Slight repositioning and more background

I probably should state some details of the final class assignment here, so that the blog content makes more sense. We are to consider "best practices" of utilizing new technologies for disseminating, researching, displaying, etc. historical concepts through a proposal or mock-up of a digital history project. My plan is to show how, by using digital history concepts and techniques, one can build a digital educational component around archival materials, in this case letters from a Civil War soldier.

I've been helping on a project engaging college students with the University Special Collections -- they gain exposure to primary sources by transcribing a collection of letters in the collection that were written by Keene, N.H. Civil War soldier John Henry Jenks mostly to his wife. Once transcribed, the transcriptions are reviewed by a graduate student and collected in a shared electronic folder from which I retrieve them. My role has been to create metadata for the records, using standards and best practices, so that they can become discoverable in their final format. At the same time, the original letters are digitized so that they will be published online, along with the metadata I've created for them.

As I read these letters chronologically, I found myself becoming interested in this soldier's story, and followed his geographical journey with interest. This gave me the idea of building a fuller educational component around this project that could be used in many similar projects. The geographical movement lends itself to mapping, the chronology offers a chance to work with timelines, and the letters themselves allow for doing some word visualizations. The subject could be broadened to the whole military unit, allowing for inclusion of more letters and possibly photos or other digital representations. I can imagine using this with modifications for all levels of school, or for a public history website, especially since it's of particular interest to those in or from the Keene, N.H. area.

Lots to think about!