Cleveland Women’s Archive Project Update or “Digital Humanities Projects are Collaborative!”

The words of my mother ring in my ears, “how many times do I have to tell you”!  The things I know, but have to be repeated until I finally take action.  ‘Digital humanities projects are collaborative’ and like all good academics, I looked around for the collaboration within my institution and my (actually fairly wide) circle of friends.  But when my known resources failed me in resolving my issues with Omeka,  I swallowed my pride and reached out to strangers in my community.  What a concept!  Is that not what “community” is all about?  Cleveland is a Midwestern town, where folks still help others!  I made an appointment at the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University.  Extraordinarily generous with their time and expertise;  Erin Bell clarified my understanding of Curatescape and some of the nuances of Omeka while Dr. Mark Souther introduced me to their goals for the Cleveland Historical ‘living history archive’ and the activities of Center.  We shared our love of the city and its history.

Armed with these new perspectives, I am somewhat back at the drawing board.  My recent investigations into the Landscape and Oral history modules have reminded me of the need to focus on audience and more intentional design.  The Omeka User Manual  clearly states that planning is critical, but an individual cannot know, what they do not know.   My new understanding of Omeka will necessitate re-calibration of what I can and cannot do within the Omeka structure in the time available to complete the project.  Traditionally, I have been uncomfortable with trial and error, but a huge benefit of my collaboration, was Erin Bell’s assurance that is an on-going aspect of “digital” humanities.  I will be eternally grateful for that advice.

My immediate goal is to finish the administrative aspects of the collaboration with the CSU Special Collections division, complete the identification of all the resource materials to be included on the site while I ponder the design.  This  IS  Community History!