Conroy’s Corner

Copyright, as it relates to online publishing, is a fascinating issue to study.  The chapter in digital history does an excellent at explaining the basic law and also identifying the grey area in which many digital publications play.  Although Phil mentioned it in his presentation about his jazz project, reading about how Scott Alexander tightrope walks along the line of copyright infringement by having streaming audio makes one seriously wonder about copyright laws and how they are enforced.

I feel that understanding the copyright for images and audio is the most difficult.  I feel that almost any image I can think of is available online somewhere for free.  I would have a very difficult time in determining what was copyrighted and what I should feel free to use as I wish.  I would be willing to (and intend to) cite where I obtained images, but I would not pay some annual fee to have a copy of a print on my website.  The court seems to reverse its own decision so often that it is difficult to keep up.  Tying in some reading from another class, Martin Sklar (in the awful, horrific, sluggish book The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism) writes that in American Society, laws reflect the society and change in accordance to its needs as opposed to controlling the change of society.  It is a nice notion, but I am not sure how much I believe in its truth.  Society, in my opinion, pushes more and more strongly for free access and rights to everything online, but powerful lobbying interest (like the RIAA) have quashed a lot of the free sharing online.

Since I am already on the subject of the RIAA and mentioned Scott Alexander earlier, audio presents a whole different problem.  Even if I pay for a download from Napster so I can use it freely (as all good Napster users do), can I only stream it from my website?  Can’t people record that streaming audio as well?  If I have paid for the song, is it mine to use as I see fit?  All of these questions swirled around my head as I read.

One thing that Cohen and Rosenzweig did not address that I think is important is the use of television clips.  People always (my lifetime) have been able to record television shows and share them with their friends.  Now with things like TiVo and simple computer programs and hookups, people can record television shows to their computers.  Would I be able to post clips online without worry?  Undoubtedly, every popular television show and many unpopular ones will release DVD box sets.  Clearly copying them would be copyright infringement, but what if I have compiled my own copies from personal recordings?  Confusion abounds.

Indy Junior Maps  -  http://www.bryanboyer.com/indyjunior/

Diary of Samuel Pepys  -  http://www.pepysdiary.com/

This is how a book combined displaying images and historic text

Refdesk claims to be “the single best source for facts.”  I agree.  It is like having an entire library on one webpage, yet despite the quantity of information, designer Bob Drudge has created a clear and easily navigable site.  The design is simple.  The site has three main columns and two halves.  The left column contains search engines and links to websites that most would use to find the answer to any question.  The right column contains constantly updating news headlines and links to various news sources.  That leaves the middle column to analyze.  The middle column changes everyday.  It is where one finds the site, word, thought, quote, of the day and other daily fun facts.  In addition to all of these facts, search tools, and headlines contained in the top half of the website, the bottom half contains even more specific links.

In the bottom half of the website, the user encounters a gigantic wave of links to satisfy any surfing desire.  The links are in clear subdivisions, but even if you can’t find something, the typical search function works on every word on the page.

Some people will find the site too cluttered, but open the mind and enjoy the rush of links.  This is the ultimate reference website and can be used to find anything and answer any question.  Use it often and try the ad-free design!

IPod as the Bathtub

In the chapter “Designing for the History Web“, Cohen and Rosenzweig describe a websurfer’s actions as “disoriented stumbling rather than rational, linear touring.”  Because of this aptitude for jumping and skipping via hyperlinks, web designers should carefully construct their sites to be as naviagation-friendly as possible.  Cohen and Rosenzweig do a nice job of trying to outline some general points, but they don’t seem to have any real standards.  In fact, they imply that with such a new entity as the internet, supposed gurus and their design standards are full of bunk.  Yet the other reading on ten reasons to use web standards revolves around the assumption of standards and their importance.  Are there any agreed upon standards?  Do you have your own standards that you impose on websites you view?
Regardless of whether there are or are not set standards, people can definitely see the difference between mediocre websites and really good websites.  The example that Rosenzweig and Cohen of a website that puts it all together is the Mesoamerican ballgame website.  I think that this website is awesome, and if one has a moment, it is worth investigating.  I can only envision the programming and planning that went into the website.  One thing that did linger with me as a question, however, was whether people found the use of flash a deterrent?  I have it installed on my computer, and the site used its abilities wonderfully, but if you were visiting the site and did not have it, would you spend the time to install it?  Has flash become enough of a standard to incorporate it into a site without worry?

The combination of the Tufte article, the list of 10 reasons supporting web standards, and the Design chapter combine to form an interesting interpretation of how and why to construct a website.  Hopefully my chimera-like synthesis of the ideas will yield a well-designed and clearly presented site.  I am very open to any thoughts or suggestions people have about the design of my project.

Washington, DC is one of the most visited cities in the United States.  People travel from all over the country and around the world to explore its many museums, to admire its famous monuments, and to hear about the country’s history.  Unfortunately, the mere presence of people in historical settings or surrounded by commemorations to the past does not mean that people learn anything.  Often people do not learn because they do not have the time to read through nearby displays or the displays do not exist.  If there were an easier way to obtain knowledge about where one visited, however, visitors would take advantage of it.

A website, which I plan to construct, about monuments and other historic sites in Washington, DC would be a more convenient way to spread information to visitors and potential visitors.  The website will use a map, based on Google Maps, as the primary navigation page of the site.  The monuments and points of interest will be labeled on the map with accompanying links to information about them.

Although the visitors to the site would hopefully have an interest in history, a basic knowledge of history will not be presumed.  Each article written for an historic site will be written in a basic newspaper fashion with the primary and basic facts of who, what, where, when, and why in the first paragraph, followed by more detailed information expounding upon those points.  In this way, even people who only read the beginning of the essay and skim the rest will have a good general understanding of the subject’s place in history.  In addition to an article, the linked page will also contain pictures of the monument and have a place where people can submit their own digital images of the historic site.  Ideally, one of these images would be displayed on the original map when one scrolls over the Google Map tag.

A lot of data has to be gathered and maps need to be created in order to get this site up and functional.  The research and resulting essays will be beneficial to any historian interested in the United States’ past.  Once the site is up and running, it will also be easy to add more history and more links of historical places as I progress in my own studies.  I feel that the basic outline of this project could and should be used by anyone in a town or city interested in portraying their history in an interactive, spatial, and educational manner.  The data, once the format is created, should be relatively simple to rework or replace.

When I complete the site, it will act as a great guide to anyone visiting the Washington, DC area.  With a clear spatial representation of where everything is and good history that accompanies each place of interest, visitors will leave the site knowing more about Washington, DC than ever before and with the desire to visit the city and explore it as soon and as thoroughly as possible.

This is how I procrastinate

I thought that the class, as a whole, did a very nice job with the PowerPoint presentations.  It was neat that people had various kinds of presentations, and everyone had their own set of “PowerPoint Rules.”  I really liked how people used screenshots in their presentations, and I would have definitely incorporated them into my own now that I know how to do them and how effective they are in the presentation.

To be pasted from Word soon…