Comments for Cuvaughn's Weblog http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com Just another WordPress.com weblog Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:05:03 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Update from 11/17 Presentation by annalise44 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/update-from-1117-presentation/#comment-27 annalise44 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:05:03 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=53#comment-27 I agree with Andrea, Curtis, in that the search function is probably not what you want to emphasize, but the contributions of the public are definitely your primary objective. I think her idea of a "featured contribution" is a good way to show users right on your homepage what you're after and why. Perhaps you could tie in some 19th-century perceptions of the people you're studying? This may give you a bit more text but it may open up some of the image options you're looking for, too. It's tough to come up with antebellum stuff, tho, but I'll keep my eyes open for ya. I agree with Andrea, Curtis, in that the search function is probably not what you want to emphasize, but the contributions of the public are definitely your primary objective. I think her idea of a “featured contribution” is a good way to show users right on your homepage what you’re after and why.

Perhaps you could tie in some 19th-century perceptions of the people you’re studying? This may give you a bit more text but it may open up some of the image options you’re looking for, too. It’s tough to come up with antebellum stuff, tho, but I’ll keep my eyes open for ya.

]]> Comment on Update from 11/17 Presentation by Andrea http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/update-from-1117-presentation/#comment-26 Andrea Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:18:48 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=53#comment-26 I definitely agree that collaboration is the strength of your site. With the added confusion of the google search and your appropriate attention to other uses, I feel it is important to emphasize you desire for contributions in your design. You might do this with a featured contribution or updates on the progress of your project on the home page. I know this was already discussed in class, but images do not have to be directly related to content. For example, if you were discussing marriage in some way you could have an image of lace, a wedding cake, a china pattern or a wedding ring. Like Professor Cohen suggested there are many examples of material culture during you time period that you might use. They don't have to have been actually used by your subjects, but could merely suggest a visual representation of one of you themes. Blurring objects or making them transparent can have the effect of making images seem more like suggestions or representations than actual artifacts. I definitely agree that collaboration is the strength of your site. With the added confusion of the google search and your appropriate attention to other uses, I feel it is important to emphasize you desire for contributions in your design. You might do this with a featured contribution or updates on the progress of your project on the home page.

I know this was already discussed in class, but images do not have to be directly related to content. For example, if you were discussing marriage in some way you could have an image of lace, a wedding cake, a china pattern or a wedding ring. Like Professor Cohen suggested there are many examples of material culture during you time period that you might use. They don’t have to have been actually used by your subjects, but could merely suggest a visual representation of one of you themes. Blurring objects or making them transparent can have the effect of making images seem more like suggestions or representations than actual artifacts.

]]> Comment on Update from 11/17 Presentation by Curtis Vaughn http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/update-from-1117-presentation/#comment-25 Curtis Vaughn Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:45:31 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=53#comment-25 Thanks for your input. I agree that the pages need to be cleaner looking. My ability with power point is only a little better than my drawing ability which was the other alternative for me. Obviously most people are well ahead of me in the ability to use technology, but making a nice looking web site is not one of the things I expect to have etched in my tombstone as a life accomplishment. Curtis Thanks for your input. I agree that the pages need to be cleaner looking. My ability with power point is only a little better than my drawing ability which was the other alternative for me. Obviously most people are well ahead of me in the ability to use technology, but making a nice looking web site is not one of the things I expect to have etched in my tombstone as a life accomplishment.

Curtis

]]> Comment on Update from 11/17 Presentation by smdeane http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/update-from-1117-presentation/#comment-24 smdeane Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:36:02 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=53#comment-24 I am finally getting to post my comment from last week's presentations. Again, I don't want to be "nit-picky" but I do think that taking some time to line up the links with the verbiage will help improve the overall layout design. Believe me, I certainly understand your lack of patience when it comes to drawing with PowerPoint. Based on your blog entry, it sounds like you have benefited from the comments in class. I think you are on the right track with "muted colors" and "more appropriate photos." I think your site will fill a gap that exists in the study of Free Persons of Color in Antebellum Virginia, and contribute significantly to the history field. I am finally getting to post my comment from last week’s presentations. Again, I don’t want to be “nit-picky” but I do think that taking some time to line up the links with the verbiage will help improve the overall layout design. Believe me, I certainly understand your lack of patience when it comes to drawing with PowerPoint.

Based on your blog entry, it sounds like you have benefited from the comments in class. I think you are on the right track with “muted colors” and “more appropriate photos.” I think your site will fill a gap that exists in the study of Free Persons of Color in Antebellum Virginia, and contribute significantly to the history field.

]]> Comment on Web Pages by Curtis Vaughn http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/web-pages/#comment-23 Curtis Vaughn Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:11:54 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=43#comment-23 Holly, Thanks for your input. I am not offended by anything you said. I tried to do the mock-up in power point. Between my limitations and the limitations of power point, I realize that it does not look very good. I certainly cannot argue about colors, because I have no feeling for that at all. To me the real issue is the comment about the site being text heavy. My concept of the site is have a reader contemplate issues of family for free persons of color given the legal environment in Virginia in the antebellum era. Professor Cohen asked me to find more objects. I went on a search, but I have not found much. I want everyone to remember that free persons of color were the lowest rung of society of free people. Their footprint is hard to find, and when found, it is usually through the voice of whites. That is better than nothing, but I want to find people who may know stories of any kind that may give some more voice to these people who left little historical evidence of their existence other than through County Court House records. While searching for web pages, I found a site a black individual had posted that discussed her distant ancestor who was also the father of James Madison. I see that tidbit of information as a start of a story. That is the kind of information I want on this site. On the other hand, I have tried to conceive of demographic information about free blacks that would be a part of an interactive map that would give census data about the population of free persons of color by county. The information is interesting, but not really useful to the site. I am just trying to satisfy those who believe a web site has to be all visual. The same is true of the pictures. The portrait on the home page is the wife of the first president of Liberia. She was from Virginia. It is a nice portrait, but it does not really help the purpose of the site. Certainly, the portrait of Luther Jackson is irrelevant other than he wrote about free persons of color. Once again, thanks for your thoughtfulness in your comments. Curtis Holly,

Thanks for your input. I am not offended by anything you said. I tried to do the mock-up in power point. Between my limitations and the limitations of power point, I realize that it does not look very good. I certainly cannot argue about colors, because I have no feeling for that at all.

To me the real issue is the comment about the site being text heavy. My concept of the site is have a reader contemplate issues of family for free persons of color given the legal environment in Virginia in the antebellum era. Professor Cohen asked me to find more objects. I went on a search, but I have not found much. I want everyone to remember that free persons of color were the lowest rung of society of free people. Their footprint is hard to find, and when found, it is usually through the voice of whites. That is better than nothing, but I want to find people who may know stories of any kind that may give some more voice to these people who left little historical evidence of their existence other than through County Court House records.

While searching for web pages, I found a site a black individual had posted that discussed her distant ancestor who was also the father of James Madison. I see that tidbit of information as a start of a story. That is the kind of information I want on this site.

On the other hand, I have tried to conceive of demographic information about free blacks that would be a part of an interactive map that would give census data about the population of free persons of color by county. The information is interesting, but not really useful to the site. I am just trying to satisfy those who believe a web site has to be all visual. The same is true of the pictures. The portrait on the home page is the wife of the first president of Liberia. She was from Virginia. It is a nice portrait, but it does not really help the purpose of the site. Certainly, the portrait of Luther Jackson is irrelevant other than he wrote about free persons of color.

Once again, thanks for your thoughtfulness in your comments.

Curtis

]]> Comment on Web Pages by hmoir http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/web-pages/#comment-22 hmoir Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:25:04 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=43#comment-22 Hi Curtis, I want to preface my comments by saying I am just trying to help and please don't be offended; I really don't like having to offer changes to other people's work, particularly with the artisitc aspects as those are completely subjective, however the prof has asked us to comment, so I'll give you my thoughts, for what they are worth... I liked your use of PowerPoint and the way you limited yourself to a certain color palette and made interior pages look similar to the homepage via the use of repeated elements such as the pale blue text box. However, I found it distracting that the boxes and the text inside are not the exact same size on every interior page, but this is easy enough to fix. I liked your use of images and I wish that you had used more--perhaps this is a time issue and when you have more time you will incorporate more images, including images of free persons of color. I know such images are hard to come by, but as that is the name of your site, I think it would benefit immeasurably. I really hope you aren't encountering copyright problems, as it seems like building a website is hard enough without those types of impediments. Also, I feel that the site is perhaps too text-heavy, unless you want to specify on the homepage that this site is for grad students and college and university faculty. Unless you are aiming for this specialized audience, then I think you have too much text. Not that I am underestimating the masses, just that there are certain expectations we bring to the digital realm, and visitors do not expect to encounter long blocks of text. Perhaps these blocks can be split up into smaller sections, then each carted off to its own interior page. Perhaps the text could also be in a larger font and/or a more interesting, historical-looking font. Lastly, while I admire your goal to create a logo and I think this adds unity to the site, I think that the logo needs some work--I'm sure you had only put this one up as a prototype, as I'm not sure how much time people have had to work on such small details of their mock-ups yet. Anyway, I think the logo is too small and the wavy effect seems ahistorical. I would try for a logo in which all the letters are the same size or a very similar size. I would also make the logo much bigger, more prominent, and change the color choice to something more historical-looking, perhaps shades of beige and grey that look like the pages of an old newspaper or the like. If possible, I might include a daguerrotype (or whichever technology was used back then) or at the least a silouette that inlcudes the bust portrait of one woman and one man to give a sense that this site is about real people who lived in Virginia not that long ago, not about dry historical facts--studies alwasy show that humans are drawn to photos and other images of humans, particularly faces, so to include 2 representative portraits will make history come alive to the visitor and also will visually draw the eye to your homepage. Then, you could overlay the FPC logo over the 2 portraits, or perhaps under them, and use this text-and-image combination as the logo on all the pages throughout your site. I am going to sketch out for you what I mean by this, as I'm not sure I'm explaining it very well; I will have images for you in class on Monday. Again, these are just suggestions, and please don't be offended by any of my comments! :) Holly Hi Curtis,
I want to preface my comments by saying I am just trying to help and please don’t be offended; I really don’t like having to offer changes to other people’s work, particularly with the artisitc aspects as those are completely subjective, however the prof has asked us to comment, so I’ll give you my thoughts, for what they are worth…
I liked your use of PowerPoint and the way you limited yourself to a certain color palette and made interior pages look similar to the homepage via the use of repeated elements such as the pale blue text box. However, I found it distracting that the boxes and the text inside are not the exact same size on every interior page, but this is easy enough to fix. I liked your use of images and I wish that you had used more–perhaps this is a time issue and when you have more time you will incorporate more images, including images of free persons of color. I know such images are hard to come by, but as that is the name of your site, I think it would benefit immeasurably. I really hope you aren’t encountering copyright problems, as it seems like building a website is hard enough without those types of impediments. Also, I feel that the site is perhaps too text-heavy, unless you want to specify on the homepage that this site is for grad students and college and university faculty. Unless you are aiming for this specialized audience, then I think you have too much text. Not that I am underestimating the masses, just that there are certain expectations we bring to the digital realm, and visitors do not expect to encounter long blocks of text. Perhaps these blocks can be split up into smaller sections, then each carted off to its own interior page. Perhaps the text could also be in a larger font and/or a more interesting, historical-looking font. Lastly, while I admire your goal to create a logo and I think this adds unity to the site, I think that the logo needs some work–I’m sure you had only put this one up as a prototype, as I’m not sure how much time people have had to work on such small details of their mock-ups yet. Anyway, I think the logo is too small and the wavy effect seems ahistorical. I would try for a logo in which all the letters are the same size or a very similar size. I would also make the logo much bigger, more prominent, and change the color choice to something more historical-looking, perhaps shades of beige and grey that look like the pages of an old newspaper or the like. If possible, I might include a daguerrotype (or whichever technology was used back then) or at the least a silouette that inlcudes the bust portrait of one woman and one man to give a sense that this site is about real people who lived in Virginia not that long ago, not about dry historical facts–studies alwasy show that humans are drawn to photos and other images of humans, particularly faces, so to include 2 representative portraits will make history come alive to the visitor and also will visually draw the eye to your homepage. Then, you could overlay the FPC logo over the 2 portraits, or perhaps under them, and use this text-and-image combination as the logo on all the pages throughout your site. I am going to sketch out for you what I mean by this, as I’m not sure I’m explaining it very well; I will have images for you in class on Monday.
Again, these are just suggestions, and please don’t be offended by any of my comments! :)
Holly

]]> Comment on Moretti vs. Manovich by annalise44 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/moretti-vs-manovich/#comment-21 annalise44 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:40:28 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=36#comment-21 I agree with you, Curtis, in that more information doesn't necessarily make it better information and it will indeed require that we be more specific in the questions we seek to answer by gathering the data. Or perhaps it means we need to be much more flexible...I can't decide which at this point. I know that I get a little overwhelmed with the idea that what would have been an interesting topic to explore even ten years ago, suddenly seems to blow out of proportion when I think about all the ways I could access and explore the data and source material for it, let alone disseminate it to a presumably wider audience. I agree with you, Curtis, in that more information doesn’t necessarily make it better information and it will indeed require that we be more specific in the questions we seek to answer by gathering the data. Or perhaps it means we need to be much more flexible…I can’t decide which at this point. I know that I get a little overwhelmed with the idea that what would have been an interesting topic to explore even ten years ago, suddenly seems to blow out of proportion when I think about all the ways I could access and explore the data and source material for it, let alone disseminate it to a presumably wider audience.

]]> Comment on This Week in Clio-Wired by smdeane http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/this-week-in-clio-wired/#comment-20 smdeane Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:52:57 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=32#comment-20 I certainly understand your concerns with regard to email and privacy. The issue of privacy on the Internet has been a subject of controversy since its inception, and still remains widely discussed topic today. Like you, I too take paper documents and shred them on a regular basis. In my case, it is mainly to protect my privacy and avoid the possibility of identity theft. We still have to be cautious how, when, and what we use the computer for; it can be for good or bad reasons as we have seen from the diabolical use of computers and cell phones by the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks. Every day we have choices in how we use technology; wisely or not. I certainly understand your concerns with regard to email and privacy. The issue of privacy on the Internet has been a subject of controversy since its inception, and still remains widely discussed topic today. Like you, I too take paper documents and shred them on a regular basis. In my case, it is mainly to protect my privacy and avoid the possibility of identity theft. We still have to be cautious how, when, and what we use the computer for; it can be for good or bad reasons as we have seen from the diabolical use of computers and cell phones by the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks. Every day we have choices in how we use technology; wisely or not.

]]> Comment on Copyright by osiern http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/10/19/copyright/#comment-18 osiern Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:23:03 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=24#comment-18 I agree that there should be some gated items and I also have no problem paying a small fee for articles/essays/books that I would like to read online. However, I think the gradual release of these items could also be something we should think about. I agree that there should be some gated items and I also have no problem paying a small fee for articles/essays/books that I would like to read online. However, I think the gradual release of these items could also be something we should think about.

]]> Comment on Lengthy Blog Post by gcheong http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/lengthy-blog-post/#comment-17 gcheong Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:13:14 +0000 http://cuvaughn.wordpress.com/?p=21#comment-17 Ancestry.com is an excellent, although cumbersome site, that has a database with census, birth/death, and other records to look for family members. A few example family trees related to the targets of your stories might help foster the viewer's interest in researching genealogy, especially since you could link the original source material for the family connections. The source material's a bit hard to decipher at times, but I think it's incredible to be able to see it digitized online to prove your family connections. :) Ancestry.com is an excellent, although cumbersome site, that has a database with census, birth/death, and other records to look for family members. A few example family trees related to the targets of your stories might help foster the viewer’s interest in researching genealogy, especially since you could link the original source material for the family connections. The source material’s a bit hard to decipher at times, but I think it’s incredible to be able to see it digitized online to prove your family connections. :)

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