Thoughts on preservation

It was an interesting discussion that we had last class on digital preservation and aspects of permanence and privacy. It brought an interesting thought to mind: how do we begin to train people, especially younger ones, how to use the internet and its preservatory powers responsibly and carefully? I actually had an interesting dicussion with a co-worker on this issue, as her 14 year old daughter was posting some somewhat questionable photos on the internet and she came across them. It was a tough discussion that ensued for she and her daughter, but interesting nevertheless. We don’t all have ambitions to run for political office, but it is important to understand that what is online is preserved for a certain amount of time and is relatively retrievable. More and more, employers are using the internet to find information about potential and already employed job prospects that they might not be able to ask you in an interview. The accesability of the digital age makes some thoughts less private than had they been written on paper and passed to another person. It is important that we educate ourselves and others in being responsible for what you publish online.

More thoughts on my site

I’m still trying to wrestle with how I want the site to look and who it’s to be aimed at, but I think I’m narrowing it down. I’m probably going to be using the omeka technology as what I essentially want to have is an online gallery. I thank everyone for their comments on the aesthetic ideas that I’ve had, and everyone seems to agree that the font could reflect modernism to a degree, as long as the rest of the site was rather minimalist. I am following through on the original idea that I would like the site to be feature a neutral color pallete, as the colors of the buildings themselves are quite bold, and I would like a strong contrast.

As for audience, I want it to be geared mostly to architecture and modernist enthusiasts or students. I want the site to provide lots of information regarding the particular buildings and the architects, and I am thinking that I will in fact limit the scope to the most prominent and interesting buildings and architects, trying to keep the number of arch. to atound 5 or 6, and buildings around 50. I also do want to provide a map function, so someone interested could potentially map out a route or find a particular building that they were looking for. Google maps features might be useful for this (thanks Mike). Professor Cohen noted that a more casual visitor would be more likely to use a book or something other than the web site, and that makes sense. So, I would like to gear it more towards the historically interested audience by providing as much information as I possibly can about the history of the movement, the buildings, and the architects as well.

Google Books and the IA

It was interesting comparing the two different sites that archive books digitally..they both definitley have pros and cons. I Looked at “The Letters and Works of Lady Montague”, and both sites had their advantages and disadvantages with it. The IA site was very straightforward, with nothing else on the page other than a search box, and page turning cursors. It was kind of nice how that replicated real reading experience to a degree, as many people have voiced the sentiment that reading online can be such a drag. This was a little nicer, with no other visual clutter, and the book as scanned really replicates the book itself, down to the yellowing of the pages. All I missed was that smell…the only thing was it was harder to jump around the book itself, it was easier to turn the pages, or if you had a specific search term..can’t search page numbers directly. It would also require a bit of research to find out where you could attain a hard copy, whereas with the google site has it all right there. Depends on what you are looking for. 

The Google books site also had the work, but the interface was quite different, featuring the book, search boxes, offers to buy the book, links to other sites that sell the book (do we see a pattern here?), downloadable format, html, on offer to add it to a library, and even to find it in an actual library rather than a virtual one. The book was searchable by page number or term. The site was quite commercial, and had that interface that I do think is no fun to stare at. You know you’re online. On the other hand, you do have the resources there at your fingertips if you do need anything else from the book, no need to search out where you can purchase a copy or download it, all is provided to you. It is also nice that you can search by page number as well, as sometimes you may be looking for a reference that has a page number and that can speed you to it. Both have pros and cons, and I have to admit I’ve loved these sites when you’re stuck not being able to get a book at the library..these sometimes are saviors when the book gets misplaced (yes Fenwick, I’m talking about you!), but neither of them replace that great feeling of holding an old book in your hands..its about the smell.

Project at hand

After much debate and rethinking, I’e decided to do my website as an online gallery of the modernist architecture in the city of Barcelona. I had originally considered rethinking historical websites on specific sites, such as the market there, but instead decided in terms of design flexibility and finding a more specific historical audience, it would make more sense to undertake something with a slightly broader focus. Rather than one specific site, that would have a very limited amount of viewers, this may appeal to art history students at all levels, to architects and architecture enhusiasts, and to anyone with an interest, either academic or touristic, in the modernist buildings of Barcelona. There are sites that are devoted to this, but most are primarily focused on tourism to these sites, and do not provide comprehensive history about the buildings themselves, and often ver little information about the architects, or the history of Modernista architecture as a whole. 

The main concerns that I am having in terms of design reside in the look of the site itself: I am having quite  time wrestling with how I want the site to look: is it cheesy to try to emulate at all the artistic sensibility of modernism in the site’s design? Would it be better and more clear and cohesive to let the design of the buildings speak for itself with minimal interference with the surrounding design? In terms of readability and making the site look clean, I am leaning more in this direction. Then I am battling with the font: should I try to use a modernist font at all in the site, or replace that with a graphic or something to get at the point and use a more modern font instead. Again, the direction I am leaning. I want the site to be artistic and creative, but at the same time, when dealing with a type of architecture that is so intensely decorative and flourished (as well as colorful) I am thinking that it might be beneficial to keep it streamlined. 

As for what I would like the site to achieve, I want it to be an online gallery of various buildings and decorative aspects of the modernist architecture of Barcelona. It is plentiful to say the least, with at least 115 different buildings that would commonly be referred to in this manner. That is surely a conservative count. Some are UNESCO sites, as is the case with the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Many of the buildings have interesting histories, and I would like to make that available alongside the images of the architectue. I would also like to provide the locations of the buildings for anyone interesyed in a potential visit to them, as well as biographies of the architects, and the history of the movement in a global context. I would also like to make available some resources for further research on the movement and the buildings. That way if there is anything else in terms of research tools that someone might need, there would be links.

Blogging thoughts

Blogging has been interesting to get into. Its interesting to think about the two ways that blogging has intersected with my life, both in my job and in school. I have been required to blog for class once before this one, and found that it was very useful as the class was on music and sound and video links beyond those that we were given by the professor were easily shared between members of the class, which was very enriching to the discussions that we had. It was also nice that we could share these thoughts in a way that we might not have if they had been printed on paper. I didn’t really feel too much of a downside in this particular context in terms of what blogging could and couldn’t do.

For my job, it has been very different, albeit interesting. As I had mentioned in class, it is fascinating how blogging has impacted restaurants with such immediacy. At almost every pre-shift meeting, we discuss what has been blogged about, both good and bad. Here is where I feel some sort of limitations as well as benefits. It can be a constructive medium, as comments and criticism from 3rd parties reach us very quickly. No waiting for Zagat surveys or Tom Seitsema to come out with a review of our performance. We have a general (as well as specific) idea about what the public’s impression of us is. My reservations (haha..no pun intended) lie in the fact that the people who often blog either are predisposed to web-bashing for sport, or these web conversations turn into absolute derogatory blabber at times8426.html (like here, for example). Who are these people? Some of them I can guess, actually, but really. Does any of this have a place in this forum? Constructive? Not so much. Although I am a proponent of free speech and do feel that internet censorship could be potentially bad news, I would hope that open discussions would be more mature. I am overestimating. A lot of posts do the opposite, and are quite helpful and constructive. As another student had mentioned in class, one trusts a more nuanced and sane-sounding blogger rather than someone who is on a rampage. Either way, blogging is gaining popularity and can be quite powerful. Hopefully people take blog comments with a grain of salt as I believe they do, but the rapid pace of information exchange and publication does not cease to amaze me.

Project thoughts..thinking out loud

I’m trying to sort through the many possibilities for the upcoming web page project. I would like to do something on the history of the city of Barcelona, and two possibilities come up–La Boqueria market and La Sagrada Familia. These are both historically significant sites in the city, Boqueria being one of the largest markets in Europe (some say the 3rd largest) with a history stretching back to the 11th century, the Sagrada Familia being Gaudi’s unfinished temple (not technically a cathedral). I’ve visited both places before and will be returning the 1st week of Oct. (field study?Sure..) Both places have official sites, but they both could definitely be re-organized and updated.(www.sagradafamilia.cat for Sagrada Familia, www.boqueria.info for La Boqueria). I’m leaning more towards the Boqueria site as it could definitely use some revamping and elaboration, and the Sagrada site is pretty developed and sophisticated despite still being under construction. The Boqueria site has some pretty cool features, such as maps of the market stalls that as you scroll over their location on the map a photo comes up in the right corner of the screen. The history section could definitely be elaborated a bit, and more photos or even a historical photo gallery would definitely be nice. I’m debating other possibilities as well besides these sites, but still trying to make more concrete decisions.

Museum Websites II

After visiting the NMWA website, I decided that it would be interesting to look at a federally funded museum in contrast. I chose the Freer/Sackler Galleries, which are separate yet connected entities that house much of the Smithsonian’s Asian art collection, as well as some American, 19th century European, and Middle Eastern art as well. As expected, this site was very different, and definitely had a much more scholarly, student oriented focus. The site featured its own links to scholarly journals such as Artibus Asiae, although via Jstor (which requires a university or private subscription) it also has external links to sites such as the Library of Congress to further investigate the collection and research that would be relevant. There are also links to forums and conferences, the muesums’ archives and library, and information on how to make appointments to use their facilities. 

There is also a good representation of the collection that is digitized, and the information about the images is easy to access. Provenance is searchable to a good degree on this site, and information regarding not only the collection but the individual history of the museums is available in the navigation bar, as this is particularly interesting in the specific case of these museums. One could potentially spend hours bouncing from link to link gathering information. This would be a great place to start for research. 

There also is a good amount of encouragement to potential visitors, as temporary exhibitions are not viewable online, one must actually visit the museum. All the relevant information is also present in terms of location, maps, hours, educational workshops, tours, and calendars. Much of the permanent collection is visible online, and you can create a free e-gallery of your own selection, which brings the possibility of the creation of your own ideas about what is relevant to you, not just what the museum dictates. Interesting. This could also be nice when doing image related research, so you have a savable reference! 

In all I found the site to be helpful and that it provided more sources and resources that one could expect in one site. However, it may seem a bit overwhelming to the general museum public, as it may not have these interests, but I think its better that they are available than if they weren’t. 

Sonya Baccus

Museum Websites

As my interests lie in the discipline of Art History, I decided to check out a few art museum websites. First, I looked at the National Museum for Women in the Arts museum located here in Washington, D.C. www.nmwa.org The site definitely seems to be geared to the potential visitor, as the vast majority of its navigation bar is devoted to calendars, events, exhibitions, etc. It is only obliquely relevant to a student or scholar, as some of the material in their collection is well documented and searchable on the site, but not all or even a great amount of it. For example, I searched Abastenia St. Leger Eberle, a Progressive Era American sculptor that I had previously researched elsewhere. Although there was one record of one small sculpture in their collection, there was little to no additional information available on provenance, exhibition history, not even the artist’s bio or related works. For the scholar or student, the site provides little information about the collection, and the image quality is often poor.

Another interesting aspect of this site is its promotion of its gallery space for corporate and private events. The museum is a private entity, not federally funded, as the Smithsonian is. It has to push for private funding, and the NMWA site is definitely used to solicit non-conventional use of its space to bring in more funding for the museum outside of membership. Note that they also host a brunch. This brings up more questions about the museum’s directed audience, and the assumptions made about it. (Do the potential visitors there have a propensity to like mimosas and eggs benedict? Hmm..) Either way, the site functions as both educational and commercial. It could definitely use some revamping in terms of design, but that’s another week (Wow, that lavender is really gross). 

I also tried to see how simple it was to search for employment opportunities and internships, and this was a little tricky as well. There isn’t any link in the navigation bar that connects you to information about these types of opportunities, but if you use the search function, you can actually turn up info on open positions and internship programs. I would have thought that this kind of information could have been connected to the education or outreach navigation tools, or have its own, but at least it turns up in the search function. The site needs some work, especially if it wants to expand its audience beyond middle and upper class females into a more expanded market–what one would hope that this museum is trying to do in order to promote understanding and knowledge about women’s role in the Art Historical narrative.

Sonya Baccus

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