{"id":1571,"date":"2013-08-29T09:14:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T16:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2014-02-01T23:50:24","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T06:50:24","slug":"how-did-they-make-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/how-did-they-make-that\/","title":{"rendered":"How did they make that?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>(Cross-posted on UCLA&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/dhbasecamp.humanities.ucla.edu\/bootcamp\/2013\/08\/28\/how-did-they-make-that\/\">DH Bootcamp blog<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Edit: <a href=\"http:\/\/dla.library.upenn.edu\/dla\/staff\/record.html?id=619\">Dot Porter<\/a> made a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zotero.org\/groups\/howdidtheymakethat\/items\">Zotero collection<\/a> for this post! Thanks, Dot!<\/p>\n<p>Many \u00a0students tell me that in order to get started with digital humanities, they&#8217;d like to have some idea of what they might do and what technical skills they might need in order to do it. Here&#8217;s a set of digital humanities projects that might help you to get a handle on the kinds of tools and technologies available for you to use.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve tried to include a few different types of projects, but it&#8217;s hard to provide a really representative list. If you&#8217;d like to see more digital humanities projects, you can find directories at <a href=\"http:\/\/arts-humanities.net\/project\">art-humanities.net<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/dhcommons.org\/\">DHCommons<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Here, I discuss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#gallery\">a gallery of primary sources<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#edition\">a digital scholarly edition<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#map\">a mapping project<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#network\">a network visualization<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#text\">computer-aided text analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#3d\">a historical 3D model<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#narrative\">a longform, media-rich narrative<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"gallery\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Gallery of Primary Sources: Making the History of 1989<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/1989\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1613 aligncenter\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-04 at 8.38.55 PM\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.38.55-PM-300x229.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.38.55-PM-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.38.55-PM.png 845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">What it is<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A collection of primary sources related to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, accompanied by teaching materials and interpretive essays.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">What you&#8217;d need to know<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/omeka.org\/\">Omeka.org<\/a> (which forms the basis of the site), or you could use <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omeka.net\/\">Omeka.net<\/a> if you aren&#8217;t so picky about the way the site looks and acts<\/li>\n<li>HTML and CSS (optional; to customize the way the site looks)<\/li>\n<li>PHP (optional; to customize certain site functions, like the way items display)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/programminghistorian.org\/lessons\/up-and-running-with-omeka\">Up and Running with Omeka.net<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lynda.com\/HTML-tutorials\/Up-Running-with-HTML\/108128-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a9%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3ahtml+css%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2\">Up and Running with HTML<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lynda.com\/PHP-tutorials\/Introducing-PHP\/123485-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a0%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aphp%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2\">Introducing PHP<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"edition\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Digital Scholarly Edition: The Willa Cather Archive<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cather.unl.edu\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1614\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-04 at 8.41.10 PM\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.41.10-PM-300x177.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.41.10-PM-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.41.10-PM-1024x606.png 1024w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.41.10-PM.png 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>What it is<\/h3>\n<p>A carefully edited digital archive of the writings of Willa Cather, along with extensive scholarly essays, analysis, and multimedia galleries.<\/p>\n<h3>What you&#8217;d need to know<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tei-c.org\/index.xml\">TEI<\/a> (the markup language designed for scholarly editing)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/XSLT\">XSLT<\/a> or an\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.teibyexample.org\/docs\/software.htm?target=Publication\">XML publication system<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teibyexample.org\/\">TEI by Example<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"map\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Mapping Project: The Negro Travelers&#8217; Green Book<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/library.sc.edu\/digital\/collections\/greenbookmap.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1616\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-04 at 8.42.35 PM\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.42.35-PM-300x186.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.42.35-PM-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.42.35-PM.png 983w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>What it is<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A searchable map of the addresses contained in the 1956 <em>Negro Travelers&#8217; Green Book<\/em>, which the user can filter by state or establishment type.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 1.142857143rem; line-height: 1.846153846;\">What you&#8217;d need to know<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/drive\/apps.html#fusiontables\">Google Fusion Tables<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/\">Google Maps<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/JavaScript\">JavaScript<\/a> (to get the map to display properly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Alternatives<\/h3>\n<p>There are almost too many mapping technologies to list, but some popular tools include <a href=\"http:\/\/neatline.org\/\">Neatline<\/a> (which you&#8217;d use together with Omeka), <a href=\"http:\/\/geocommons.com\/\">GeoCommons<\/a> (a relatively simple mapping application), and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/software\/arcgis\">ArcGIS<\/a> (used for complex or large-scale mapping projects). If you&#8217;re serious about learning to build dynamic web-based maps, you&#8217;d be wise to learn the client-side language <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/JavaScript\">JavaScript<\/a> (to control the way things show up on browsers), a server-side language like\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/PHP\">PHP<\/a> (to interact with data), and the database language <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SQL\">SQL<\/a>\u00a0(to manage your geospatial data). <a href=\"http:\/\/dirt.projectbamboo.org\/categories\/mapping\">More mapping tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Learn how to <a href=\"http:\/\/spatial.scholarslab.org\/cleaning-wikileaks-data-for-use-in-google-mapping-applications-part-1-of-2\/\">clean<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/spatial.scholarslab.org\/mapping-wikileaks-afghan-war-diary-data-using-google-fusion-tables-part-2-of-2\/\">map<\/a>\u00a0data using Google Maps and Google Fusion Tables<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"network\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Network Visualization: A Co-Citation Network for Philosophy<\/h2>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/kieranhealy.org\/blog\/archives\/2013\/06\/18\/a-co-citation-network-for-philosophy\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1617\" alt=\"philcites-static\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/philcites-static-300x295.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/philcites-static-300x295.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/philcites-static-1024x1010.png 1024w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/philcites-static.png 1628w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3>What it is<\/h3>\n<p>A visualization of the authors referenced together in a corpus of philosophy journals.<\/p>\n<h3>What you&#8217;d need to know<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/d3js.org\/\">D3.js<\/a>, a JavaScript library for producing visualizations on the web.<\/li>\n<li>The programming language <a href=\"http:\/\/www.python.org\/\">Python<\/a>, for manipulating your data.<\/li>\n<li>A dataset. This one came from the <a href=\"http:\/\/thomsonreuters.com\/web-of-science\/\">Web of Science<\/a>, which allows you to download citation data for academic articles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Alternatives<\/h3>\n<p>You can make network visualizations without (necessarily) coding by using the web-based <a href=\"http:\/\/www-958.ibm.com\/software\/data\/cognos\/manyeyes\/\">ManyEyes<\/a> or the free <a href=\"https:\/\/gephi.org\/\">Gephi<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cytoscape.org\/\">Cytoscape<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/dirt.projectbamboo.org\/categories\/visualization?field_platform_value=All&amp;field_cost_value=All&amp;term_node_tid_depth=All&amp;sort_by=title&amp;sort_order=ASC\">Other tools for data visualization<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/?p=909\">Use Cytoscape to make a simple network visualization<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/programminghistorian.org\/languages\">Learn to use Python<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scottbot.net\/HIAL\/?p=6279\">Demystifying networks\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"text\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Computer-Aided Text Analysis: Topic Modeling Martha Ballard&#8217;s Diary<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/historying.org\/2010\/04\/01\/topic-modeling-martha-ballards-diary\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1618\" alt=\"coldweatherbymonth\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/coldweatherbymonth-300x204.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/coldweatherbymonth-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/coldweatherbymonth.png 625w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>What it is<\/h3>\n<p>An analysis of a historical document that uses a statistical method called topic modeling to group together the &#8220;topics&#8221; found in a large set of texts.<\/p>\n<h3>What you&#8217;d need to know<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mallet.cs.umass.edu\/index.php\">MALLET<\/a>, a Java-based software package for text analysis (including topic modeling)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/R_(programming_language)\">R<\/a>, a programming language for statistical analysis and graphics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Alternatives<\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/code.google.com\/p\/topic-modeling-tool\/\">Topic Modeling Tool <\/a>provides a simpler-to-use graphical user interface for topic modeling, as does <a href=\"http:\/\/metalab.harvard.edu\/2012\/07\/paper-machines\/\">Paper Machines<\/a> (which produces topic models from your Zotero library). But topic modeling is just one kind of textual analysis. Find a rundown of different kinds of text analysis <a href=\"http:\/\/toolingup.stanford.edu\/?page_id=981\">here<\/a>. Often, people who are new to text analysis enjoy starting with the web-based <a href=\"http:\/\/voyant-tools.org\/\">Voyant Tools<\/a>. I also like the <a href=\"http:\/\/wheatoncollege.edu\/lexomics\/tools\/\">Lexos<\/a> suite.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dirt.projectbamboo.org\/categories\/text-mining\">More tools for text analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/?p=1335\">Very basic strategies for interpreting results from the Topic Modeling Tool<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/journalofdigitalhumanities.org\/2-1\/dh-contribution-to-topic-modeling\/\">Special issue of the\u00a0<em>Journal of Digital Humanities<\/em> on topic modeling<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"3d\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Historical 3D Model: Digital Magnesia<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/sound-and-space.net\/post\/31799513082\/magnesia\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1619\" alt=\"tumblr_majyquyyAN1rtd5e2\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/tumblr_majyquyyAN1rtd5e2-300x153.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/tumblr_majyquyyAN1rtd5e2-300x153.jpg 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/tumblr_majyquyyAN1rtd5e2.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3>What it is<\/h3>\n<p>A painstakingly researched re-creation of the Hellenistic city of Magnesia.<\/p>\n<h3>What you&#8217;d need to know<\/h3>\n<p>This particular model is created using the procedural modeler\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/software\/cityengine\">CityEngine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Alternatives<\/h3>\n<p>The easiest way to create 3D models is probably with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sketchup.com\/\">SketchUp<\/a>. Serious 3D modelers often use <a href=\"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/autodesk-maya\/overview\">Maya<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rhino3d.com\/\">Rhino<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifehacker.com.au\/2012\/07\/intro-to-3d-modelling-lesson-1-getting-to-know-your-software\/\">Intro to 3D modeling<\/a><br \/>\n<a name=\"narrative\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>A Longform, Media-Rich Narrative: The Nicest Kids in Town<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/scalar.usc.edu\/nehvectors\/nicest-kids\/index\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1620\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2014-01-04 at 8.47.23 PM\" src=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.47.23-PM-300x220.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.47.23-PM-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-8.47.23-PM.png 968w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>What it is<\/h3>\n<p>An essay, accompanied by photographs, video, and sound, that can be reconfigured by the viewer to be read in multiple ways.<\/p>\n<h3>What you&#8217;d have to know<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scalar.usc.edu\/\">Scalar<\/a>, a multimedia authoring platform<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cascading_Style_Sheets\">CSS<\/a> (optional, to add custom styling to Scalar)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Get started<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scalar.usc.edu\/webinars\/past-webinars\/\">Scalar webinars<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>August 30: Post edited to reflect that you don&#8217;t need Python to download Web of Science data. Thanks for the correction, Scott Weingart!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Cross-posted on UCLA&#8217;s DH Bootcamp blog) Edit: Dot Porter made a Zotero collection for this post! Thanks, Dot! Many \u00a0students tell me that in order to get started with digital humanities, they&#8217;d like to have some idea of what they might do and what technical skills they might need in order to do it. Here&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[289,287,286,234,288,290,265,266],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-humanities","tag-3d-computer-graphics","tag-3d-computer-graphics-software","tag-cytoscape","tag-digital-humanities-2","tag-geographic-information-system","tag-getting-started","tag-topic-model","tag-topic-modeling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1660,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miriamposner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}