Billy Mays of Data Sets

When looking at possible data sets for my research I could almost laugh. My research project is incredibly data-heavy and keeps being added to. I could do a data set about how class rank affected military rank in the class, or how far each cadet traveled, there are so many possibilities it is absolutely insane.

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I actually have a data set that I am including in my project and it is the battles of the civil war that the cadets were in and how many cadets were in each battle/expedition/arsenal/etc. I believe that this data set can be best displayed through a map which I am working on through StoryMapJS.

I have already made many spreadsheets of this and also a couple of test maps, they have been updated continuously because there is always research and battles that I somehow missed the previous time. I went from 75 locations to 153 in the span of a couple of weeks, and even them some minor skirmishes and battles might be missing.

I like the layout and display of StoryMapJS and how you can add media to locations. There is one great problem however, you can only add slides in order. So say I missed a location on the previous data set, I can’t just go in and add in a location between slides, which is a problem when I have over 150 locations.

And if we really want to talk about data sets, my project is basically a giant mass of data sets. For every cadet I am doing a timeline. My timelines take the data of where each cadet went during the Civil War and what happened to him, including arsenals they stayed at, battles they fought, expeditions they went on, and other events in their lives such as marriages and death. I will also include what other cadets were in shared engagements, adding more data to an already dataful data set. I am doing this for all 38 cadets.

Billy Mays HereNot only am I doing a map and individual timelines, I am also compiling records from The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. I am not compiling all the records, but good lord it certainly feels like it. I am going through all 83 copies of The War of the Rebellion and finding the records about all my cadets. Every report, order of battle, casualty list, even every mention of each cadet will eventually be put on the page as well. The data set with this has to do with the books themselves and how many mentions each cadet has in companion to the timeline data set of where each cadet has been. 

Now, I have a great deal of data. I could not possibly need or want any more, right?

WRONG.

I could do so much more!

Not only could I do this for the class of June 1861, I could compile one for the May class as well.

Billy Mays HereI could do this for every West Point class that had cadets that served in the Civil War! It would be around 30 classes, with hundreds upon hundreds of cadets. So I should be lucky that I am starting so small, but it could be worse.

-Julia

 

In Defense of Digital Humanities

Matthew Kirschenbaum’s “Am I a Digital Humanist? Confessions of a Neoliberal Tool” and Roopika Risam’s “Digital Humanities in Other Contexts” affirms my personal feelings towards and experiences with the digital humanities.


Far from focusing on the supposed corporate devils that were waiting to consume my soul as I practiced the digital humanities,  Kirschenbaum and Risam focused on the individuals that make up the DH community. In his piece, Kirschenbaum writes that

“the people most drawn to the early humanities computing centers at UVA were the book nerds. Far from seeing computers as an abandonment or repudiation of books, archives, and the material remains of culture and society, the new technologies were understood to be extensions of those preoccupations.” I can apply this quote to all the people I’ve worked with this summer without hesitance. Everyone at the Musselman Library, or in other DH circles, work to expand the humanities by presenting their passions in a digital space. Not one person has refuted the importance of the physical humanities. Risam also heralds “a digital humanities of the students, by the students, and for the students”, which I have undeniably experienced at Musselman this summer. The library fosters an environment where we, as undergraduate scholars, can immerse ourselves in our projects and work to be mentors to the next future digital humanists. Risam aslo notes that “institutions like [her’s] – whether regional comprehensives like Salem State, access universities, or community colleges  – are left out from trenchant critiques of digital humanities” even though they “serve the vast majority of students receiving post-secondary education, often the most diverse groups of students”. In my mind, this quote emphasizes the idea that the digital humanities are for everyone; they are built by diverse and often unrecognized people–not popular and wealthy corporations.  Perhaps this concept is best summarized by Kirschenbaum, who writes, “It’s hard to avoid naming names in these paragraphs since the individuals were so much a part of what was happening”. The digital humanities could not thrive or be the robust field it is today without the people who make it up.

In my mind, the number of individuals who contribute to DH and their personal investment in the field cause the impassioned debates surrounding the topic. As Kirschenbaum so eloquently states, “what we do, what we choose to work on and who we choose to work with emerges out of a complex skein of personal history, personally held values, circumstances, encounters, and all the other agents of chance, privilege, and socialization.” Because each person experiences the digital humanities in their own way, and develop projects out out their own passions, it makes sense that people are quick to be defensive of the way their experiences and interpretations. However, as has been repeatedly pointed out, the digital humanities primarily relies on community, and can only exist if people listen to each other and think critically about other people’s stances.

Visualizing Data

This week’s topic of discussion was about Data Visualization. There are a lot of different ways to display a data set. For my own project, I do not have a specific data set. The only type of data I have now is in regards to academics. I have a list of women’s majors and minors from the class of 1954 that could be compiled into some sort of data visualization. I am currently trying to figure out a way to display this data in a way that is both informative and visually pleasing to users.

My first thought was a pie chart. A pie chart would be an easy way to show the different subjects women majored in. A pie chart could both display the total number of women in the class of 1954 as well as the breakdown of majors. I could also use a bar graph to show this data as well but it would only show the breakdown of majors. Since I am only showing one particular class, there is not much data. There were only 63 women in the class of 1954. However, I could compile a bigger data set if I were to do multiple class years. With a larger set of data, there would probably be more options for showing and displaying that data.

I could break down the majors themselves using line graphs to show the increase or decrease of their popularity. I could also show the difference between what women and men majored in if I decided to gather a list of subjects men preferred major in. It would be interesting to put this data into Voyant Tools to see the frequency of majors and minors throughout the years. It would also be neat to see the majors in a word cloud as a visual aspect to my project.

Besides academics, I could also compile data on student clubs and activities. This data may be a little harder to gather because the only way of gathering the data is by paging through the yearbook. It would be interesting to see what types of clubs women were involved in and the shifting of interests throughout the years. I would also use pie charts, line graphs, and bar graphs to display this data.

I am currently working on a map that shows the day in the life of a 1950s college student by using StoryMap JS. Although the map serves as an extension to my narrative, I could also use a map as a way of displaying data. I would be able to use a mapping tool (something like Carto) to display the areas where women were living on campus throughout Gettysburg College history.  I assume that over time the points on the map would grow as the college expands and women are given more freedom.

Although I am currently only working on the lists of women majors and minors, there is a possibility of adding more datasets to my project in the future. These datasets will add depth to my project and narrative to my project.

4th of July

Usually when asked about the 4th of July, people think about fireworks, barbecue, and other activities to celebrate the freedom bestowed upon us from the tyranny of Great Britain. Readings of the Declaration of Independence were prominent on its 245th anniversary.

I have a Fourth of July reading that you won’t see from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It’s called What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, an address given by Frederick Douglass at a Fourth of July celebration in 1852. In 1852, the Civil War hadn’t started, nor had slavery been fully abolished.

With the resounding words “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.” Douglass highlighted the great hypocrisy of America and her people. For how could a nation claim to be free when half of it holds fellow men in bondage?

This is relevant today in the discussion of American freedom and liberty. Douglass brings up the reality that our founding fathers, the men who built this nation were mostly slave owners.

“Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies of souls and men shout-“We have Washington to our father.””

Part of being a citizen of any nation is realizing and accepting your history. To sweep slavery, genocide, and racial discrimination under the grand rug of the history of the United States of America is an injustice and mockery to the very concept of freedom. We must acknowledge that at one time, America was not free because others were enslaved. I do not say this to create guilt or out of a lack of patriotism, I say this because it is something that our nation needs to acknowledge and once we do, we can move forward unto a new birth of freedom.

-Julia

Failure is Okay…Even If You Have a Half of a TARDIS

It was a welcoming change to have an afternoon session that did not focus on digital humanities. The 3 D printing lab was very interesting to both witness and experience. However, we learned that the 3D printers were very temperamental. It took Lauren and me three tries to print out our names. After I successfully printed out my name I decided to print out something more complicated. I settled on the Doctors famous TARDIS. I crossed my finger and hoped that the base layers would go down smoothly and they did. For a solid 30 minutes, the TARDIS was coming into form. Then something terrible happened, the TARDIS moved and was out of line. It was more than half way done and in one split second, it was ruined. I was crushed. Discouraged, I decided to print out smaller and low-risk objects.

When R.C returned to the lab I told him about my half TARDIS. He then reminded me that failure is okay. I realized that failure allows for creativity. If you fail at something once try something else. As we have discussed before, much of digital humanities is trial and error. If something doesn’t work out the first time, try it again or try something different. I will try to keep this lesson of failure in the back of my mind as I continue to create my digital project.

Meeting Barbara Holley

This Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting Barbara Holley, the woman who I am basing my project on. Barbara Holley donated a personal collection of scrapbooks to Special Collections. These scrapbooks document the years she attended Gettysburg College (1950-1954). It was interesting to hear what could not be gathered from her scrapbooks, personal stories, and thoughts. We chatted about the college customs freshmen had to follow. She told me that the customs lasted the whole first semester. One thing she distinctly remembers is not daring to walk on the grass, even though the upperclassmen would try to trick the freshmen into stepping on the grass. I asked her what she thought of the freshmen customs. I thought she would tell me that she thought they were unnecessary but she actually replied that they were a lot of fun.

 

We also talked about the changing geography of the college. Most of her classes were in Glatfelter Hall since there were not as many buildings on campus. Huber Hall served as the student’s dining hall. Ms. Holley then went on to tell us how awful the food was and how their one saving grace was the neighborhood food truck that came around to deliver sandwiches. This is a little bit different from today’s love of Servo.

I am happy to have met Ms. Holley and hope to see more of her in the future.