Month: October 2014

For me, Julia Gaffield’s “Haiti’s Declaration of Independence: Digging for Lost Documents in the Archives of the Atlantic World” was a particularly fascinating and powerful read this week. Gaffield’s account documents the discovery, or rather, “re-discovery”, of the Haiti’s Declaration of Independence. Acknowledging the Declaration’s overwhelming significance to the Haitian people, Gaffield understands the document’s discovery as not only historically significant but culturally importantly to advance “the obvious hunger for an alternative narrative of Haiti, one that emphasized the global significance of its achievements during and after the revolution”. Acknowledging the document’s significance to Haitians across time – from 1804 to present day, Gaffield’s conscientious understanding of Haitians becomes more than morally significant.

Overwhelmingly key for Gaffield was her understanding of Haiti’s Declaration of Independence as a cultural product of the Haitian people, not the Haitian country. Gaffield aptly conjectures the Haitian Declaration of Independence, created at the dawn of globalization, and many other documents relating to countries involved in Atlantic Trade, would be found scattered amongst these involved countries. “The movement of people, goods, and ideas created an integrated Atlantic community”, thus delineated a community bound not by border lines and nationalities but networks via tangible and intangible goods. As a result, Gaffield’s account perhaps more importantly signals the significance of acknowledging communities existing beyond geographic classification.

Gaffield’s understanding of community beyond geography immediately reminded me of Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. Imagined Communities argues for the “imagined community”, individuals identifying with the same national identity regardless of geography. Originally a commentary on nationalism post-globalization, the concept of the “imagined community” evolved to facilitate broader discussions of communal solidarity – here, Haiti’s part in Atlantic Trade and these countries’ part in Haiti’s independence. This concept is literally illustrated in the map of the US linked to at the start of the post. The colors marking populations of ethnic-identification illustrates the spread of ethnic identification as having no correspondence to the state borderlines strewn across the map. While individuals of the same ethnic-identification are connected, they are not connected geographically via the states they live in but their own identification to an ethnic background linking them to a “community” of others throughout the US who share the same background. Yet, despite the increasingly-apparent porousness of these borders certainly doesn’t diminish the significance of communities within borderlines and geography, though, as this post hopefully highlights, those without physical distinction deserve just as much regard.

The National Information Standards Organization had pointed out that, “Metadata is key to ensuring that resources will survive and continue to be accessible into the future” (1). Throughout the article, the three main types of metadata that were discussed seemed to focus on how to properly document a resource’s identity, origin, and other information needed to preserve or archive the resource. However, what I found in Gilliland’s article that felt more relevant to the general public’s association with metadata was that multiple versions of a digital object can be reformed to fit any user’s need or point of view. Thus, the identification of one form of metadata can become a very complicated path of tracing one type of information object to the next. It really fascinates me that such a complex system exists that we can use metadata to categorize any information object at any level of aggregation no matter how different the information object can become in its lifetime.

As a gaming enthusiast, this particular article jumped out to me because it was a form of data visualization that captured the movements of 100,000 players and mapped their patterns across 10,000 games. The video in itself was a collection of metadata comprised in the recordings of 10,000 games hosted by another site. As you scroll to the bottom of the page, the article consists of another set of videos that show the movements of different roles in the game along with gifs on the side that portray examples of those roles. Upon inspecting the elements of the site, I was able to find all of the information objects’ metadata found in the form of URLs of the gifs and other images used in the article. This relatively new way of interacting with metadata raised a few questions that were addressed in Gilliland’s article.

What I imagined when I read this article was a series of nesting dolls in which this article was composed of multiple digital objects that all had different metadata on their own. However, when they were all aggregated into this one article through hyperlinks and embedment, it became another digital archive with its own identifiable metadata. This relates to another point brought up by Gilliland that along with the development of the Internet and its networked digital information systems, many issues arise that must be addressed with new types of metadata. In the brief section about multiversioning, she talks about a need for metadata that can differentiate what is qualitatively different between versions of digitalized objects beyond descriptive metadata. For example, by creating a gif composed of either animated or static images, a different form of metadata would be necessary to tackle the variations of the original information objects. This also leads to further questions regarding legal issues and intellectual property rights that would warrant another form of metadata to shift through the multiple layers of an information system and identify the original creators of its contents.

Works Cited:

National Information Standards Organization, “What is Metadata?” (Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, 2004)

Anne Gilliland, “Setting the Stage,” from Murtha Baca, ed., Introduction to Metadata (Los Angeles: Getty, 2008)

Tom Giratikanon, J. (2014). Watch 10,000 League of Legends Games in 30 Seconds. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/10/technology/league-of-legends-graphic.html?_r=0 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2014].

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-12/what-if-the-redcoat-nsa-had-access-to-paul-reveres-metadata

http://www.ibtimes.com/spying-celebrities-nyc-taxi-metadata-exposes-celeb-locations-strip-club-clients-1696744

I was directed to this very interesting article from another about NYC taxi metadata exposing personal information about celebrities. The article featured in Bloomberg Businessweek technology section also relates to metadata and people’s personal privacy.  Although it may seen more abstract than actually hacking and reading emails, the collection of metadata is almost equally invasive.  Meta data is comprised of five categories that help to describe the types of metadata.  These categories are administrative metadata, descriptive metadata, preservation metadata, technical metadata, and use meta data.  All of this information about a certain set of data can help someone reveal the big picture about the data without actually being given the data.  Large amounts of metadata can be easily processed through computer algorithms and then analyzed.  Because so much data can be put into these large computers, there is essentially no limit to what the data can uncover.

Although this can seem alarming, other people argue that there should not be concern with all of this data being available to the government.  Many people believe that if the government does their job and doesn’t overstep their boundaries, it will truly be in place just to protect us.  Also other people argue that the only people that have to be concerned with being monitored if they are doing something illegal.  I disagree with this, basing my opinion off of all of the hacking I have seen recently in the media.  Although I know that hacking  pictures from celebrities is very different from gathering legally obtained metadata, there is still a certain sense of creepiness associated with anyone being able to learn information you might not want to be public.

The use of metadata in one of the articles about Jessica Alba and Bradley Cooper to show that they did not tip their cab drivers exposes something they  have done that they did not think people would find out about and are probably not proud of.  Although I don’t think I would be someone that would be of particular interest when it comes to collecting data, it does make me think twice about how much information is known about my calls, messages, and other phone habits.  My cellphone is the devise I use most in my day to day life and access to metadata about its usage would tell a lot about what I do and where I go. This information will not seriously affect my actions in my day to day life, but will make me think twice about not doing anything I wouldn’t want to be tracked and linked to me.

The emergence of new technologies has created an inevitable shift in the perspectives and paradigms of researchers, students, and community participants alike. The abundance of preservation software and digital archives has only increased throughout the last decade as archivists and scholars are realizing the importance of maintaining documents crucial to the political and social histories of communities around the world. However, as days, months, and years go by without correctly storing these important academic and cultural findings, we are losing integral parts of our worldy culture that cannot be restored.

Reading through Gaffield’s article on her search for the Haitian Declaration of Independence initially excited me, as I am a history junkie who relishes the idea of having my own National Treasure moment, excavating historical documents and treasures deep inside the Pyramids of Giza or the mysterious lost city of Atlantis. I appreciate how she thought outside the box and conducted thorough and unique research on the involved participants to draw more conclusive findings than any previous researcher had done before her. In similar ways to Gaffiled’s innovative research, Noriega’s work with UCLA’s Chicano Research Studies Center, utilized creative methods to preserve all forms of media related to the field of Chicano Studies. I admire the focus on protecting important historical documents for the use of both academic institutions and cultural communities.

In my last quarter at UCLA, I had the honor researching important projects and documents related to the city of Los Angeles and its past and present infrastructure. Naturally, as a Digital Humanities Minor, I was drawn to the Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform (LAADP), an online archive of articles, documents, and other relevant information contextualizing the history of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. This platform revealed the various social, political, and environmental impacts the aqueduct has made on the community and the nation. Through the compilation of various text and media samples such as photographs, maps, newspapers clippings, and pamphlets, the public is able to look at past archives to discover the historical significance behind the Los Angeles Aqueduct. This platform enables scholars and students alike to assess how the community has managed water over the past century, and provides ideas on how to continue maintaining it throughout the next century and beyond. The nature of databases proves to be unbiased because they draw from so many different sources, libraries, and other research institutions. The LAADP is fashioned in the same way, putting heavy emphasis on the diverse list of resources it pulls from. It provides permanent samples from over a century’s worth of historical events, cultivating dynamic conversations over the innovative perspectives it reveals.

The emphasis on a depth and breadth of information in archives and databases adds to the credibility and usefulness of the source itself. Gaffield’s extensive research in combination with Noriega’s variety of preservation methods and the accessibility of the LAADP contributes to the value we put on digital archives in our world today.

Works Cited:

Bon, Lauren, and Metabolic Studio. Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform. UCLA Library

Gaffield, Julia. “Haiti’s Declaration of Independence: Digging for Lost Documents in the Archives of the Atlantic World.” The Appendix 2, no. 1 (January 2014)

Chon Noriega, “Preservation Matters,” Aztlan 30:1 (2005)

The first time I heard the term metadata was on the news about Edward Snowden. After hearing the news about the NSA and their machines collecting metadata, I started hearing the word everywhere. But I still did not know what it meant and why data about data was so important. And if you knew me, you will find that I am not a very tech savvy person. I, therefore, sought out the introduction to metadata by Anne J. Gilliland and an article about Edward Snowden entitled, “Can Snowden finally kill the ‘harmless metadata’ myth?” by Stilgherrian to see if we really need to be concerned about metadata. I found out from the introduction to metadata that it is used “to arrange, describe, track, and otherwise enhance access to information objects and the physical collections related to those objects.”  And, according to Gililand, that it is a term used by “cultural heritage information professionals such as museum registrars, library catalogers, and archival processors”. I supposed that the catalog number on books in the library would be considered metadata. Another example I could find in my everyday life was the terminology for rules in my Latin textbook. We use these terminologies to quickly identify a word and see its grammatical function. It seems that it was no incident that one of the first works of Digital Humanities was on Thomas Aquinas.  Now that I have some idea about metadata, I still did not know why people should really be concerned that their metadata is exploited online. After all, the purpose of the internet is to share information.

I then found  an article about Edward Snowden where he is quoted as saying that “Metadata is extraordinarily intrusive. As an analyst, I would prefer to be looking at metadata than looking at content, because it’s quicker and easier, and it doesn’t lie.”  This quote means that the metadata on the internet is more valuable than its content. Metadata can be “traced” from the content put on the internet. This is why Snowden calls it “intrusive.” I assume that the system that the government use to track metadata is sophisticated enough to trace metadata from all sorts of contents. From Gililand’s article we can understand the practical application of metadata and, it seems, the same application is being applied to people. Should we then care that our metadata is being collected by the government?

Work Cited:

Stilgherrian. “Can Snowden Finally Kill the Harmless Metadata Myth?” ZDNET. 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 14.                http://www.zdnet.com/can-snowden-finally-kill-the-harmless-metadata-myth-7000033717/

Gilliland, Anne J.  “Setting the Stage”. The Getty Research Institute. Introduction to Metadata. Web. 13 Oct. 14                                                             http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/intrometadata/setting.html

Reading “Preservation Matters” by Chon A. Noriega,  immediately brought to mind  James Clifford’s The Predicament of Culture.  Clifford is an art historian and professor at UC Santa Cruz who is known for his discussion of the preservation and presentation of non-Western art.  In the chapter “On Collecting Art and Culture,” he explains how the dominant Western paradigm categorizes and thus archives art for posterity.  According to Clifford, non-Western art is sorted according to the standards of the West: craft and fine art.  This imposition of non-native categorization often separates bodies of  work and fails to preserve the art in a way which honors its original attention.

In reading Noriega’s article, I got stuck on the notion of what creates an accurate archive.  As an archive needs to be collected by a person, or group of people, it will, without a doubt, bear the viewpoint of those who created the archive.  I loved that Noriega included his interactions with the artist, Harry Gamboa Jr, especially the conclusion that  it was impossible for the artist to have an “accurate account of (his) personal history” because he had always been in the process of keeping an archive (5).  Even though it logically seems that the artist should be the objective authority of his own work, it is impossible to deny that the creator every archive holds a bias.

Noriega’s account of building up the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) into an archive which provided real use and value for both the scholarly community and Chicano/a heritage community is what brought me to think of Clifford’s discussion of categorization.  Noriega explains that in order to put information into an archive or resource, that information must be extracted from the community of its origin.  In his position as the director of CSRC, his aim was to not “extract” information, thus removing it from the community, but to create a resource where the material could serve its community in a new way, a constructive rather than destructive force.  This made me think of how Clifford argues that by placing non-Western heritage artworks in a museum setting, they can often loose their original meaning as they are often misinterpreted and can no longer carry out their intended function.  (example: by removing a funeral mask from its indigenous community, one is not only taking away a ceremonial object, but also placing it in a setting for which is was not intended to be interacted with)

While Noriega’s account is more related to creating accessible information, rather than an argument regarding the placement of artifacts, both articles brought up questions for me about how data is sorted.  Improper categorization can result in lost information and searching for information through a lens different from the one used to organize is often a fruitless search. (example: searching by tags or keywords which were not applied to the object in database, though they may be valid descriptions of said object) The construction of the archive is itself, in many ways, the construction of a specific argument.  If anything, Noriega’s article sheds light on the misconception that an archive is inherently whole, rather archives should be viewed as a continual development based on the viewpoint of the collector(s).

The Predicament of Culture on the Harvard Press Website

What I found most interesting about the Haiti article is that something as small-scale as a dissertation could have such an impact on an entire country. When Julia Gaffield set out to write her dissertation about Haiti, I’m sure she didn’t expect to bring hope to all of the people of Haiti. She reminded them that they had already overcome something incredible and had gained their independence, which helped them to believe that they would be able to again rebuild after the devastating earthquake. Mostly I like the article because it illustrates how one person can cause such a massive effect on something else. That it only takes one to create a wave, or ignite a spark or start a revolution. Julia was determined to learn more about Haiti even though the odds were against her and luckily for the entire world, she was that one person that cared enough to make a difference.

Unfortunately, this reminds me of the article I read very recently about the spread of the cholera disease in Haiti. It is a painful reminder that it is still a third world country and although there have been advancements and although the discovery of their Declaration of Independence was crucial during such a hard time for them after the earthquake, Haiti is still in desperate need of help. It was heartbreaking to read that over 8,000 people have died from this disease that was introduced into their country by United Nations peacekeepers.

The article by Julia Gaffield about her dissertation and the archives demonstrates how useful it is to have archives and technology to be able to share such wonderful news. It it truly incredible that something one person found can be so easily shared around the world in order to create a larger impact. Sadly, we are also reminded of the work we still have to do in this world, seeing as countries such as Haiti still don’t have proper health care in the year 2014.

Gaffield, Julia. “Haiti’s Declaration of Independence: Digging for Lost Documents in the Archives of the Atlantic World-Vol. 2, No. 1.” The Appendix Combined. N.p., 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.

Cave, Damien. “Lawsuit Against U.N. on the Spread of Cholera Epidemic in Haiti Advances.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.

I walked into a super market the other day and immediately noticed that the food was divided by type. The vegetables were in one area near the fruit, the dairy had its own refrigerator and the frozen food was kept in two aisles worth of freezers. While most things are hard to classify and even when they are those classifications are arbitrary, it makes sense to classify food because of their differing shelf lives. But even in the simple categorization of food there are some problems and even with “n” amount of categories there are still an infinite amount of categories not included, as mentioned in the McQueen article. A tomato is in the vegetable section but it has seeds like any fruit would, but there was no “vegetables with fruit-like qualities” sign adorning the top of an aisle. Citrus fruit is grouped together but they aren’t arranged by sour-ness. This line of thought is definitely nit-picky and unrealistic but it just shows that there is an infinite number of possible ways to categorize something as simple as food.

The level to which we categorize data and how categorize it effects how our reader interprets said data. When we leave out the infinite amount of categories we are leaving out an infinite amount of interpretations. It’s up to presenters to decide how the data gets organized and what message they want to send. One-dimensional schemes are often the simplest to understand but leave out a lot of information. N-dimensional schemes are the most informative but as n increases the difficulty of categorization increases for the presenter and it is harder for the reader to understand as well. Because categories highlight differences between things the most legible scheme is the simplest one with only two groupings that have clear boundaries, for example: true or false, legal or illegal, 0 or 1. This static grouping is effective when the differences are based in science but become ineffective when analyzing data from the ambiguous humanities realm. Linnaen taxonomy works because it’s based on morphology and DNA but the gender binary is arbitrary because it is based on loose social constructs.

I think this is the central crux of digital humanities. Like the super market, we have to arrange our data so it’s understandable to the reader and can be easily sorted through. But we are presented with a challenge because data from the humanities does not always fit into a nice, neat category. How do we arrange our data and what are we saying with whatever classification scheme we end up using?

Works Cited:  Haliburton, Andrew. Bicycle Needs. 2010. 2010 EVC, Palm Springs. Andrew Haliburton. Web. 13 Oct 2014.

When I came across the term “metadata”, my initial thought was, “That sounds like something complicated.” However, after learning about metadata for this weak’s reading, I realized how important metadata is in today’s society and digital age. To put it simply, metadata is information about other data. Whatever that information is, its function is to describe, explain, locate, and facilitate the retrieval, use or management of resources. Therefore, without metadata, surfing the web and leisurely tasks such as looking up an artist or song title become almost impossible. For today’s post, I wanted to discuss how I encountered metadata when I was looking to buy a used motorcycle on craigslist.

Craigslist.org is a classified advertisement website where people post goods and services for something in return. Over this past weekend, I was looking to buy a used motorcycle so that I can commute from home to school and back without spending too much money on gas, parking, etc. I thought that a motorcycle, although more dangerous, would fit my needs better than a car. I didn’t have that much money to spend so I went on craigslist to find a good deal on a motorcycle. Of course, like any other search engine, one would have to type in the item that he wants into the search engine. Here, metadata is at work for the purposes of discovering new information. In this case, it facilitates the identification of all the different possible sellers of that specific item.  In the reading, this was called “descriptive metadata” which is one of three types of metadata. Descriptive metadata can include elements such as title, abstract, author, and keywords.

Through my endeavors to find a motorcycle on craigslist, I was able to see how metadata made my search experience a lot easier.  Not only was I able to type in the different models of the motorcycle that I wanted but I also was able to narrow down my searches and filter certain descriptions in order to find the perfect item for my individual need. For example, I was able to set a minimum and maximum price rage, click a checkbox for certain parts, and even filter out the posts without pictures. Since the search can get very specific, most sellers implement “metatags” so that their item will appear on various search specific results. I included a picture of what I mean on this post. In the bottom of the seller’s post, the seller would add keywords of popular motorcycle companies, the model, the year, and type even though it wasn’t the motorcycle that they were selling. They did this so that their ad will show up in different searches which results in a larger target audience.