Print Your Papers

Please bring me hard copies of whatever papers you owe me on Thursday, even if you have previously emailed the paper to me. Now enjoy this beautiful time lapse video of the stars spiraling over Lake Tahoe:

Lake Tahoe Milky Way Night Time Lapse from Justin Majeczky on Vimeo.

Well, not Forever

You can hand in your reaction papers next week. In the meantime, please make an appointment to see me if you have any questions or concerns at all about your final projects!

Some Resources for Digital Projects

I was pleased by how many of you have chosen to take a stab at something digital for your final project. Based on some of your descriptions, I thought I'd throw up a quick post of resources:

• Omeka is an open-source content manager. You upload whatever items you want to put online, then use the templates to create an exhibit. You can do it all for free at Omeka.net. This might be a good way to do a web exhibit--check it out and see what you think.
• There are a bunch of places to create a website without learning HTML and all that. People say good things about Weebly, though I have not used it. Google Sites is a popular option. 
• You can also create a site with blogging software. This site is based on the Blogger platform. I have seen some beautiful blogs built with Posterous.
• Some of you are interested in creating mobile tours. There are lots of mobile audio tours on iTunes you can listen to as examples.  Audacity is the standard for recording and editing sound but I'll bet there are other things you could use.  This page seems to say that Omeka could be used for mobile tours. Open Museum is intriguing, this page seems to indicate a mobile tour. See this page on mobile for museums. If you hit a dead end on everything else you can put your content on a Google Maps.

Be bold, Google around for help, and have a backup plan if the learning curve for a particular piece of technology proves too steep. And have fun!

One Stone, Many Birds

I have had some students visit to talk about topics for the controversies paper. First of all yes, it is due this week. 

Never Saw it Coming

Some of you are still grasping for a topic. My advice always begins at the same place--is there some way we can tie the controversies paper to your final project? If so, do it, and both will be the stronger for it.

Example: Suppose your final project will be to write the career paper, where you pick a type of public historian and write about what they do and what it takes to become one. A good controversies paper would be on some historical controversy that particularly involved that profession. If you are writing about historian in the National Park Service, examine the controversy over the establishment of Washita National Monument, or the redesign of Gettysburg. If your final paper is about historic preservation write a controversies paper about the battle to save some historic building or other.

It is even OK to tie your controversies paper to another class. If you are taking Dr. Young's colonial course you could write over the controversies at Yale and Brown where they are all upset that some of the oldest buildings on campus turn out to be named after colonial slave holders.

The more your research overlaps the stronger your work will be!


Finally, remember the last sentence in the assignment: "What do we learn about the practice of public history from the controversy?" Remember to think about the big picture!

Final Project Opportunity

Esteemed Students: The library is looking for someone to help them with the following research project. If you are interested and if you seem like a good fit I would be willing to make it count as your final project. The only complication is that the library needs this fairly quickly--the label description by February 27. The rest could wait until the end of the quarter. Below is the library description of the project. And you get two free tickets to the library Octoberfest, which is more fun than it sounds:

Description of project:

Three bronze sculptures were donated to the library quite a few years ago and have never been displayed. The library plans to display the pieces, and develop a short guide to the artwork in and around JFK. The newly displayed pieces need signage (label copy).  The library would also like to have descriptions of all of the art work around the building developed into an information guide.

Tasks:

The student will use the University Archives to research the artworks, (there is the bird sculpture, the open book on the front of the building, and the fountain in addition). I have a file of information on the bronzes.

Deliverables are:

1)     label copy for the bronzes;
2)     a more detailed description of the bronzes and the other artwork in and around the building;
3)     creation of a one sheet guide to the artwork at JFK.

 

The library will provide a free ticket to next year’s Oktoberfest fund raiser and acknowledge the student’s work at the event.