For my Senior Thesis project I am looking to do a project that involves the digitization of Primary Sources and the ways that these digitized sources can be displayed in an online medium. As I mentioned in my previous post I was involved with a project last semester that involved the digitization of 30 plus Primary Sources and the creation of a website to view these documents. This was to be a companion for a book as it would allow readers to follow along with the research done by the author as they read through the book. Using Wordpress a site was created that allowed readers to follow along chapter by chapter to look at the same sources that the author used. It also allowed users to sort sources based on their subject matter. This project has yet to go live because the book is not yet published but eventually productivitymachines.com will go live and bring information directly to users in their homes.
This project had a great impact on me as I realized that bringing information to the masses was a very useful tool that can help enrich people's experiences. I also realized that while this project was done to be a companion to a book, the same concept could be applied to the museum world. My goal for this project is to find a collection of information to digitize and be put into an online exhibit and then create a portal to allow people to view this information. I have been working in the IT field for about 4 years now and I want to bring my major and my current work together to help enrich the experiences of museum goers. I would like to experiment with different ways of presenting this information. There have been multiple projects in the past that have looked into the ways that digitization can be done and how the process can be optimized. I do not have much experience in the actual digitization process but I would like to explore the different ways that information can be shared on the internet and the easiest ways for users to view and access this knowledge. I would like to create multiple sites/portals that people could use to find out which one enriches the experience of the users the most. This idea is obviously not fully fledged out just yet but I am open for suggestions!
Fascinating idea, and one with great potential! Consider the Smithsonian Institution's Transcription Center, its presentation of primary sources and materials, and how their work has evolved over the years. See Ferriter; Ferrante; and others.
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