combs

Creating a website centered on the current evangelical resurgence in America today proved to work in my favor. For one I was already working on my thesis, which focused on the same subject. In addition, with such a controversial and contemporary topic I was able to find countless sources to support the history sections on my site. On the other hand having so many available sources proved a little difficult. There were quite a few moments that I found myself deciding just how much information to include on the site. I did not want to overwhelm visitors with lengthy articles on the subject, but at the same time, the goal of my site was to inform individuals on the topic at hand. Treading the line between too much and too little information proved quite a task; one that I believe I have sufficiently completed.

Some of the tools that enabled me to complete this task were Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Fotolia, and Survey Monkey. In addition, I was able to find a template on TemplateMonster.com that sufficiently met the requirements I desired for the structure of my site. There was only one problem with the template; it was originally intended to be a site for a catering service or cake company. I chose the site despite this fact because the colors and aesthetics were exactly what I was looking for; however, the original purpose of the site made it impossible to use the pictures provided. Thus, finding an online print source became my next task. At Fotolia, I was able to search for pictures by key word so it was unproblematic for me to find images of crosses, bibles, and or worship. Using Adobe Photoshop I was able to edit the existing images to reflect the theme of my site. I replaced images of cakes and coffee with pictures of bibles and crosses. In addition, I used Photoshop to label the flash buttons. Dreamweaver allowed me to edit the pages of the template and insert content regarding evangelicals today. The template could be edited in either Dreamweaver or Flash. However, given that I personally own Dreamweaver and not Flash, using the html only version was the most advantageous option. I wanted to be able to edit my site once I had graduated from American and was no longer able to use the Universities computer labs. One aspect of the site that I needed additional resources for was creating the site survey. For this, I used Survey Monkey to not only construct survey questions, but analyze them as well.

As previously mentioned creating a site on evangelicals of today was an easy decision for me considering my current area of research. However, there are many more reasons behind why I created the site the way I did. I wanted to not only reach young people through including sections on music and Creation Fest but to inform them o the topic as well. Thus, the site was designed to have areas dedicated to the history of the movement as well as current leaders. In addition I thought having definitions on the site would allow visitors to get a feel for the language/terms used without have to read each article. My site looks the way it does because I wanted it to be ascetically appealing. I consider the color scheme and layout of a site to be significant. If a site looks unprofessional, red text on a green background it would look sloppy or at the very least extremely unattractive. However, trivial aesthetics may seem I believe they are important aspects of a site. In addition, I wanted the site to have soothing colors and an easy flow. The images I used were meant to create and evoke emotions. The cross picture that is the main focal point on all the sites pages has a symbolic meaning. The cross fallen on the ground shadowed by the fence posts symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ. In addition, the image used on the worship page is a good example of worship in many evangelical churches today.

Despite having been particularly pleased with the images, I found there are a few things I would like to improve on concerning my site. Many of which I discovered after presenting my project in class. I would like to attach a link to a PDF file of my entire research paper. As I do not think, it would be advantageous to post the entire essay directly on the site. In addition, I would make the history page one of the tabs/part of the web site not just a link. Doing this would make the history aspect more central on the site. The survey has also caused some concerns. The demographic questions on the survey are somewhat limiting when it comes to the section on age. I had not realized this earlier, but when Craig pointed it out in class. I began to wonder why I had stopped at 30 years old and over? Why that age range? Since the site inception, I wanted to get reactions and testimonials from all age ranges; however, the question regarding age limits my analyses options. In addition, if I had more time I would figure out a way to include more testimonials on the site without making the pages too long.

www.eagle1.american.edu/~sc3161a/site

Changes I Have Made

For the assignment regarding Wikipedia I decided to focus on nuclear studies. I added the following sentence to the definition of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:  “However, contemporary historians contend that a demonstration was not the only option many believe that changing the surrender terms, relying on Japanese peace feelers, waiting for Soviet intervention, and or relying on conventional weaponry would have been just as efficient.” This correction is located at the end of the first paragraph of the section entitled “Opposition to Use of Atomic Bombs.”

Comment#1: On History Carnival it is stated, “The goal of these carnivals is to provide a regular showcase of the best blogs - well-known and not so well-known - in their fields.” After reading this statement I immediately wondered who was in charge of determining what is included on the list of blogs. Thankfully in reading further this was answered through the following statement: “It must be stressed that it’s not just for academics and specialists, that entries certainly don’t have to be heavyweight scholarship. But they do have to uphold certain standards of factual accuracy and integrity in the use of sources. All submissions will be vetted by the host, whose decision is final.” However I was not thoroughly convinced. In some ways this class has made me more skeptical about certain aspects of the internet; however I must admit that it has enlightened me as well.

Comment#2: One of these so-called enlightenments occurred concerning blogging for academics. With the onset of this course I had no previous skill or knowledge concerning blogging. Bloggers, I believed, were movie fanatics, star trek lovers, or individuals completely fascinated by computers not professionals, students, or professors. The idea of an academic blog seemed strange and out of place within a medium devoted to retail activities and online dating. However my view has changed substantially. Located within The History Blogosphere is a link to Sharon Howard’s Early Modern Notes. Under her blog posting “So, Why Would I Champion Academic Blogging” Sharon states “And why do I blog under my own name? The simple answer to that is because it didn’t occur to me not to.” This intrigued me because from the outset Sharon’s outlook on blogging was the antithesis of my feelings on the matter. Ok this may not seem interesting, but it is because it directly relates to preconceptions individuals may have in regard to who would or would not be more accepting of new mediums or forums. One would assume that as a twenty-two year old I would be more apt to start a blog and that Sharon (not knowing her age, I am assuming because of her occupation that she is older than I am) would be more apprehensive. In this case the opposite is true.

Comment#3: The Diary of Samuel Pepys led me to ponder the issue of mediums regarding memory and how that, in the face of emerging technology, has changed considerably. Journals are kept on paper usually bound and in some cases locked; in effort to keep prying eyes from seeing there contents. Now it seems so many individuals have not only begun recording their daily routines/thoughts using computers, but that they are willing to share this information with the world via the internet. Sites such as My Space have thousands of subscribers who on a daily basis trade comments with friends online regarding their weekend plans or thoughts for the day. As previously discussed in class sites such as these have led to prying by university officials, employers, and parents. Online diaries bring a completely new dimension to the time old tradition of a mother snooping through their child’s sock drawer in search of a diary; now they explore the internet. At the beginning of this course, the idea of blogging was strange to me and the concept of maintaining a diary or journal online had never crossed my mind.

Comment1: I knew very little historical background in regards to copyright law before reading Daniel Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig’s chapter A Brief History of Copyright. In discovering that “Noah Webster, who was trying to protect the revenues flowing from his best-selling American Spelling Book, successfully lobbied the Connecticut State Legislature to pass the new nation’s first copyright law in 1783″ I was slightly surprised of the date. Business and the need to protect ones property had been central to the running of society long before this time. Thus, I would suspect the concept of protecting intellectual property would have been raised previously to 1783. However, I suspect the formation of the United States, which had just recently transpired might have had something to do with it.    

Comment 2: In addition to the quote above, I was taken aback to learn of “fair use.” Cohen and Rosenzweig articulated how “in spite of Story’s ruling, Folsom would later help to establish the concept of “fair use,” the idea that limited borrowing from the work of others was acceptable when that borrowing produces something new and useful.⁷ As we shall see, digital historians have many reasons to hold the principle of “fair use” close to their hearts.” I am not sure what it is but I have always believed that borrowing of any kind from someone’s work was not only amoral but that it would negate any subsequent work done by the borrower. However in reviewing the reading and the concept of “fair use” further I have discovered its benefits; benefits not only for digital historians, but for other disciplines as well. The first thing that came to mind was the advances made within the hard sciences. How would any one have advanced on research concerning transplants and or medicines if they had not borrowed form the work that came before them? Intellectual property is different in both disciplines but I think the concept is the same.

Comment3: In their chapter Images, Music, and Movies Cohen and Rosenzweig discuss the relevance of “fair use” to non-textual materials. “A photograph or work of art may have entered the public domain, but you can’t copy it if you don’t have access to the original,” argue Cohen and Rosenzweig. This assertion immediately brought to mind current copyright issues over music.  I don’t think ripping music off the internet is ok by any means, but the situation gets more complicated when you have purchased the CD. I understand that you do not own the rights to the music, but this is how many individuals justify making copies of CD’s for their friends.

Project Proposal: By Santral Combs

National stereotypes that depict Evangelical Christians as fanatic Bible thumpers out to rule the political sphere conflict with the reality of a new diverse and in many ways progressive evangelical resurgence. Many of these new evangelicals are young as well as politically, economically, culturally, and socially diverse. They are Biblically conservative, but socially and politically progressive. As a young evangelical Christian in America today one must take issue with the stereotypical view of Christians within secular society. We care about the environment, the poor, sick, and the unborn. Evangelicals are more complex than society gives them credit for. Thus, my end of the year project will be a site for individuals to learn more about evangelical Christianity in America Today. As well, as serve as a forum for evangelical Christians to post testimonials and thus contribute to the reality of a more diverse evangelical movement. Many evangelicals are breaking stereotypes of what it means to be an evangelical Christian in America today. Depictions of evangelical Christians as an insular homogenous lot, views on biblical theology not withstanding, no longer suffice.

The previous paragraph not only details the purpose and or argument of my end of the year project, but it will also appear on the About Site page on my web site; giving individuals a concise description of the site. In addition to the About Site page, there will also be a section devoted to Youth. This will be an area containing things of interest to those in the 16-26 year old demographic. There will be links to other sites of interests as well as information important to this age range; including facts and pictures about Creation Fest, the largest Christian festival in the United States. Along with this section there will also be a portion of the site center around Christian music. Links to official web pages of contemporary Christian bands will provide users with a broader sense of the youth movement within the church. The history page of the site currently contains the prospectus for my research on resurgent Evangelicalism in America today. Eventually the site will include my master’s thesis as well. This are of the site will be an avenue through which individuals may learn more about the history of evangelicalism and the new resurgence of Evangelicalism within the United States.

In addition the site will include a survey that I have developed using Survey Monkey. The survey includes questions regarding demographical data as well as information on ones faith and involvement in their respective churches. I have already begun building my site using Dream Weaver and Survey Monkey as mentioned above. I developed the site in such a way that it will attract users of all ages, but most importantly those within the demographic previously described. I chose this type of site because my paper for Research Seminar is on Resurgent Evangelicalism; with a focus on young evangelicals, mega churches, and progressive evangelicals. Thus creating a site that would attract those involved in the movement would help my research as well as serve my own interests.

Comment#1:

In their chapter entitled “Images, Color, and Multimedia” Roy Rosenzweig and Daniel Cohen explore the realm of images and color on the web. Both Cohen and Rosenzweig assert that one should “follow the same principles of color that have proven successful in print.” In many ways they are correct. One must be careful not to overdue the use of color or graphics particularly within the field of digital history.

Comment#2:

Roy Rosenzweig and Daniel Cohen in Accessibility discuss the evolution of web availability. “Section 508 required that beginning in 2001, federal agencies had to make sure that individuals with disabilities could access their electronic documents and information. Because of the trillion-dollar purchasing power of the federal government, and because so many other companies, organizations, and local governments fall into line when Washington makes major regulatory decisions, Section 508 has had significant repercussions across the web. Many institutions, public and private, now demand that website designs be “508 compliant,” and achieving such compliance has become a big business,” recall Rosenzweig and Cohen.  Before reading this article I was unaware of the role the government had in the advancement of web accessibility; although it is not surprising in any way. 

Comment#3:

On Ten reasons to learn and use web standards the issues surrounding etiquette and professionalization on the web are discussed. The first standard addressed, detailed the need to make onesself look professional on the web: “Other web developers and potential employers will be able to look at your work and know that you are a person who likes to keep up with changes in technology and make sure that your knowledge and skills are always current. It will make you look like a real web professional.” This is an important rule to follow not only in regard to web design and content, but in every other use one has for the web. For instance, in attaining an email adress it is important to make sure it is professional. One can be assured that a corporation would think twice about hiring hotty2000@hotmail.com for their new opening. The same can be said for web pages. The argument made for web standards falls right in line with the concerns of Rosenzweig and Cohen have regarding the use of color on the web. Using a hot pink background and fuscia text is not professional in any way. It is important to strike the correct balance between the attractiveness of content or ones page and being professional.    

Comment#1: Benjamin E. Hermalin in his article entitled In Print: Scholarly Journal Publishing in the 21st Century explores the evolving format and medium of history publications. In addition Hermalin discusses the change associated with advancing technologies in regard to the arts and sciences. “First, a new technology improves the ways” asserts Hermalin, “in which old tasks are accomplished. Second, it expands what is possible, which leads to huge changes for society.” This statement is quite fundamental to tracing the evolution of text from the page to the web. It is important to note how the advancements in technology have not only improved accessibility but efficiency as well. As argued by Hermalin “print publication is often delayed because of poor oversight of the process: Editors fail to keep track of papers as they go through the review process, reviewers are not reminded to complete reviews, and so forth. The Internet makes possible a Web-based back-office solution that improves tracking and speeds the process.”

Comment#2: Clifford Lynch discusses, in the section of his article entitled Digital Books as Literal Translations of Printed Books, the numerous issues with digitization of books. Lynch contends, “current computer display technologies do not offer a pleasant environment for reading very long texts when compared to ink on paper.” This statement exemplifies the frustrations of many graduate students today. Often professors will assign lengthy articles that are only available online. Reading these forms of text is not only straining to ones eyes, but is not easily navigated, particularly if it is in PDF form. What I mean by this is that one cannot copy text from PDF files into word in text form nor is it simple to scroll through each page without passing over unread text; losing ones place is an often occurrence when working within Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Comment#3: In The Bookless Future: What the Internet is Doing to Scholarship David Bell discusses the uncertain future of printed text as well as the unnatural act of reading text on a screen. Bell states that, “most screens remain wider than they are long, unlike printed book pages. Most computers make it easier to scroll down, line by line, than to page through a text. And screens are by no means as portable or as comfortable to hold as books. Personal digital assistants (PDA’s), while more comfortable, display very little text at a time.” Bell is right on the mark with this argument. Technology has often contributed to the reality of portability however in the case of text, one could argue that, it has not served to be as fruitful.

This is a work in progress. Hope you like what I have so far. My Site.