Category: Uncategorized

We are in full swing working on our final DH projects. I am feeling a little behind because I am. I plan on meeting with Dr. Patrick to get a one on one demo about Omeka and setting up my site. Once I meet with Dr. Patrick, I am confident that I will be able to catch up on my own time and make my website interactive. By the time Monday comes, I will have a website to teach users about the Revolutionary War in Mercer County, NJ.

At this point in my final DH project I am collecting the data that I am going to display digitally. Right now I am gathering historical data about George Washington during the Revolutionary War in Mercer County, NJ. I am organizing by adding date and place in which an event took place and giving a brief summary of the historical importance of the event. This process has been enjoyable so far because I am able to learn more about the historical importances of places that are right around the corner from me. I have noticed that I have some prior knowledge about a good chunk of the data I am collecting, but there are some new things that I am learning. I have a few places/events logged already but there are a few more that I am working on organizing and collecting. I plan to continue my search over the weekend to make sure I am not missing any important places or events.

For my final digital humanities project, I definitely want to do some sort of interactive map. I figured since I live close to New Jersey’s capital, that I could do a map with all the historic places George Washington was in Mercer County during the Revolutionary War. I want viewers to be able to click on the map, and then get a little history on the importance of that place and what occurred there. I think this project has potential to show how historic this part of New Jersey is because some people are not aware.

Editing a Wikipedia page to create a public resource was a challenging, but worthwhile experience. This project involved providing information that can be viewed by anyone. My approach to the assignment was influenced by the knowledge that the stuff I supplied could benefit actual clients. I wanted to confirm that the data was accurate, understandable, and indeed helpful. It may seem easy to provide information like De Lorenzo’s being closed on Mondays, providing salads, and listing their toppings, but I feel that those are the kinds of useful facts that customers really consider when choosing a restaurant.

During the research process I learned that even minor details must be carefully presented. It increased my awareness of the significance of accuracy in public resources. While some information, such as menu options, can occasionally be accessed online, it is necessary to verify accurate information, such as hours, by checking up to date sources. For example, I noticed a lot of the references were from 2008 and 2009. This made me realize how knowledge can become out of date and how crucial it is that public resources like Wikipedia be updated on a regular basis.

I learned a lot during the editing process. Although I found it challenging, editing Wikipedia forced me to follow Wikipedia’s rules and to keep a neutral tone. I had to make sure that my updates blended in with the page and concentrate on providing facts rather than opinions. I was nervous at first to make my edits live, but in the end it increased my confidence in my ability to contribute to shared knowledge spaces.

I decided to work alone on this project so I would be able to work at my own pace and make my own decisions. While collaboration can be helpful, especially for brainstorming or dividing tasks, working alone gave me full responsibility for the final product. I was glad that I was able to edit an article about De Lorenzo’s because it is a piece of history where I am from.

I would say that the easiest part of this project was finding the information that would be helpful to add. It was easy to provide information like menu options and hours because I know what people usually want to know about a restaurant. For me the most challenging aspect was to complete the bulk of this project outside of the classroom due to an injury. I felt a little overwhelmed and felt like I had to figure this out on my own, but I asked questions and eventually figured it out.

As I mentioned in my last post, the Wikipedia project is in full swing. Before my injury I felt that I was in a great place while working on the project. At the moment I feel a little behind and scrambling to catch up with the class. I have all of my info ready to place into sandbox, I just have to get it in there and cite it. I did not learn too much about my topic, but I did notice a bunch of things that could be added to their Wiki page.Through this project I have learned that Wikipedia is much deeper than it seems. I have always enjoyed reading Wikipedia articles, but never really thought about the hard work that takes place behind the scenes. I never realized how much of a role Wikipedia plays in learning things worldwide.

This week is definitely new to me. I have a pretty bad ankle injury, and trying to navigate school work from outside the classroom. With the Wikipedia Project in full swing, I am feeling a little nervous about completing it correctly on my own. I know that in the end it will all work out, and I will figure it out with help from Dr. Patrick if necessary. I stinks that I was actually super excited about this project, but now I feel less excited and almost timid about completing it on my own.

For my Wikipedia Project I have decided to revise the article about DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies. This restaurant is a staple in the area I grew up in, and holds a special place in my heart. Once I noticed that their Wiki page is in the “start class”, I knew that I could add some useful information to it. I feel I can build upon the history of the restaurant a bit, as well as highlighting the delicious salads they offer. I can also add what type of toppings they can add to tomato pies as well. I also plan on adding some photos of the pies, as well as pictures of both of their locations. I have done some research and found good pictures, and good sources to pull information from. I am looking forward to adding more to DeLorenzo’s wikipedia page!

We are about halfway through the semester, and I am enjoying learning more about digital humanities. For our next project, we are doing some research and editing a Wikipedia article. I enjoyed learning about the backstory of Wikipedia, and seeing its impact Wikipedia has had on the world. I like that Professor Patrick is encouraging us to choose a topic we are interested in. For my Wikipedia project, I will be editing the article on DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies. This restaurant has been a staple in my area for years, and some of my fondest childhood memories were going out for tomato pie with family and friends. I am looking forward to doing more research about DeLorenzo’s, and updating their Wikipedia page.

I feel that I have had a lot of experience with Wikipedia before starting this project. I have heard good and bad things about Wikipedia. The good would be that you can access information about almost anything in a timely manner by using Wikipedia. The bad that I have heard is definitely from teachers throughout my many years of school. Personally, I think Wikipedia is extremely helpful. I would consider myself a curious person, and Wikipedia allows me to explore and learn new things with just a simple search on my phone. I think Wikipedia can be problematic when it comes to using it as a source for research papers. Wikipedia admins do a good job of skimming articles and removing false or misleading info, but there is still a chance that you could accidentally add something false to your research paper. I do not blame teachers for advising their students to not use Wikipedia. I believe it is used best for personal use in order to learn more about things you are interested in.