post portem
While I would have liked more time to work on my project, I am satisfied with what I was able to discover about the memorial and create for a project. Since there was virtually no information on the web on this topic I think it was very important to get this information out there. I am happy with the amount of information my website provides on the Adams Family Memorial and Adams family. My two main arguments are the Adams family memorial should be located in the reserved area of the National Mall and that Samuel Adams should also be memorialized. I think it is important to research something that interests you and I feel very strongly about this memorial. Thus, I am glad I researched this topic and would not have changed it.
One of the biggest issues was not related to technology, but the lack of information on the Adams Family Memorial. The Adams Memorial Foundation has a website contains only contact information for the time being. So finding out exactly what was happening with the memorial was not easy. I spoke with the Adams Memorial Foundation and learned that they are in the early stages of the entire project; still trying to secure a location for the memorial. I also got the sense that they are purposefully keeping a rather low profile for now, not sure why? So there was not a whole lot to report on; however, at the same time that was better than having nothing on the project. It is interesting how for about six months there was a good amount of buzz around the project and after it was signed into law in November 2001 the buzz died. So I think the website is an important addition. The lack of information on the actual memorial also forced me to consider other parts to the website: section on Quincy, MA and the Adams family. I think both these do tie in with the rest of the website and help add to presenting the historical significance of the Adams family and the memorial.
I decided to use Dreamweaver to create a standard HTML website. However, my lack of knowledge of the software forced me to use the very basics of Dreamweaver. For example, I had designed a banner on Photoshop; however, I was not get it to show up in Dreamweaver? So I just created a very basic banner with links. I used tables to layout each webpage, which further limited the website by making it fairly uniform. Looking at some of the other projects, I was really impressed with what some people did with blogging software and think this may have been a possible alternative method. However, I think Dreamweaver was still the way to go. It is a fairly simple software and allows one to build a basic website rather easily. I just wished I was able to go beyond the basics of website design in this project. In the end, I actually learned a lot in terms of how to do a digital project.
I did attack this project differently than I do for term papers. I think part of that was the unknown factor. I had never created a website before, so I really had no idea what to expect. Thus, if I could do the project over I would first make an extensive outline. Then I would write each webpage. The last thing I would do is build the website. I spent too much time trying to do things on Dreamweaver. I should have made sure I had all the content done first and then built the website. With a term paper this is also not a concern. While I found the two to be similar in terms writing being the main medium, they were also very different. You only use words in term papers to express you arguments. However, in webpages images and other medium are very important to your argument and creating an interest in your website. Conversely, for the most part websites seem to fewer words than terms papers. Or are at least broken up. Most term papers focus on one specific issue. While it is important for a website to focus on one thing that is not always the case, which is true for my site. I discuss a few aspects of the history of the Adams family. Thus, I found a number of differences and my website is rather traditional.
I think my website could use a lot more refining in terms of ideas. As it seems to be a few things meshed into one. However, I wanted it to be about the memorial, not a site commemorating the history of the Adams family. However, I think it could easily be changed into a website about the history of the Adams family and where people can go to experience that history. This is why I included the section on the Adams family in Quincy, MA. Unfortunately, I would guess that John Adams’ homes in Quincy, MA are not as frequently visited as Mount Vernon and Monticello. Yet, Boston gets a tremendous amount of tourists spring through fall. The Adams homes in Quincy are actually more accessible by public transportation and closer than Mount Vernon and Monticello to D.C. So I wanted to make sure anyone who visited my site was aware of this. Especially since the monument will not be finished for some years, it makes sense to make people aware of where they can experience the history of the family. Finally, hopefully when finished the national memorial to the Adamses and the family homes in Quincy can inspire an increased interest in the Adams family.
I would have made several additions if I had more time. So in the future I plan to add an about me page. I would also like to design a better header and menu bar. Again I had something designed on Photoshop, but could not get it to work on Dreamweaver. I could also add some sort of collecting part to the website. Such as share thoughts on the Adams family or their historic sites. Or possibly collected peoples thoughts on the proposed monument. However, the basic premise of the website was to provide information on the memorial.
There are also a lot of technical things I need to go back and fix, such as naming each webpage. Another change I would have made was with footnoting. As of right now my project does not have any. I would also like to try to find out the exact location of each portrait. I was able to find a lot of them online easily, but a few I just could not figure out which institution owned the original. This is another thing I like about my website, I tried to tell the viewer where he/she could find the original image. There are a lot of images of the Adams family on the internet, but not every website does this. This is particularly helpful if someone wants to actually see the original.
My website did not even come close to what I had envisioned. I would like to go back and make the website look more professional. I am pleased with the images, links, and the content; but I think the presentation could be much better. Finally, I may even like to redesign the entire website to focus on the Adams family. For once the Adams Memorial Foundations website is up and running there really would be no need for my website anymore. So I could easily change it into a website about discovering the history of the Adams family.
One of the greatest benefits to digital media is its accessibility. If we had written term papers for this class, only the professor would have read them or students on peer review. However, each project provides something for a very wide audience. I noticed this throughout the semester and with this project that this course works very well with public history. At times both are about expanding history to a broader audience and that is what I really wanted to accomplish here. It started out with me being curious about what was happening with the Adams memorial and then turned into something I wanted to share with other people who may have the same (or different) questions as me.