Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Citation help from Diana Hacker
link to original site
Digital archives
Digital archives are online collections of documents or records — books, letters, photographs, data — that have been converted to digital form. Cite publication information for the original document, if it is available, using the models throughout this section. Then give the location of the document, if any, neither italicized nor in quotation marks; the name of the archive, italicized; the medium (“Web”); and your date of access.
Example:
Oblinger, Maggie. Letter to Charlie Thomas. 31 Mar. 1895. Nebraska State Hist. Soc. Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912. Web. 3 Apr. 2009.
Digital archives
Digital archives are online collections of documents or records — books, letters, photographs, data — that have been converted to digital form. Cite publication information for the original document, if it is available, using the models throughout this section. Then give the location of the document, if any, neither italicized nor in quotation marks; the name of the archive, italicized; the medium (“Web”); and your date of access.
Example:
Oblinger, Maggie. Letter to Charlie Thomas. 31 Mar. 1895. Nebraska State Hist. Soc. Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912. Web. 3 Apr. 2009.
Grade Update
Dear Class,
Your midterm grades are now visible on Blackboard, which can be access through the link and by following the instructions on the "My Grades" page.
Good work, everyone!
MTM
Your midterm grades are now visible on Blackboard, which can be access through the link and by following the instructions on the "My Grades" page.
Good work, everyone!
MTM
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Letters of Note
From Hayley Huffman:
Overall, Letters of Note offers a diverse spectrum of letters, telegrams, faxes, postcards and memos that are noteworthy and interesting—precisely what its title implies. Among the featured letters, some are humorous, some are historically informative, and some are even tear-jerking. Most of the letters are featured both as a picture of the actual letter, and typed, in order to ensure maximum clarity for the reader. The overall layout of the website is accessible and helpful, with a link to archives of past featured letters, as well as a most popular list in the same column. The archives are incredibly helpful, offering the reader certain criteria to browse by. One may browse by correspondence type, date of correspondence, writing method, or by the general and extensive “alphabetical by name”. The content is interesting and even up-to-date with certain current events: for example, the day after Steve Jobs passed away, a letter was posted that he wrote himself to a customer, thanking him for his support of Apple products. This letter, in my opinion, was a great addition to the archive—it shows how friendly Steve Jobs was, and how generous he was to his supporters. When it comes to interesting letters, another one in particular sparks my interest. Titled “Each of you is special just because you’re you” it is a letter addressed to Mr. Rogers, from a little boy who is a fan of his show. The boy had written earlier saying how much he loved the show and requested to visit Mr. Roger’s house. However, even though this is a rejection letter, Mr. Rogers composed it eloquently and politely, telling the boy how they will remain “television friends”. I thought it was interesting to read these letters about people who are famous—the media paints them as separate from regular people, as if they are almost not mortal. But they correspond just like you and I would, and as seen from the letters given, they are extremely polite as well!
Overall, Letters of Note deserves a 4.5/5 rating. The navigation throughout the website is fantastic, and its archives are extensive and have very sufficient search criteria available. The content available is also quite interesting, and touches on a variety of subjects, all thought-provoking and interesting in some way. I got a lot out of reading the featured letters and learned a bit about famous people like Steve Jobs, Mr. Rogers and Elizabeth Taylor. In addition, I also learned a bit about the hardships of life and leaving loved ones. I had seen a few of the letters before, however, featured on Reddit.com before they were published on the blog. Overall, this digital archive was very informative, offered a diverse spectrum of letters, and was easy to use. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in notable letters.
Overall, Letters of Note offers a diverse spectrum of letters, telegrams, faxes, postcards and memos that are noteworthy and interesting—precisely what its title implies. Among the featured letters, some are humorous, some are historically informative, and some are even tear-jerking. Most of the letters are featured both as a picture of the actual letter, and typed, in order to ensure maximum clarity for the reader. The overall layout of the website is accessible and helpful, with a link to archives of past featured letters, as well as a most popular list in the same column. The archives are incredibly helpful, offering the reader certain criteria to browse by. One may browse by correspondence type, date of correspondence, writing method, or by the general and extensive “alphabetical by name”. The content is interesting and even up-to-date with certain current events: for example, the day after Steve Jobs passed away, a letter was posted that he wrote himself to a customer, thanking him for his support of Apple products. This letter, in my opinion, was a great addition to the archive—it shows how friendly Steve Jobs was, and how generous he was to his supporters. When it comes to interesting letters, another one in particular sparks my interest. Titled “Each of you is special just because you’re you” it is a letter addressed to Mr. Rogers, from a little boy who is a fan of his show. The boy had written earlier saying how much he loved the show and requested to visit Mr. Roger’s house. However, even though this is a rejection letter, Mr. Rogers composed it eloquently and politely, telling the boy how they will remain “television friends”. I thought it was interesting to read these letters about people who are famous—the media paints them as separate from regular people, as if they are almost not mortal. But they correspond just like you and I would, and as seen from the letters given, they are extremely polite as well!
Overall, Letters of Note deserves a 4.5/5 rating. The navigation throughout the website is fantastic, and its archives are extensive and have very sufficient search criteria available. The content available is also quite interesting, and touches on a variety of subjects, all thought-provoking and interesting in some way. I got a lot out of reading the featured letters and learned a bit about famous people like Steve Jobs, Mr. Rogers and Elizabeth Taylor. In addition, I also learned a bit about the hardships of life and leaving loved ones. I had seen a few of the letters before, however, featured on Reddit.com before they were published on the blog. Overall, this digital archive was very informative, offered a diverse spectrum of letters, and was easy to use. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in notable letters.
A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art
From Grace Ashforth:
The archive A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art is indeed very interesting and fun to look at and browse. It is appealing and puts hope and restores faith in love. This archive contains photographs of love letters and some pictures – seemingly of couples. Because these are letters from the American arts, a lot of letters do contain drawings and paintings on them. The blown up photographs make it easier to see; however, some of the handwriting is hard to decipher. The content that is legible is very entertaining to read, but it is hard occasionally because one cannot always tell what exactly was written down.
In terms of how the website is designed, it is relatively easy to manage. There are a bunch of links on the top of the webpage and on the right side so it is obvious on how to get most places. As far as links to things such as frequently asked questions, exhibitions, and the image gallery go, those are super easy to find and get to based on the setup of the website. The links they provide are useful and readily available.
The archive is set up neatly in terms of the boxing and grouping of items together and it has a nice, simple font so all of that is effortless to read. The creator or designer of the website attempted to keep it straightforward yet visually appealing by having a black background and then two boxes with links that had backgrounds of light green and various blues. This was pleasing to the eye because it is simple so your eyes are not darting all around the page in an attempt to figure out what to check out first.
Ashforth 2
Finally, something useful the archive could have done would be to type out all the letters so anyone could read them. In particular, there is one letter - to someone named Gracie, so that was enjoyable – but I cannot read anything further than that. It says My Gracie – and then everything else is too light and too scribbled for me to make out. This would be in the archive’s benefit because it would draw in more people because it makes it much easier to read.
Overall, the website is generally easy to use and it’s only real setback is the occasional inability to read the letters. That, however, is somewhat major since that is the whole point of the archive to begin with. I also did not really learn anything new after surfing the archive except for how to get the most out of this specific archive and what I can get from it. After taking all this into consideration, the archive receives a four. It’s a fun idea to put a cluster of love letters and paintings and photographs together for others to view. It essentially has everything someone could want in a website so aside from that one poor quality, it deserves its high rating.
The archive A Thousand Kisses: Love Letters from the Archives of American Art is indeed very interesting and fun to look at and browse. It is appealing and puts hope and restores faith in love. This archive contains photographs of love letters and some pictures – seemingly of couples. Because these are letters from the American arts, a lot of letters do contain drawings and paintings on them. The blown up photographs make it easier to see; however, some of the handwriting is hard to decipher. The content that is legible is very entertaining to read, but it is hard occasionally because one cannot always tell what exactly was written down.
In terms of how the website is designed, it is relatively easy to manage. There are a bunch of links on the top of the webpage and on the right side so it is obvious on how to get most places. As far as links to things such as frequently asked questions, exhibitions, and the image gallery go, those are super easy to find and get to based on the setup of the website. The links they provide are useful and readily available.
The archive is set up neatly in terms of the boxing and grouping of items together and it has a nice, simple font so all of that is effortless to read. The creator or designer of the website attempted to keep it straightforward yet visually appealing by having a black background and then two boxes with links that had backgrounds of light green and various blues. This was pleasing to the eye because it is simple so your eyes are not darting all around the page in an attempt to figure out what to check out first.
Ashforth 2
Finally, something useful the archive could have done would be to type out all the letters so anyone could read them. In particular, there is one letter - to someone named Gracie, so that was enjoyable – but I cannot read anything further than that. It says My Gracie – and then everything else is too light and too scribbled for me to make out. This would be in the archive’s benefit because it would draw in more people because it makes it much easier to read.
Overall, the website is generally easy to use and it’s only real setback is the occasional inability to read the letters. That, however, is somewhat major since that is the whole point of the archive to begin with. I also did not really learn anything new after surfing the archive except for how to get the most out of this specific archive and what I can get from it. After taking all this into consideration, the archive receives a four. It’s a fun idea to put a cluster of love letters and paintings and photographs together for others to view. It essentially has everything someone could want in a website so aside from that one poor quality, it deserves its high rating.
I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters, Manuscripts, and Ephemera
From June Liu:
I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters, Manuscripts, and Ephemera is a useful and well-organized digital library of Lehigh University that deserves a four out of a five-star rating. It contains a large variety of documents from non-English letters, telegrams, cartoons, passports, checks, railroad passes to photographs. The archive’s collection of letters contains over 400 authors and spans over five centuries, starting from the 15th century to the 20th century. Interestingly, because the archive spans over such a long period of time, its documents can reveal change over time in communication, style, and other trends. Well-known authors of the archive include John Adams, Robert E. Lee, Mark Twain, and John F. Kennedy. Furthermore, the documents of I Remain pertain to multiple subjects as opposed to other archives that pertain to only a particular topic such as an archive of the Civil War. The subjects include Science, Travel, War and Politics, and the history of Lehigh University. Overall, I Remain is richly comprised of a wide variety of document types and subjects.
Another important factor in determining the rating of the archive is the way the documents are presented on the website and the website’s functionality. Although the website appears bland and unappealing because of its lack of images and different colors, it is expected and appropriate for an online library. More importantly, however, is that it is very well-organized and easy to navigate through. The navigation bar on the top of the website is constantly present, allowing the reader to navigate quickly and easily from one page to another. Also, under browse, the different subjects of the documents are conveniently and neatly divided into different pages. The search engine is also very adequate for readers who want to find specific information rather than browsing through pages and pages of documents. The search engine can be specified to a particular keyword, date, and type of the document and even contains a helpful list of authors in the archive’s collection. The website is easy to navigate, browse, and search through due to its simple and uncomplicated formatting.
It is relatively easy to learn information of the content of the document because each document has not only a description but also an abstract that summarizes the main idea of the document. For example, on the very first page under Science, one can learn that Thomas Allan discovered and named a mineral, Allanite, after himself. Despite the usefulness of the summaries, however, it may be necessary for some scholars to know the exact text of the documents to understand the tone or author better. Sadly, some documents are hardly legible because of fading ink or undecipherable handwriting and only a few transcripts are available. The information is also very interesting because it covers a large part of American history through personal narratives. Unlike textbooks, reveals personal experiences and emotions as well as historical processes.
I Remain is rated four stars for a number of reasons. Its collection, comprised of mostly letters, manuscripts, and ephemera, varies in both subject and type of documents. The website itself is present in a straightforward and convenient fashion that allows the user to navigate easily through its pages and also find specific information quickly. Although many documents are indecipherable, each has a clear and basic description, abstract, subject, author, recipient, title, and date. Although the documents vary in depth and meaningfulness, such as the portrait of James Fenimore Cooper compared to the scientific documents of Charles Darwin, each document is significant because it reveals a unique aspect of history that may shed light on the world today.
I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters, Manuscripts, and Ephemera is a useful and well-organized digital library of Lehigh University that deserves a four out of a five-star rating. It contains a large variety of documents from non-English letters, telegrams, cartoons, passports, checks, railroad passes to photographs. The archive’s collection of letters contains over 400 authors and spans over five centuries, starting from the 15th century to the 20th century. Interestingly, because the archive spans over such a long period of time, its documents can reveal change over time in communication, style, and other trends. Well-known authors of the archive include John Adams, Robert E. Lee, Mark Twain, and John F. Kennedy. Furthermore, the documents of I Remain pertain to multiple subjects as opposed to other archives that pertain to only a particular topic such as an archive of the Civil War. The subjects include Science, Travel, War and Politics, and the history of Lehigh University. Overall, I Remain is richly comprised of a wide variety of document types and subjects.
Another important factor in determining the rating of the archive is the way the documents are presented on the website and the website’s functionality. Although the website appears bland and unappealing because of its lack of images and different colors, it is expected and appropriate for an online library. More importantly, however, is that it is very well-organized and easy to navigate through. The navigation bar on the top of the website is constantly present, allowing the reader to navigate quickly and easily from one page to another. Also, under browse, the different subjects of the documents are conveniently and neatly divided into different pages. The search engine is also very adequate for readers who want to find specific information rather than browsing through pages and pages of documents. The search engine can be specified to a particular keyword, date, and type of the document and even contains a helpful list of authors in the archive’s collection. The website is easy to navigate, browse, and search through due to its simple and uncomplicated formatting.
It is relatively easy to learn information of the content of the document because each document has not only a description but also an abstract that summarizes the main idea of the document. For example, on the very first page under Science, one can learn that Thomas Allan discovered and named a mineral, Allanite, after himself. Despite the usefulness of the summaries, however, it may be necessary for some scholars to know the exact text of the documents to understand the tone or author better. Sadly, some documents are hardly legible because of fading ink or undecipherable handwriting and only a few transcripts are available. The information is also very interesting because it covers a large part of American history through personal narratives. Unlike textbooks, reveals personal experiences and emotions as well as historical processes.
I Remain is rated four stars for a number of reasons. Its collection, comprised of mostly letters, manuscripts, and ephemera, varies in both subject and type of documents. The website itself is present in a straightforward and convenient fashion that allows the user to navigate easily through its pages and also find specific information quickly. Although many documents are indecipherable, each has a clear and basic description, abstract, subject, author, recipient, title, and date. Although the documents vary in depth and meaningfulness, such as the portrait of James Fenimore Cooper compared to the scientific documents of Charles Darwin, each document is significant because it reveals a unique aspect of history that may shed light on the world today.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Letters from Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War
From Howard Lio:
Covering the massive history of the Civil War, the Valley of the Shadow archives does an excellent job providing everything from statistics to letters for the reader’s understanding of the historical context. Organized into three distinct time periods (the eve of war, the war years, and the aftermath), the Valley of the Shadow provides different perspectives in the letters from the soldiers themselves to high-ranking officials in both governments. Battle map are provided and even show animations of how specific units marched and battled throughout Virginia and Pennsylvania. The letters and newspapers are organized by date and when read in a sequence accurately portray the mood and bias of each side during the war; the archives are genuine, as the letters are neither edited nor only biased to one side of the war. In my opinion, this archive deserves a five out of five star rankings because of its organization and depth of content. I’m thoroughly impressed with the website and how easily accessible all the information was. As a history fanatic, I’m really interested by the content and learned a lot about both the Confederates and the Union. In the history books that I have read about the Civil War, I mostly read about the important figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, or Stonewall Jackson. Yet, my favorite part about the website was reading the letters from the soldier’s perspective. Reading each young man’s story and emotional writing to their parents was really significant in making the Civil War more realistic to me. Overall, I’d highly recommend this archive to anyone who was interested in any aspect of the Civil War; this archive can provide anything to tell you more about the multifaceted aspects of the war.
link: The Valley of the Shadow
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Syllabus Update!!
Dear Class,
The syllabus has been updated to reflect changes in due dates and the reading schedule, changed in part to accommodate the fact that the Color Purple paper's deadline was extended. Please refer to this syllabus (uploaded to the "Syllabus and Assignments" page) for the rest of the semester. Also note that the assignments and rubrics for the next two papers are now available.
Sincerely,
MTM
The syllabus has been updated to reflect changes in due dates and the reading schedule, changed in part to accommodate the fact that the Color Purple paper's deadline was extended. Please refer to this syllabus (uploaded to the "Syllabus and Assignments" page) for the rest of the semester. Also note that the assignments and rubrics for the next two papers are now available.
Sincerely,
MTM
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