Some days I wish there were two of me. It would be very helpful! I could have one do all the errands and such and the other could do all the dissertation work. I feel like I am being pulled in several directions at once... Oh well, I muddle through and do the best I can.
Today I am going to Drexel. I need to return a book to the library and I have a meeting about TAing for a course this coming term. Busy is the understatement of my life for the next few months. I absolutely must get the proposal finished in the next few weeks. It is crazy what I can get myself into sometimes! At any rate my list for today:
1. straighten up and get myself downtown.
2. copy interesting bits and return book to library.
3. pick up ILLs at library.
4. look at dbs for other materials.
5. meet and talk about TA.
6. come home and put together syllabus.
7. bring Mimi to clay class.
8. shop and make dinner.
9. read, read, read.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Am I overwhelmed yet?
It has been a bit of time since I last posted. That isn't because I haven't been working on the dissertation, but because I have been kind of panic-stricken and busy! I went to Miami Beach last week to the WebWise conference which was excellent, as always. When I registered for the conference I thought I would be post-proposal, but that isn't the way things turned out. I should have been blogging throughout the conference, but I can't pay attention to the speaker and blog at the same time. I suppose one of these days I will be able to do that, but since my listening skills are not the highest functioning part of my senses it is a bit stressful to have to type and pay attention. The conference was very good for introducing a number of interesting projects and developments that are part of the Web 2.0 technologies. There are such good things happening out there -- the difficulty rests in finding them!
I learned about a number of very interesting things happening out there in the digital world that are humanities-based (rather than science-O-centric). There was a project on an ontology of an online encyclopedia of philosophy (InPho) hosted at Stanford that looked interesting, a NEH funded project that is working on reconstructions of ancient architecture Ashes2Art (article here: http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=58358), a slave trade database, Zotero, Steve Museum, TIDES (Teaching, Images and Digital Experiences), T-RACES (Testbed for Redlining Archives of California's Exclusionary Spaces), the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) and the omnipresent Internet Archive. The IA seems to be trying to provide free and open access to content. I say bravo, but wonder how long it will be able to support all the wonderful efforts? It seems as though they are everywhere (for example, the IA is providing assistance to the EOL project). Is that a good thing? I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I am very pleased to see that finally some support for free access is happening at a high level. But then I wonder about how the IA will be able to maintain itself with all of the activities it is involved with. I am crossing my fingers (and other appendages) for their success!
South Beach was an interesting place for a conference. The Art Deco architecture was a big thrill for me and of course the beach made the experience all the better. I stayed in an Art Deco hotel called the Cadet Hotel on the corner of 17th and James streets. It was cute and perfectly situated at less than 2 blocks from the beach and the convention center. I managed to get a sunburn on Friday afternoon after the conference. Geez, I spent less than a half hour in the sun. I guess my poor white skin has no tolerance for such strong sun and warm weather. It was about 80 degrees during the day and in the evenings it would drop down to the mid to low 70s.
I have been able to get lots of reading done over the course of the last week. I am nearly finished with Maxwell's QRD: An interactive Approach, and I am kicking myself since I should have read this months ago!!!! Ah well, I guess it was still useful even if just to provide a little extra support to the proposal process. The last few chapters have been very helpful in the whole design of the study as it relates to the proposal. There are a few more articles I would like to get through this week. I really need to set a date for finishing the text of the proposal. I want to get the study started ASAP! The problem with the artists and architects is an issue... harumph. I am not sure what to do at this point. I don't want to cut them from the study just yet. Ho-hum.
I need to get myself ready to go to JES for library duty. I love helping out there, but oh my I am busy!!!! I have unpacked, done laundry and cleaned house today. Tonight I will work on the syllabus for the Monuments of Rome course. If my eyes are still open after that I will work on the rest of Maxwell's book and an article (the frameworks one). Alright time to get away for the comp for a bit!
I learned about a number of very interesting things happening out there in the digital world that are humanities-based (rather than science-O-centric). There was a project on an ontology of an online encyclopedia of philosophy (InPho) hosted at Stanford that looked interesting, a NEH funded project that is working on reconstructions of ancient architecture Ashes2Art (article here: http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=58358), a slave trade database, Zotero, Steve Museum, TIDES (Teaching, Images and Digital Experiences), T-RACES (Testbed for Redlining Archives of California's Exclusionary Spaces), the EOL (Encyclopedia of Life) and the omnipresent Internet Archive. The IA seems to be trying to provide free and open access to content. I say bravo, but wonder how long it will be able to support all the wonderful efforts? It seems as though they are everywhere (for example, the IA is providing assistance to the EOL project). Is that a good thing? I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I am very pleased to see that finally some support for free access is happening at a high level. But then I wonder about how the IA will be able to maintain itself with all of the activities it is involved with. I am crossing my fingers (and other appendages) for their success!
South Beach was an interesting place for a conference. The Art Deco architecture was a big thrill for me and of course the beach made the experience all the better. I stayed in an Art Deco hotel called the Cadet Hotel on the corner of 17th and James streets. It was cute and perfectly situated at less than 2 blocks from the beach and the convention center. I managed to get a sunburn on Friday afternoon after the conference. Geez, I spent less than a half hour in the sun. I guess my poor white skin has no tolerance for such strong sun and warm weather. It was about 80 degrees during the day and in the evenings it would drop down to the mid to low 70s.
I have been able to get lots of reading done over the course of the last week. I am nearly finished with Maxwell's QRD: An interactive Approach, and I am kicking myself since I should have read this months ago!!!! Ah well, I guess it was still useful even if just to provide a little extra support to the proposal process. The last few chapters have been very helpful in the whole design of the study as it relates to the proposal. There are a few more articles I would like to get through this week. I really need to set a date for finishing the text of the proposal. I want to get the study started ASAP! The problem with the artists and architects is an issue... harumph. I am not sure what to do at this point. I don't want to cut them from the study just yet. Ho-hum.
I need to get myself ready to go to JES for library duty. I love helping out there, but oh my I am busy!!!! I have unpacked, done laundry and cleaned house today. Tonight I will work on the syllabus for the Monuments of Rome course. If my eyes are still open after that I will work on the rest of Maxwell's book and an article (the frameworks one). Alright time to get away for the comp for a bit!
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