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Christina Stokes

DIGH 5000 Jan 20 Libraries, Archives and Databases - 28 views

started by Christina Stokes on 22 Jan 14
  • Christina Stokes
    #1 Christina Stokes on 22 Jan 14
     
    I want to start by thanking Devan for a great presentation. It definitely clarified some of the theories Manovich was talking about. Since we spent most of the class focusing on Hayles and Manovich I will focus my entry on discussing the other readings. I have one question open for discussion on Manovich. As we all know the article is a bit dated written in 2001 and Manovich examples of new media include CD-ROMs. Do you think that if Manovich were to rewrite the article in using an IPOD as an example of "new media" do you think he would still be able to argue that all new media excludes narrative?

    On the other readings for the week one discussion I found interesting is the implications of digitizing material whether it be archives or academic journals. One example, which is worth discussing is Manoff's reference to the deletion of an online journal article by Elsevier Science that was accused of plagiarism. Manoff discusses that unlike a print journal where it is impossible to delete an article, online journal articles can be permanently erased. This is a constant issue with some online sources as websites get updated. Another example of this is on the Hacking the Academy database. One of the blogs I wanted to read "Exhibitions and Expertise" by Lynne Thomas Dekalb was removed. Does the erasure of documents in the virtual world demonstrate the shortcomings of the digitization of scholarly works?

    Finally, as the history student in the DH cohort I thought it appropriate to respond to Martin and Quan-Haase's study of historians use of e-books. In their article I would agree with their findings that very few history university courses use e-books. However, I do not think this is a choice of the instructor. It is more the lack of academic books that have been digitized and available online. As Martin and Quan-Haase mention part of the problem is historians getting accustomed to using e-books. I think the issue is not historians reading e-books for research but historians publishing their books online. If the accessibility of these books increases, they will be more widely used by historians.
  • Alessandro Marcon
    #2 Alessandro Marcon on 25 Jan 14
     
    The question of narrative is an interesting one. As I briefly mentioned in class, an ALDS (applied linguistics and discourse studies) professor, Graham Smart has written quite extensively on the types of "storytelling" that take place in the Bank of Canada when it comes time to make the annual Monetary Policy Report. Basically, the bankers are, (at least somewhat) doing what Hayles had described as creating narratives out of databases, which leads us to consider what constitutes narrative and if changes in media affect our notions of narrative and to what extent it does so.

    I also really liked your presentation, Devan. I especially liked exploring those interactive documentaries. The insomnia website was such as novel idea - just the fact that the project opens up the space to insomniac (insomniatic?) experiences (the bit about having someone call you) is really like nothing I've really seen.
  • Kayla Cuggy
    #3 Kayla Cuggy on 26 Jan 14
     
    I was thinking about Christina's question regarding whether or not Manovich would be able to make the same argument (that new media excludes narrative) if he were to use the iPod instead of the out-dated CD-ROM as an example, and I think that he would be able to. Not because I agree with his argument, or because I think that the iPod exists entirely outside of narrative, but because his intention is to look for databases (at least in the chapter we read). I think it is certainly possible to regard an iPod exclusively as a storage unit for, or a collection of audio files and that Manovich would subscribe to this view because it works for him. However, I am not accusing Manovich of any shady business. I don't think he is attempting to manipulate his data or his reader, because we do the same thing he does; where Manovich is looking for database, we are looking for narrative (as we are trained to do). I can easily pick up someone's iPod and interpret its contents, organization, album art and most recently played songs to concoct the story of his or her life. While I know that I could do this, and frankly that I probably would, I am not entirely convinced that it isn't a silly thing to do.

    Following this line of thought, I tried to think in terms of databases rather than narratives. In class, we talked about DVDs that are released with paratext (deleted scenes, interviews with the director and actors, commentary, etc.) as an example of media which functions as both a database and narrative. In my attempt to look for the database, I considered the novel. What do we make of novels which are published alongside interviews with the author, reviews of the novel, alternate endings, and sneak previews of the author's coming works? The novel is clearly a narrative, but can we consider this publication to be a form of database as well? Does it function the same way as the DVD we discussed in class?
  • Jordon Tomblin
    #4 Jordon Tomblin on 26 Jan 14
     
    A very interesting discussion has arisen from Christina's blog post. Along with the others, there is definitely some 'food for thought' here to chew on. In terms of Kayla's post, I agree with you that paratext appears to function as both a narrative and a database. Hayles reiterates this notion as she considers each to be 'natural symbionts' (i.e. interdependent). Perhaps we should consider this often complementary data of the paratext to be a part of a 'paranarrative' whereby one observes multiple voices within a given text . In any case, paranarratives deriving from paratext (e.g. "deleting scenes, interviews…, commentary") generally do not appear to have any effect on the primary narration. Instead, it simply provides an additional perspective, which ultimately does not impact the story (or narrative) at hand as it is voluntarily activated (for the most part) by the actor (i.e. consumer) themselves. In terms of considering a "publication to be a form of database", I would argue that it is. Although, Manovich appears to have referred to database as if it were something digital, "a new symbolic form of a computer age".

    In terms of Alessandro's post, this idea of "storytelling" within the banking community is fascinating. It reminds me of how Canadian bank tellers report 'suspicious activity' to FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) when a single deposit greater than $10,000 is made. In this sense, employees are encouraged to police the activities of its banking members as such transactions supposedly tell a story on their own about 'those who make such large transactions'. In other words, such sums infer nefarious intent or activities. Interestingly, in this case, narration derives from a nonhuman actor (but that is nothing new).
  • Ridha Ben Rejeb
    #5 Ridha Ben Rejeb on 27 Jan 14
     
    Interesting blog postings, I thought to post mine yesterday but I guess I was procrastinating partly because I have to meet applications deadline and sure enough the blog was hacked ( remember it is a good thing as long as it serves humanities and academic intents) . I will still go ahead and post it raw in response to Christina's questions :

    1- Do you think that if Manovich were to rewrite the article in using an IPOD as an example of "new media" do you think he would still be able to argue that all new media excludes narrative?
    I would say YES, until Manovich realizes the potentials and features offered in IPOD or similar digital tools. Manovich's claim may stem from his lack of self esteem as a result of the unknown capabilities and potential advantages of DH.
    2- Does the erasure of documents in the virtual world demonstrate the shortcomings of the digitization of scholarly works?
    Nothing is perfect might be the shortest answer to the aforementioned question. There are always pros and cons for any innovative tool, and the virtual world is no exception to this rule. Take the examples of Ukraine and Carleton e-Theses. I recall a discussion after our DH class ( Jordon, Alessandro and myself) on the way to O train about Ukraine's social protest, we talked about how police has drawn lessons from the social uprisings in Tunisia (my birth country) and Egypt. Police did not only ban people from gathering in big squares but also used digital techniques to follow social media messages and track potential protesters movements by locating pockets of people carrying mobile phones in an attempt to deter their plans of demonstrations relying on Telecom corporate signal towers.
    Another reason why Carleton University opted for e-Thesis is (1) to facilitate exchange of informed ideas and empirical findings. While such a move may enhance research and create an accessible hub for all academic researchers to acquaint themselves with what has been done in their research interests, it is still implemented (2) for the sake of academic integrity and intellectual property protection, it is much easier now than ever to check any written digitized work for plagiarism. During my teaching tenure, I used to refer to Blackboard SafeAssign digital tool to check my students work against unacknowledged existing works for more on the tool check: http://www.safeassign.com/. As to your concern about losing / deletion and relocating work and sources. It is quite a challenge; however, this is not due to digital tool deficiencies as there are always other ways to repair any lost work. In case of hacking, I guess each website should create its own back up archive in a safe server. In case the website was subject to internet malice, all works are still safe on a different location and can be retrieved in no time (many governments adopted this approach). One other way is merely ask the author to send a second copy of his/her work. I have often seen articles being reshuffled and relocated in other subfolders or websites. On many occasions my search was redirected to a new location of the site. In a nutshell, there are always ways to overcome any threat encountered in DH rather than the tendency to "stop eating for fear of choking".

    3-In reference to your comments on Martin and Quan-Haase's study of historians use of e-books. You wrote "However, I do not think this is a choice of the instructor. It is more the lack of academic books that have been digitized and available online". Again as voiced out in previous postings, many scholars still prefer conventional humanities, whether for lack of mastery of the available digital tool, or for fear of getting cursed for using a profane tool ( as some humanities hawks may articulate it). I think any innovative idea has always been challenged by the traditional views and e- books are again no exception in humanities. I think it is a matter of time until many hardliners would realize that the only way to survive is to embrace the new technology which carries far more opportunities and potentials from the conventional or in this case hardcopy books. I guess a good wrap up to my blogging this week is " The past was analog. The future is digital" (Cohen & Rosenzweig 'Digital History') .
  • Matt Bastin-Millar
    #6 Matt Bastin-Millar on 27 Jan 14
     
    I'd like to echo the sentiments around Devin's presentation - it was really well done, and what I found perhaps most compelling about it was they way you managed to explore Manovich in relative depth and get at the narrative/database discussion by way of killer examples from your own field of study. Kudos.

    I'm glad Christina mentioned the Martin and Quan-Haase look at historians and e-books; reading this piece made me reflect on an experience I had last term in a new light. For the anthropology MA, students are required to take a theories I and a theories II, which is likely common across many disciplines - the course shores up students' knowledge on the key theories and movements in the discipline and so on. One week we read Benjamin Koen's article "My Heart Opens and My Spirit Flies": Musical Exemplars of Psychological Flexibility in Heath and Healing. In this ethnomusicological paper, Koen explores Pamiri devotional music as providing psychological flexibility to devotees, thus priming them for various types of healing. The reason I bring this up, is that the paper's arguments center around a type of music, key to the argument being made. In a somewhat novel turn, the paper ends with links to three supplementary files which contain samples of this devotional music. When discussing the article in class, it came to light that none of the eight students had accessed the supplementary files. At the time I hadn't given it much thought, but it seems to me now that it could be argued that accessing the digital content and reading the less orthodox text, in this case by listening to music, didn't occur to any of us because we're conditioned to consider only the traditional in terms of scholarship, or in terms of what a text consists of. Even for anthropologists, or aspiring ones, who engage in participant observation and are trained to look for meaning in those liminal 'spaces in between', it might be that the incorporation of e-books specifically, and electronic scholarship more broadly faces its share of hurdles.

    Not sure if that's a clear association, but it's certainly where my thoughts went after last week's reading and the recent blog discussions, and I certainly think it relates to Ridha's closing remarks.

    On that note, I take your point Ridha about academic integrity and the checking of digitized work for plagiarism. Without using a tool like the one you mention, or like the 'Originality Checker' (hilarious name imo) on http://turnitin.com/, I often check the work of students in my TA seminars by performing basic Google searches of snippets of their work, particularly when there's a serious incongruence in quality across their writing. More than once I've had to report instances of plagiarism by employing this technique, so there's certainly a strong argument to be made against those who worry about the sanctity of academic work in the digital age in light of e-publishing and so on.

    Cited:

    Koen, Benjamin D. 2013. "My Heart Opens and My Spirit Flies": Musical Exemplars of Psychological Flexibility in Health and Healing. Ethos 41 (2). 174-198.
  • Danuta Sierhuis
    #7 Danuta Sierhuis on 27 Jan 14
     
    When Christina mentioned that the article she was looking for on Hacking the Academy archive no longer existed, I thought about the issues that digital preservation programs in archives and museums face. As we all know, digital access is not always synonymous with digital sustainability. Digitization is a technology that entirely relies on software to read the data and a playback device to project the data. I know this from personal experience as I have lost all of my files/pictures/music on my computer twice due to software/tech malfunctions. This dependence on technology and software also raises the issue of the obsolescence of digital formats. CMS systems are not always reliable to ensure data protection. For example, during the DH workshop last week, Professor Graham mentioned that his version of Omeka automatically upgraded and he lost part of the project he was working on. As of right now, there is no sure way to back-up any kind of digital media. In a way, digital media is more susceptible to being lost or damaged than a physical object.

    Any long-term preservation can be quite the contentious topic for archivists. A simple preservation suggestion would be to back up the image, but this would only last until the backup medium is supplanted by newer technology. At that point, which could be only a few years, the file would then need to be migrated to the newer medium. However, with each time that this happens, there is the possibility of fundamentally changing or damaging the file, which also raises the question of the integrity and authenticity of the digital representation of a physical artifact.

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