Week Two: Still Strugglin'

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Welcome back! As you can see from the title, my second week of interning was the epitome of #thestruggle. While I'm not doing as bad as I had predicted, I'm still learning and making mistakes along the way when it comes to writing the metadata data sheets for the Oviedo History Harvest collection. I won't say that writing metadata is rocket science, or even the hardest thing I've ever had to do (that was geometry, algebra, trigonometry...etc.), but it's very nuanced and specific in word choice and format, and learning those things is all a part of the process--at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Another difficulty is the amount of items that were scanned during the Harvest, which came to about 7,000. I. Am. Terrified.

Though I, along with my other classmates were extremely happy about the success of the History Harvest, which we were able to plan, organize, and execute in a matter of three months (with a few of in first semester of grad school, so uh, go us!).

So, you're probably asking yourself, what's a "history harvest". Google may have failed me last week, but not today! Here's a link to the University of Nebraska-Licoln's site which discusses what a history harvest is and how to put one on! You're welcome.

"This collaborative, team-oriented, student-centered and community-based project seeks to create a popular movement to democratize and open American history by utilizing digital technologies to share the experiences and artifacts of everyday people and local historical institutions. At each “harvest,” community-members are invited to bring and share their letters, photographs, objects and stories, and participate in a conversation about the significance and meaning of their materials."

Also, here's a link to an article about our harvest on UCF Today. When I think of myself as an historian, I think about it in the context of working with the public to bring about an interest in history, creating lasting communal ties that will foster an environment where history can better help people to understand themselves and the world in which we leave.

The History Harvest was the closet I got to that experience, and it was so much fun! Thinking about the happiness on the faces of community members is what's helping me to work hard on creating the metadata for their items, which is at times incredibly tedious and detailed. I give my undying respect to archivists and those digital historians who do this for a living.

Now back to metadata. My site advisor gave me some critiques on how to make the data sheets more effective, so I will be incorporating that into the next set of data. My goal is to be the Queen of Metadata by the time this is all over, so hopefully my entry next week will show me being well on my way to becoming the Beyonce I know that I can be.

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Porsha