This week was a good one. The map is uploaded, and though not perfectly rectified, it is close and serviceable. I am also winnowing out the concordance list and creating a master list that the entire group can use. I have put some of sources in the form of map notes on the map; it is coming together nicely. All that remains is to put the rest of the notes on the map and then work on the time sensitive portion of the map using two or three sources at most given the time remaining before the final presentation. This last part seems doable but may require some intense trouble shooting and more time than I expect. However, there are enough tutorials out there on how to create time stamped information.

This week we made significant progress on the project. Suffice it to say we are in the home stretch and just have to put the pieces of our project together. First, the geo-rectified image, though not perfect, was uploaded to arcgis online. This allows us to put the map notes containing the sound event, hearer, quote, bibliographic information, image and video onto the map and start the project in earnest. We are currently combing through our concordance list to winnow it down and select the sources we can use on the map. We also discovered how to create time sensitive maps; we will most likely do this part of the map on a small scale with two or three sources at most. We also know that our present website, Weebly and ArcGIS are compatible. Another piece of good news. The script is complete and posted on Github. All that remains is to create the master list and to put the map notes on the map itself.

Different facets of this project have been moving at different paces throughout the semester (by “facets,” I do not mean “people”).  At this point  every day seems precious, and at times it’s felt to me like we’ve/I’ve been running in place. Actually, seems more like we’ve been running in widening concentric circles, or a fibonacci spiral (which is coincidentally the logo of Omeka, the platform we’ll be using). Accordingly, each time we come back around, we are really in a slightly different place: we know more and have better understanding of where we were before.

Taylor, who is handling most of the development, and I discussed the project at length today. The complicated dual function of this project– to create both a tool for converting a database into a JSON script, and a demonstration of what this tool might help visualize about a historical cemetery– is finally resolving itself into a clear and finite set of tasks to be completed: the website, the historical documentation, and the datatbase component. Each of these is challenging in its own way, but there is consistent movement on all fronts.

This week my group and I made some good forward progress. We are on the cusp of putting all the pieces together. That is a huge relief for me and the group. My part has been to work on getting the historical map image overlayed  onto the ARC GIS Map. While I have created a good georectified image, getting it onto arcmap itself is a laborious and at times frustrating process; it requires a lot of learning on the fly and troubleshooting a variety of errors that prevent the map from becoming a usable tool.

This past week the group has been finalizing three important aspects of the overall project. First, the script is being tailored in such a way that we can record and attach metadata information such as author and bibliographic information to our concordances. There are two ways to accomplish this. One way involves running each of the 175 sources we have individually up against the Sound Corpus, therefore we know where the concordances belong. The second is to tweak the scrip itself to attach those pieces of metadata to the concordances themselves.

We have also been working on getting the map transferred onto ARCGIS Online. This has take some troubleshooting but we are nearing completion of this aspect of the project.

We are also beginning to get together the various “extras” that will explain the map and the work and the methodology we have accomplished so far.

We’re in the home stretch on multiple fronts on our project. I’ve been working to program and upload the historical and georectifiy the historical maps we have. Its been difficult to learn all the different functions but I have been making process. The visit to NYPL was fruitful and extremely helpful. The tools that the librarian suggested were useful and seeing the maps in person, physically, was inspirational.

This week our group has made stride to start work on the final phase of our project. We are still troubleshooting the script; there are few wrinkles left to iron out particularly attaching meta data to our concordances. We visited the NYPL to seek guidance about the mapping portion of our project; we have several maps we can use and layer. We are still working to geo rectify and upload the maps onto an online platform. The group has also begun to consider putting together the various functions for our map and the eventual website/platform.

On Sunday, the four of us met in the history department and reviewed where we are now with the project and what we have left to do.  Taylor showed us the model spreadsheet he is creating that will be transformed into a Json script so we can use it to visualize data. I presented the maps I’d found and we decided on what would be best to use for layering. We want to depict three historical periods corresponding to the three cemeteries belonging to Congregation Shearith Israel. Although we’re focusing on the second cemetery, using this framework will allow us to depict the growth and development of the city, which is a large part of the story we’re telling with this project.

We also talked about how we would design the site in terms of what we can and/or should visualize to demonstrate how this model works, the structure of the site interface, and what type of historical information we’ll include in a “mini-essay” section. Conn, Davide, and I have divided up this historiographical task,  and Taylor is creating a logo for the platform. We are meeting again this Tuesday evening (April 26). Finding time to work together outside of class, even if we’re doing individual tasks, has been extremely helpful. (For one thing, we are not in a small, hot, crowded room.) But more important, I think face-to-face interaction makes it easier to bounce ideas off of each other, helps to develop a mutual vision for the project, and sharpens our focus. This is true, at least, for the project manager (me).  As the project manager, I can also say that meeting outside of class also reaffirms to me that everyone on our team has been absolutely indispensable to this project – not just because they know what they’re doing and they work hard at it, but because they have each contributed ideas, knowledge, and a personal sensibility that have been vital to the project’s development.

Last week after class our group met up with our assigned librarian, Alycia Sellie to see if there was some way we could get around the copyright walls we had hit in terms of using images from Vogue.com in our project. Since no one, including Alycia has given us a definite “NO,” we’re going to proceed using the images that we need with credits. Along with wrapping up my essay on Tokenism, I’ve been trying to brainstorm ways that my section could be visualized. Since I don’t really have great knowledge of the language for the tools I’d maybe want to use, I’m going to sketch my ideas out, explain it, and see if one of the fellows can lead me in the right direction.