 |
| The MSMC Digital Humanities Team, Summer 2013: Back Row: Dee Bakker, Lauren Lees, and Dr. Jennifer Tran Smith. Front Row: Lynnel Bryson-Davis, Rosemary Irvine, Lauren Buisson (teaching assistant), Veronica Guardado, Breanna Bello, Elizabeth Goumas (teaching assistant), and Jessica Record. . |
The Humanities Graduate Summer Session has come to an end. We will officially launch our digital project this Sunday, August 18, 2013, 5-7 p.m., in the Donohue Conference Center, located on the Doheny Campus at Mount St. Mary’s College. (No. 15 on the map)
It has been a wonderful adventure working alongside Dr. Jennifer Tran Smith, her two teaching assistants, and my fellow students. All of us in HUM 249E, Digital Humanities: Finding, Manipulating and Creating Electronic Texts, were deeply involved in this, our project. Each student put in 100% effort toward the design and implementation of a digital resource for the western novel Whispering Smith by Frank H. Spearman.
Dr. Smith conceived of this ambitious project, one that had never been tried before at the Mount. She organized the work around specific job functions which we all were responsible for “owning.” The end result is a truly collaborative realization.
There are really too many parts to capture in a blog but, for example, I worked on the archival portion; Lauren Lees designed the website, and Dee Baker employed her professional editing expertise to ensure quality control.
What makes this project so unique and fulfilling, however, is that each student will retain copyright ownership of the work they contributed to the site. This sense of genuine ownership, and ultimately, responsibility, drove us all to excel in our individual roles. Our project is the sum of all our participation. I can’t tell you how much fun I had with such a dynamic group of women on this exciting adventure!
We invite the Mount community to come and support the students’ work. I guarantee you will be amazed by what we’ve been able to accomplish in so brief a period of time.
All Whispering Smith Team members will be on hand at computer stations to discuss both how the project developed and to demonstrate how to navigate the website.
Come join us! Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP at frankhspearman@gmail.com.
Archivist's note: We have been privileged to take part in this exciting project in the College Archives during the Summer Session. This is the third and final guest blog by Breanna Bello, the team's social media manager, with contributions from Teaching Assistant Lauren Buisson. The Mount Archives are open daily and by appointment for qualified researchers and all members of the Mount community.