combs

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.