Week 4 (June 16th-20th)

Some friends we met at group dinner on Monday at Keg and Barrel

Things I learned....

• The most interesting thing I learned this week was within the accessibility lecture on Monday. Often accessibility is seen as some complex software, but through this lecture we really talked about how accessibility is for everyone. Making a space accessible – whether digital or physical – creates a smoother access process for everyone who uses the space. As someone who benefits from the use of text-to-speech software, a website being formatted in a way that such a software can be used is helpful for me but essential for someone else.

• Dr. Stan’s lecture this week also was helpful in data visualization. When thinking about presenting data is it often easy to forget that people do not have the same background information as the author, so you need to adjust your graphics. Something as simple as color can make your information difficult to understand therefore making it useless to a particular audience.

• The final thing I learned this week is the importance of proper data management even within personal information for projects. While I understood it from a shared project notion, it was this week where I understood that I also need to make sure I know where my files are. My struggles with GIS were also impart because I kept losing my files in my computer and then would have to go find them.

Things that prevented my best work….

• With one of my goals being the completion of a first draft of my map, I ran into a lot of struggles with the technical aspects of it. I ended up spending a lot of time just trying multiple methods until something eventually worked. In addition, the QGIS is often difficult to use, since it’s a free software it is kind of chunky and just takes more time to work it.

• For the second week in a row, the computer science lecture seemed to be a inefficient use of our time. One of the things I was looking forward most in this project was that there was this computer science element because it is a field I know little about. However, the focus on the chat bot has proved again to be more of a hurt then a benefit to our learning.

• A third challenge for this week is the library research lecture on Monday. Although I have been trying to keep an open mind about the lectures, the one that revolves around A.I simply felt like a waste of our time. Through this project I have been shifted slightly in my beliefs about A.I, I know understand its benefit for certain field, but it lacks a true purpose in my research. History is about discovering stories that haven’t been told and asking A.I to find your topic and sources just prompts that cycle to continue.

Accomplishments…

• One of my biggest accomplishments this week was the creation of my first draft of my map. Although this is slightly out of order, I knew I would benefit from the creation of this map early on because I am looking to use it as a research tool rather than a display of my results. When making the map, I compare the 1860s census data to the battle locations of the state. While I haven’t yet completed analyzing my letters, upon completion I will add them to my add and further analyze the data.

• This week I have also worked on progressing through my paper sections, focusing on the methodology section. I chose to do this before my literature review section because it made sense for my research. I have not yet started looking at secondary sources but knowing my strengths, I will be able to the literature along side my research for my analysis and discussions. Although there might be holes in my methodology, I am confident about the section thus far.

• My final accomplishment for this week was that we finished half of the program. The first half of this program has gone relativity well, I have really enjoyed being able to do research and learning new skills. One of my favorite things we have done is learning about the Digi lab and all the work that goes into the process.

Next Steps

• When looking forward to my next steps, the focus will be on the actual formulation of the information into an analysis of my sources. This will likely involve researching and tying secondary sources into the letters I have discussed. Next week my goal is my literature review.