15 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2022
    1. Our group opted for Voyant because it is an easy to use visualization tool that presents data in a variety of clear and concise ways.

      I found the research statement of this collaborative effort a compelling one for a multitude of reasons, but especially because of the emerging news on the Supreme Court's latest ruling on the abortion rights of women and because of my stance as a female students. I'm delighted that Voyant is utilized as a part to help with the analysis of the press from studied educational institutions on the reproductive rights throughout the timeline. Totally agree that this tool is one of the easiest ways that provide both insightful and exciting information on the data that it is given. I very much enjoy looking at different visualizations and getting the picture of what the findings are regarding this social aspect. Thank you so much for all the hard work!

    1. This was really useful to me as it helped me identify emerging themes and group terms together to see how those themes were being discussed.

      I'm certainly keen on getting more information on the process of this project as well as the methods employed. As an avid fan of Voyant who tends to use this analysis tool in all of my digital humanities project, I totally resonate with the fact that Voyant helps us in saving a tremendous amount of time figuring the core of the problem that we need to get to and also shaping a narrative for us to gain a more in-depth perception and understanding of the topic. I'm glad that this tool has time and time again brought another final project to its completion safe and sound. Really great project on gender issues with great documentation of the mediums used throughout the project!

  2. Jul 2022
    1. We are interested in environmental justice at the individual, community, and local and federal government levels.

      I would love to see the final outcome of your team since mapping is one of the best visual tactics to showcase a research, especially when the research is conducted with a view to improving governmental policy. Environmental justice is an inclusive topic, so I reckon that it would provide you with access to abundant sources. I also believe that the questions that you make in studying the individual and a community are also very thoughtful and would yield high-impact results.

    1. What were (or still are) the relative attitudes towards issues related to gender at our respective institutions? What did the students at our respective institutions think about the gender issues of their day? We take particular focus on trans, queer, and women’s issues where they arise.

      Viewing group 2's project pitch, I believe that this group and my group (group 1) share a similar research question with some distinct variations. In group 1, we plan to go through the digital collections as well as publications from institutions that our members attend to find out about the students' attitude towards women during different gender discrimination eras. Meanwhile, this group covers a broader range of research in the study of genders. I am impressed with the meticulous explanation of the timeline that this group narrows down and also with the media that the group bases on for their sources of research. I hope that the research will be a success and I can learn new, interesting aspect of group 2's research to apply on my group's future research.

    1. Adversely, the Topics feature did not seem super helpful which was surprising because I initially thought that this feature would be helpful, but it just did not seem super relevant or accurate. Maybe this is because as a work of literature, the themes of the play are much more symbolic and figurative than the literal words that the play uses. Perhaps this function would work better for text that is more nonfiction based, or at least more literal. 

      I read your Voyant analysis of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House," and I think we almost pick the same tools that we believe to be crucial for our text analysis. Like you, I mostly visualize my chosen literary work with Cirrus, Terms, Berry, and Trends. I also use links to ?look into how these words are used interdependently to contextualize the story told. I also had difficulty understanding how functions like Topics would benefit my understanding of the texts on a layered and complex level. I checked and thought maybe the problem was with the word count of the document. By default setting, Topics generates the first 1000 words in a document, and A Doll's House has 26210 words. In order to use this tool in the most efficient way possible, you can try to use the Topics slider ( the scroll bar) to adjust the number of topics you want to generate (max is 200). I have read A Doll's House before, so I couldn't speak for those who haven't. However, the clusters of chosen terms hint to me that this fiction deals with bureaucracy and finance via repeated words like "works," "money," and "paper." I can also recognize some words classified as names, so many characters are involved in the story. There is also a vague clue of the story's setting, which is during the winter season, from the repetition of the word "Christmas." It appears that someone is getting angry at someone for their wrongdoings, and this drama occurs in a family. While Topics cannot give me a complete storyline, it gives me a good chunk of puzzles to piece together the core gist of the story. It happened to me when I analyzed Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Words like "whale," "sea," "sailor," and "chase" allowed me to make a reasonable assumption that there was a group of sailors that went after a giant whale in the sea. I still prefer to use other tools, but that was how I utilized Topics for my knowledge of the text. I agree that text with more literal content, like self-help books, would definitely yield better results with Voyant Tools' Topics.

  3. Jun 2022
    1. Lastly, said datasheet should outline some ethical considerations of the data.

      I think this question speaks to one of the essential aspects of the data. In my interaction with the datasheet, I mostly focused on the absence of the data, but I think I have missed out on this key puzzle piece to the big picture of why the data is not there. I assumed what was responsible for the non-existence of the information without pondering on possible answers to this one key question. It is indeed crucial to look into the current condition of the item or/and collections including the item. If the artwork is not as much preserved as others, it can mean that more efforts need to be done to save it from lacking more data in the future.

    1. Another important distinction is between data and metadata. Here, the term “data” refers to the part of a file or dataset which contains the actual representation of an object of inquiry, while the term “metadata” refers to data about that data: metadata explicitly describes selected aspects of a dataset, such as the time of its creation, or the way it was collected, or what entity external to the dataset it is supposed to represent.

      This part is notably helpful for the understanding of differences that separate "metadata" from "data". I was writing a blog post for my weekly assignment. Knowing that data is the representation of the object and metadata describes information the data helps build the definition of the terms in my schema of knowledge. In many cases, metadata even provides resources that either give insights to how the data is collected or/and introduces possible perspectives as to how the data can be seen/utilized in the future. Data can survive without metadata, but metadata won't exist without the data. However, the data that lacks metadata may stay uncracked and ciphered, leading to the data potentially becoming useless in the fundamental and economic growth of human beings.

    1. 80% of data analysis is spent on the process of cleaning and preparing the data

      Imagine having unnecessary and wrong data in your document, you would most likely have to experience the concept of time demarcation -- the reluctance in going through every single row and column to eliminate these "garbage data". Clearly, owning all kinds of data without organizing them feels like stuffing your closet with clothes that you should have donated 5 years ago. It is a time-consuming and soul-destroying process for us. Luckily, in R, we have something in R called "tidyverse" package, which I believe the author talks about in the next paragraph, to make life easier for everyone. I personally use dplyr and ggplot2 when I deal with data cleaning, and they are extremely helpful. WIthout these packages' existence, I have no idea when I will be able to reach the final step of data visualization.

    1. Thus flexibility is an important virtue in computer-assisted textual analysis, and testing a project on a subset of texts or methods can avoid wasted effort.

      Flexibility has almost become a sought-after characteristics of any projects ever conducted in this world, let alone those that belong to the school of humanities. Any individual or group entering a long-term project should be aware that predicting the outcome of the project is never a part of their project. It's impossible to identify and avoid surprise factors on a long road, but it's definitely possible to have an open mindset that's ready fpr any difficulty coming along the way and for brainstorming solutions that resolve this "shock". In many cases, these unexpected variables are what that renders the project memorable and special and sustainable and valid and reliable. In many cases, changing the initial direction of the project when faced with these unforeseen elements are for the better and produce even better results. Testing out different methods on textual analysis is a particularly great advice for those who are bound to carry a project in the coming future.

    1. While the brief explanation provides information about the social context, more information about the creator and their intention would help understand more about the background of the object and its significance personally to the creator.

      I second this statement. Description that sheds light on the personal relationship between the object and the creator creates an exclusive value to the object. Uncle Tom's Cabin Vase surely is not the only masterpieace created during the anti-slavery movements, so what makes it stand out can only boil down to the specific situation that inspired the creator to give birth to the it.

    1. inclusion of metadata such as MIME types, file sizes, and a permalink would be great for the digital age

      This suggestion is such a great idea that comes from a careful observation. I cannot agree more with what you've experienced visiting these object pages. What they do is provide a framework with an abundance of data categorization; however, the data they input is not enough for a deeper analysis. An example of this is the first one that I visited, David and Deborah Gavrin Frangquist, recording from Carleton College Archives. They have 5 recordings embedded on the page, yet the description of these recordings are fairly basic. You are required to contact the Carleton Archives' administration to get further information: People are usually more excited about learning as much detailed knowledge as possible on their own, especially researchers, and having to contact a third party can be quite reluctant and time-consuming. In this way, the objects presented are likely to be neglected and objects with more meticulous interpretations can easily replace. Thanks for including a permalink to MIME types. Your suggestion really adds significant value to these pages, making them increasingly self-sufficient and attractive to people who are interested in conducting research about them. It definitely helps explain the concept of your solution well to a viewer like me, who did not know about the existence of this string and its amazing function.

    1. The major issue with much of the data that can be downloaded from web portals or through APIs is that they come without context or metadata. If you are lucky you might get a paragraph about where the data are from or a data dictionary that describes what each column in a particular spreadsheet means. But more often than not, you get something that looks like figure 6.3.

      I think that the reason behind data's lack of context is the reluctance in making extra column for data's description and the inconsiderate and misleading vision that those in technologies hold when they put forth that data should be clean and concise.

      I encountered the insufficient provision of data multiple times and I found it extremely inconvenient when trying to use downloaded online reports and attached them to my work experiences as a way to illustrate the efficient changes in driving audiences for a social media platform (Facebook). I used to help run an facebook page for a student organization. After being done with the role, I went to the "Insights" section of Facebook, hoping to download the report of increases in Page Likes, Visits, and Interactions during the period that I was an admin of the page. It took me several glitches to download the report (because it was a year-long term). When the pdf file was ready to be viewed, I was surprised, because they did not mention the years I was working, the name of the student organization, and other categorizations that should have been highlighted. Apparently, it's not hard to include the years or even the name because they were included in the filter when I wanted to extract certain part of the report and because it was the source where they took the data from, respectively. This laziness in showing competent data for analysis was desperate, and I had to add extra analysis to it. Even after I finished with the "extra work", I started to question to validity of the report I was downloading. Would it be trustworthy anymore, because without my clarification, no analysis could be made even by a person involved in data science field. Even if they could, it would take them a while to collect other external information before making clear of the data presented to them.

      Understanding and constantly being bothered by this ongoing problem gives me justification to call for a more thorough data translation and presentation process. More questions should be raised and answered regarding what might a user wonder about this dataset when encountering it.

    1. “How might we, both individually and as a society, creatively generate new visions of what it means to grow old?”

      I agree with Minha's assessment of the project. Her research question is phrased perfectly for the overall topic of these combined videos. I can't stop, and I think I won't stop thinking about what it truly means for me to age. Each voice represents a background that provides a resource for both the voice owner and the audience to answer this question. Aging for me means being more cautious with words and actions. I consciously do this because I see everyone around me go through this process and talk about it. Aging for me means looking at my grandparents and and thinking what I will do and what I will look like when I reach their age. I thought about this question a few times when I was much younger, then there was a long period of me not worrying about it at all, and in college, the question came back to me at higher rate of frequencies. I often ask myself if my future kids/grandkids (if I ever have them) would care about me and life after death was something that seems to be in my head for the longest time. Aging for me means carrying new responsibilities. I know that there are things that was acceptable when I was one year younger and became inapplicable for me the year after, and vice versa. "What it means to age?" is repeatedly asked throughout the video, motivating us to give it a try and craft our own response. This research question has well summarized for the bigger and better understanding of the purpose that these 'storytellers' and collaborators embed in this project. Same with taylortots, I may revisit this project from time to time with newer perspectives about the definition of growing old. Thank you for the insightful post!

    1. “What Is Digital Humanities?” But then I thought “What Is the Digital Humanities?” sounded better, and I stared at the screen for a minute trying to decide if it should be “What Are the Digital Humanities?”

      The minor variations in titles that the author considered have sparked a flow of thoughts in me. I re-read and re-evaluated the lines a number of times to figure out why I was also captivated by such minor adjustments -- whether or not to include the article the. I feel that Digital Humanities without the would be another general subject covering several items within it. But like, nothing is specific about it. But with the article the, the distinction occurs. Now, the Digital Humanities feels very specific. It sounds like it is a department itself, just not as inclusive as Digital Humanities in the first case, but it is something that can be considered a particular segment, a particular academic concentration. There are no wrong cases, and I'm very pumped about the author's choice in the end. It's meaningful to think about this naming process and have follow-up questions about this decision's influence on the contents discussed in the lunchtime talk. It doesn't seem like a big deal for many, but the title helps guide the direction that the author guides her audience in understanding the field that she's been working hard on.

    1. In fact, according to historian of sex and gender Thomas Laqueur, most people believed that women were just inferior men, with penises located inside instead of outside of their bodies and that—for reals!—could descend at any time in life.

      If there is an argument that lets women know that they are created equal, seeing them as men with "penises located inside" -- a similar yet reverse characteristic and functionality -- is not a perspective that should be encouraged.

      I read a [Psychology Today article] (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-red-light-district/201105/female-misrepresentations) written ten years ago by Naveed Saleh. The report lists seven misperceptions about the vagina in a 2001 UK study titled "Socio-cultural representations of the vagina" by Braun and Wilkinson. It's disillusioning to know such points were made and widespread about the vagina. Why should the vagina be inferior to the penis on the basis that the penis penetrates it? Indeed, something must hold still like a bowl for the other to figure out which ingredients to put in the bowl. All for the best cake they can bake. Such natural and sacred collaboration was seen as a process of a vagina submitting to a penis. It was a statement by men controlling women and manipulating the gender hierarchy for themselves.

      Coming back to the statement, this first appeared to me like a chill unawareness that women and men were not categorized and that women were seen as "different kinds of men." Nevertheless, it started to feel unsuitable as to why I should feel delighted and validateed because women were compared to men?