digital cameras. He will be emailing me a list of topics he wants to discuss which we can formulate questions from.

Please comment on this post if you can come for his interview on Wednesday October 12 either in the morning or afternoon. Thanks!

September 14th class

Okay, I sent all of you an email but I thought that I'd post the update also.

Sometime before classes started I had set up for Joe Pratt to teach on September 14th. Then I totally forgot about it until today when Kathy Brosnan (I think I spelled that right. I may not pronounce it correctly but it looks like I've finally got the spelling down :) ), reminded me.

This is my long winded way of saying that I messed up and that there is class next week.

Thanks and sorry to get your hopes up,


PS: Homework is not due on the 14th. 
Michele

Questions for Alumni events

Here are the list of questions we came up with in class this week. If you think of others please add them in the comments section. 


RACE

1. What years did you attend UH?
2. What was demographic makeup when you were a student here? Campus? Your
department? Faculty?
3. Where is home for you? (Texas, the Deep South, the North)
4. University of Opportunity. J
5. What opportunities did you get from UH? Higher Ed in general?
6. The Top Ten Rule?
7. What brought you here as opposed to A&M or UT?
8. How did you see the changing student body?
9. What changes have you seen in the student body? Either while a student here or
returning today?

GENDER

1. What years did you attend UH?
2. Use the recent study on campus diversity to draw attention to the way things look
now.
3. Did you have any female professors while here?
4. These four women just won a prize in a National Google Competetition.
Thoughts?

MAJOR EVENTS
1. What year did you attend?
2. What kind of things were happening off campus? Whether in Houston or
nationwide.
3. Ten year anniversary on 9/11
4. How did it affect the campus? What things did you see on campus? Students
coming together? Events?
5. What changes did it bring to campus?
6. Enron? Moonwalk with Space Center so close? Challenger? Berlin Wall or
fall of communism? Rockets winning championship— Olajawon, Drexler with
students here.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT
1. What was the new building on campus?
2. Dorms? Changing the campus?
3. Problems with living on campus? Lack of grocery store?

CLASS
1. How did you pay for school?
2. What did your friends and family think of you coming here.

3. Coog high?
4. Tier One?

MUSIC
1. What was all the rage during your day? Music, extracurriculars?


Thank you Stephanie for taking such fantastic notes. Obviously, 3 day weekends throw me off kilter. See you all on game day.

Michele

PS: Mark: I couldn't seem to get to your blog through the follow button. Could you send me the link? Thanks!

Themes

These are a cut and paste of our conversation about themes on Wednesday. 

1. Alumni Philanthropy

I think it would be interesting to learn about the philanthropic giving of alumni to the University.  Alumni, especially members of the alumni association, are proud of the University of Houston, and something impacted their time at the University to drive them to give back to UH.  So, it would be wonderful to know what exactly lead them to want to give back to their University.  Although this might cover a number of themes, I think it will really incite thoughtful responses from alumni.

Tie the video into Alumni stewardship. Great selling feature.
One other thing we might look at with this is if there are alumni who have changed not how much they have given over the years but rather where they give and why.
What do you do to stay involved?
How long they have been involved in the alumni assoc.
What drove them to join?
What would you like to see done with the funds that you have given?
What have you seen done with what you have given in the past?
If you earmarked your donation why did you do that?

2. Race:

UH went from an all-white, male oriented college to becoming one of the most diverse universities in the country in just eighty-four years. There are a few key events that we could ask allumni if they remember and whether they view these events as important pieces of history of the University of Houston. The integration of the university in June 1962 marks a major turning point in U of H history. Once the University became integrated, issues of civil rights for African Americans became a vital concern for the new student population. African Americans for Black Liberation was founded in 1967 (originally as the Committee on Better Race Relations). The election of AABL leader Lynn Eusan as the first African American homecoming queen in 1968 brought greater awareness of the group.

AABL demanded that UH create a department for Afro-American Studies, hire more black university faculty and staff, recruit and admit more black students, and provide financial aid and adequate housing for black students. This group, and the civil rights struggle on campus more specifically, led to other minority groups seeking their own ethnic studies department. The Center for Mexican American Studies was founded in 1972. Diverse student organizations could demonstrate the way in which students fill the gap when no academic department exists. With the increase in an Arab student population and the ever present need to bridge the gap between the east and the west, the University of Houston in conjunction with the Arab American Educational Foundation are raising funds to create a chair in Modern Arab History (yay!!!!) which will eventually become a Center for Arab Studies. I believe this would make a great digital story because it would encompass a variety of groups on campus and highlight the need for a Center for Arab Studies.
Diversifying Population (Race, in particular)
I can't help but notice the diversity on the sidewalks at UH. It is really fascinating. It hasn't always been that way, though, I assume. I plan to study the Civil Rights Movement and would really be interested in talking to someone who remembers how it was living here during that time.

Multicultural relations. I don't know too much about how race relations played out at this university but I'm guessing they mirrored similar relations off campus: difficulties between Anglos and minorities. More in the present, I wonder how Muslims have fared on campus, particularly after 9/11. Do student relations usually mimick those of the larger city, state, or country? Do they differ?
As an avid sports fan, I know that race was a hot issue when it came to the integration of African American athletes on college sports teams.  I heard a story not long ago that the University of Houston was a leader in Texas when it came to allowing African American athletes to play on college sports teams.  How was the University seen locally and nationally when it came to this hot issue?  How did other schools in Texas and the south react to the leadership role the University took on this matter?

3. Gender:

Is a very broad theme that could be used in many ways to create interesting and informative digital histories. Race and gender could be used in a digital history to discuss the first woman and African American president of UH, Marguerite Ross Barnett in 1990. The Women's Studies Department's founding would make an interesting addition to a digital story on gender. The beginning of the Women's Archive at the library and the change in name to Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies Department would demonstrate the work they have done as well as their ability to change with the times to accommodate LGBT studies, etc. Remembrances of the feminist student organizations founding or activities on campus would show how students took part in women's causes. This digital story could demonstrate how women played key roles in the University of Houston's history, and show where more work is needed to create equality on campus.

4. Major Events:

I think that I would be quite interested in exploring what was happening in the world surrounding campus. It could be so many things--a substantial hurricane or storm that was particularly devastating or the assassination of President Kennedy in nearby Dallas. I remember having a tough time focusing on classes in 2006 because my Detroit Tigers went to the World Series.
Collapse of Enron?
Hurricane Alice and Ike? Rita?



5. Built environment:

A Changing Campus. While I'm sure there are many things that you can point to as remaining constant at UH, there are surely many more that have changed or evolved. Coming from a small university in Saginaw, Michigan, the sheer size of the our campus is overwhelming. There were roughly 12 academic buildings at SVSU.....I'm always lost among the 100+ buildings at UH. I remember constantly dealing with the construction, blocked pathways and the sound of machinery. But how great was it to have a class in a new building? The new smell and the fancy technology :)

How much has the campus changed?
This gets us into the built environment and could trigger a memory of a building that's long gone, etc. Again, I'm trying to think visually.

6. Class:

For the University of Houston, class remains an important issue. Houston notables like Hugh Roy Cullen and the Blaffers donated large sums of money to the UH in order to make sure that students who could not afford Rice University could still get a college education in Houston. In 1927, HISD founded the University of Houston as Houston Junior College. If you talk to a true Coog, they will tell you that larger universities in the area like UT still ridicule UH and call us Coog High. Now that UH is a Tier One Research institution, it is more important to demonstrate how far the university has come and what still needs to be done to ensure that all types of students from different economic backgrounds can still come to UH and receive a good education.  I believe this would make a very interesting digital story because alumni may get defensive if an interviewer suggested the way other universities in the area view UH. It would also show the difference in how UH started compared to where the university is going and the importance of Tier One status.

7. Music:

Everyone relates in some way to music and it is often used to define peoples' memories. This might include popular music students listened to, or bands students participated in. (For instance, I saw a group of musicians gathered for Frontier Fiesta).

Student Organizations/Extracurricular Activities. Personally, I am interested in the university's marching band (which could have been included under #1) For band members, marching band serves as a pseudo-family while at the university. For spectators, the marching band inspires school spirit. Of course, other organizations fill the same purpose of giving students a feeling of belonging and when we talk with alumni, I'm sure student organizations/extra curricular activities will be prevalent in cherished memories.



8. Campus Life:

Not many people know that the university kept a live mascot almost continuously between 1947 and 1989. There was a club that took care of Shasta: the Cougar Guard. I believe it was a very controversial issue at UH as to whether it was ethical to keep a live cougar on a campus setting. It would be interesting to hear alumni speak of their opinion on this and to hear any memories of the live cougar. There are also some very good pictures "Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries. UH Digital Library.
Sororities / Fraternities (Minority Fraternities)

Sororities and fraternities have been a part of UH since 1950. They are a major part of the student body that attends football games. We are sure to run into alumni who were members with memories of Greek life. It would also be interesting to find out when and how minority fraternities started. This was especially significant during the 60s and 70s when the first groups of minority students were on campus and may or may not have had a group like a fraternity available to them. There also plenty of pictures to choose from the UH Yearbooks.

Dorm Life

Students have lived on campus since 1950. This span of time allows for a wide range of alumni that could talk about their experiences in the dorms. A starter question could be What was it like living on campus? Then we could get into specifics: Which building did you live in? How was the room furnished? What was the cafeteria food like? Were the dorms co-ed? Etc.

Entertainment on Campus

This theme was inspired by conversations with my parents; both attended UH in the late 70s. According to them UH hosted a number of well-known bands; due to the Hofheinz Pavilion (built in 1970) and Robertson Stadium (built in 1942, but it did not belong to UH until the mid-60s). It would be great to hear alumni memories of who they saw on campus and what that was like.
School spirit?
Student life?
What was the biggest fad/trend?
I was thinking about our discussion in class about streakers with this one. Was streaking the big fad when the interviewee was at UH? Maybe it was hula hoops or stuffing telephone booths. I feel this can give us a sense of the era and they provide wonderful visuals.

What event stands out as the most prominent?
This could cover the gamut from a big win in a football game to an historical event. Again, I think these have good visual potential. They can also place UH into the historical context. For instance, maybe a game win stands out because it was the first time a minority player was on the team. Or it was the first game after women became students.


8.KUHT:

The beginnings of public television and how this affected how the University was seen on a national scale.  I did not know that PBS channel 8 was the first public television station in the nation.  PBS has influence many of us throughout our lives and the idea that public broadcasting started with our school is something we should be proud of.  Along that same train of thought, what were the factors that led to the development of Channel 8 and how did the city react to the idea of a public television station?
Use materials already in the DL.

9 Culture:

On this final one, I would like to look at the culture of the 1980s.  The 1980s were a time of financial success throughout the country but also it seemed to be a problem for oil.  Growing up during this period in Houston, I remember that the city of Houston seemed to suffer during this time because of the energy crisis.  So I guess the theme we could possibly look at here is the idea of the culture around the campus during the late 1970s and 1980s.  I wonder if the kids who wanted to be in the energy field started to think twice about career choices.

I've been catching up with your posts on digital histories. They are all very interesting. I think we are in an exciting time when presenting history because we have so many options.

Thanks,

Michele

schedule changes and notes

Here are the schedule changes that we agreed on:

9/7 -bring digital video recorder for class. Michele!

9/14 no class

9/24 football game @7pm

9/28 no class

10/19 no class

10/22 football game @3:30

10/26 stays the same

11/2 digital preservation

11/16 no class

11/19 football game @TBA

11/23 no class

 If I've missed anything please let me know.

the grading percentages:

Grade

blogging assignments %25

showing up at class & football %25

video %50 - 30% content/technical 20%.

Please add to your syllabus.

I'll post the theme notes this evening. 

Thanks,

Michele

What will we do in class today?

We'll talk about:
1. Your blogs and some housekeeping.

• Please bring the URL if I don't already have it. I've added those that I know about to the side bar. We'll iron out any problems you might be having with blogging, settings or commenting.
• Update the syllabus schedule to reflect the changes we made during class last week
• Update the syllabus to include grading structure.

2. Themes. I've made a copy of all the themes for the blogs that I know of. If you haven't posted themes or I don't have you listed on the side please email your themes to me as soon as possible. Let's discuss:

• what themes seem to be emerging?
• determine the themes we plan to pursue. 
• questions to ask interviewees in order to get them to talk about the themes
• develop a list of questions for each theme.

3. Researching memories:

• we'll talk about finding other digital history sites and journal articles. 
• the rising trend of Digital Humanities.
• About the different digital ways that historians and others are using technology to present history.
• we'll talk about whether these methods are more or less effective.

Blog assignment:

1. Find at least 3 other digital histories online and 2 journal articles about using videos or other digital media to produce and present history.

1. Explain why digital histories are effective or not for scholarship.
2. Do they engage their audience?
3. Who is their intended audience?
4. Who is producing these digital histories and are they authoritative?

Post to your blog. Add the link to your post in the comments section of this blog post.

2. Read and comment on fellow students blog posts.

Themes for Digital History

We've got some themes up. Go take a look.

Sandra
Joe
Mai
Stephanie (posted Sunday!)
Mika (posted Sunday!)

Thanks everyone,
Michele

Changed blog permissions

I've changed the blog permissions so that anyone can see it. Hopefully, this will make it easier for you all to find it.

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Michele

Digital History Syllabus

Digital History

Hist6383

Fall 2011

Time: 2:30—5:30 Wednesdays

Rm#549

Introduction:
This seminar will focus on exploring the process of creating digital history. The course readings, workshops, and discussions expose students to the philosophy and practice of the emerging field of History and New Media. The course will be centered on the creation of a semester project that is an opportunity to experiment with new technologies; all projects will be uploaded and published on the UH Digital Library. This project includes the creation of a themed digital history using existing materials in the UH Digital Library UH People, Events, Buildings collections, or creating your own. These images will be combined with video and audio oral histories taken from alumni at football games to produce engaging digital histories. Themes will include but are not limited to ―built environment/campus‖, ―student life‖, ―race & gender‖, ―turbulent 60s‖ and ―campus/college origins‖.

The main goal of this course is to give you the opportunity to become a new kind of scholar, one who is able to use digital media to effectively present ideas and arguments in the academic field of your choice.


Objectives
From this class you should gain a better understanding of the digital tools to which historians now have access. Some of these include; Current trends and issues in digital history, from a variety of perspectives (academia, education, museums/public history, libraries, and archives) Communication and networking: Weblogs, Microblogging, syndication, collaborative writing, wikis.Digital research tools and methodologies.Basic image editing and restoration.Basic metadata creation. Basic video creation and editing. Basic project preservation. Basic project management, including steps and skills to conceive, design, develop, and implement an online digital history video.

Although the course assumes no advanced computer skills, it does require a solid knowledge of computer use and a degree of enthusiasm for digital work and history. No experience with image editing software, web design, film making or pod casting skills is needed but they will be assets.

Readings and multimedia
1. Why Digital Preservation is Important for Everyone

2. Preserving Digital Culture

3. Digital formats

4. Formats, Evaluation factors and relationships

5. Digital Formats: Factors for Sustainability, Functionality, and Quality
Caroline Arms and Carl Fleischhauer
Office of Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress Washington, DC, USA

6. Bridging Physical and Digital Preservation

7. Why Digital Preservation is important for you

8. Digital History; A guide to gathering, preserving, and presenting the past on the web.

This book provides a plainspoken and thorough introduction to the web for historians—teachers and students, archivists and museum curators, professors as well as amateur enthusiasts—who wish to produce online historical work, or to build upon and improve the projects they have already started in this important new medium. It begins with an overview of the different genres of history websites, surveying a range of digital history work that has been created since the beginning of the web. The book then takes the reader step-by-step through planning a project, understanding the technologies involved and how to choose the appropriate ones, designing a site that is both easy-to-use and scholarly, digitizing materials in a way that makes them web-friendly while preserving their historical integrity, and how to reach and respond to an intended audience effectively. It also explores the repercussions of copyright law and fair use for scholars in a digital age, and examines more cutting-edge web techniques involving interactivity, such as sites that use the medium to solicit and collect historical artifacts. Finally, the book provides basic guidance on insuring that the digital history the reader creates will not disappear in a few years.

9. Making Digital History; Three-dimensional scanning techniques can
preserve threatened cultural heritage.

10. Did you know? Quiz from the library of Congress

11. Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories – 1 hour course

12. Dan Cohen, ―The Future of Preserving the Past‖

13. Flickr.Com: http://www.flickr.com/commons (and http://www.flickr.com in general)

14. Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/

15. Reference Type: Journal Article
Author: McLellan, Hilary; Primary Title: Digital storytelling in higher education
Journal Name: Journal of Computing in Higher Education; Cover Date: 2007-09-01
Publisher: Springer Boston; Issn: 1042-1726
Subject: Educational Technology; Start Page: 65; End Page: 79; Volume: 19; Issue: 1
Url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03033420
Doi: 10.1007/BF03033420


Class Schedule:
This is the intended schedule for this course, though I reserve the right to make adjustments, if necessary, as the semester progresses. It is important on discussion days that you complete all of the reading in advance.

8/24
Introductions – goals of the course.
Blog creation, explore project themes, digital library introduction, assign up for video camera and learning commons computer time. Signup sheet for football games.
3 students: video production
Remaining students: audio or still camera
Examples: of digital histories.

Blog assignment: Look through the digital library UH collections and the history of the university. Come up with no less than 3 themes and explain why these would make excellent digital histories.