Week Three Reflection
During our week two meeting, there was some interest expressed in comparing material from the Emma B. Andrews Diary to parallel accounts of fellow travelers. When I heard that the letters of Mary Newberry would be an excellent candidate, but they needed to go through the historical markup language process, I thought this would be a useful opportunity to learn about the repository's contents on a more granular level.
While I am comfortable with a wide variety of creative and technical software, I haven't taken any XML or TEI courses so far in the iSchool and coding does elicit some irrational fears. That said, Sarah was able to provide me with a very clear and concise step by step guide for approaching the process that included software recommendations, a video tutorial walkthrough, crib sheets and many examples of successfully coded material from the EBA repository to use as a reference.
Once I had read through all of the material and watched primers on both Github and Visual Studio Code, I needed to find a relevant timeframe to focus on within the Mary Buttles Newberry letters collection. More on that process can be read on the Week Three Theoretical Research section of the Technical and Theoretical Research page. Additional information on the actual process of coding the material can be read on the Learning Historical Markup Language section of the Interdisciplinary Communication page.
I am glad that I pushed myself to understand this technical aspect of the repository's functionality. Although elements are still a little intimidating and I am sure that my first attempt was not a flawless one, the experience has given me a better grasp of the individual elements that make up the collection, increased my technical vocabulary and ability to communicate and convey ideas for future digital humanities work.
Reading:
Audrey’s Thesis. http://historical-markup.com/. Accessed 13 July 2021.
“EBA Markup Instructions.” Google Docs,
The Graveyard of Old Diseases | CSI: Dixie. https://csidixie.org/numbers/mortality-census/graveyard-old-diseases. Accessed 8 July 2021.
Morris, Edward. J. Pierpont Morgan: 1837–1913. 2021, p. 14.
Mr. Morgan Is Only Human, Oregonian (Published as Morning Oregonian), March 1, 1913, P8. Accessed 9 July 2021.
Newberry, Mary B. A Winter on the Nile.
Newberry, Mary B. Some Further Accounts.
News Article, Seattle Daily Times (Published as THE SEATTLE DAILY TIMES), February 17, 1913, P11. Accessed 9 July 2021.
News Article, Star and Herald (Published as Star and Herald.), March 2, 1913, P3. Accessed 9 July 2021.
News Article, Tacoma Daily News (Published as THE TACOMA DAILY NEWS), February 17, 1913, P5. Accessed 9 July 2021.
News Article, Tacoma Daily News (Published as THE TACOMA DAILY NEWS), February 27, 1913, P2. Accessed 9 July 2021.
Strouse, Jean. “J. Pierpont Morgan: Financier and Collector.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 57, no. 3, 2000, p. 1. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.2307/3258853.
“Tag Crib sheet.” Google Docs, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UfmW6cw5vZWwN_2cB4Orr7sPR-lmilU7ppcTtr6BvbU/edit?usp=embed_facebook. Accessed 13 July 2021.
V15-Walkthrough.Mp4. https://www.dropbox.com/s/2rth0ndyfnlt7y5/v15-walkthrough.mp4?dl=0. Accessed 13 July 2021.