{"id":4615,"date":"2014-04-11T12:39:39","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T17:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/?p=4615"},"modified":"2014-04-11T12:41:20","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T17:41:20","slug":"review-digital-scholarship-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/2014\/04\/11\/review-digital-scholarship-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Digital Scholarship Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Digital Scholarship Lab. \u00a0<\/em>University of Richmond, 2014. \u00a0http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/projects\/<\/p>\n<p>Reviewed by Leah Miller, Dickinson College<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4630\" style=\"width: 596px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.11.40-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4630\" class=\" wp-image-4630 \" alt=\"DSL Projects gateway\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.11.40-PM.png\" width=\"586\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.11.40-PM.png 837w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.11.40-PM-300x264.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 586px) 100vw, 586px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4630\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DSL Projects gateway<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond uses technology to digitize and present historical data in a way that reveals hidden patterns. \u00a0The lab consists of eight main <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/projects\/\" target=\"_blank\">projects<\/a> which present various insights into American history:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States<\/li>\n<li>Virginia Secession Convention<\/li>\n<li>Hidden Patterns of the Civil War<\/li>\n<li>Mining the Dispatch<\/li>\n<li>Visualizing Emancipation<\/li>\n<li>History Engine<\/li>\n<li>Redlining Richmond<\/li>\n<li>Voting America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the data covered by these projects spans all of American history from Columbus to the present, particular focus is devoted to the nineteenth century. \u00a0Rather than presenting the large-scale, political history which is available in the average classroom textbook, these projects analyze the movements and actions of the common person. \u00a0The result is a series of new stories about the experience of the average American\u2014white, black, male, female\u2014who worked, migrated, fought, and suffered for their freedom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.08.56-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4634 alignright\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-04-11 at 12.08.56 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.08.56-PM-1024x589.png\" width=\"368\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.08.56-PM-1024x589.png 1024w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.08.56-PM-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.08.56-PM.png 1325w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a>The most recent project is the digitized <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/historicalatlas\" target=\"_blank\">Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States<\/a>, originally drawn up in 1932 by U.S. naval historian Charles O. Paullin and geographer John K. Wright. \u00a0The print edition of the atlas\u2014which includes over 700 maps on 166 plates that cover American history from 1492 to 1930\u2014has greatly impacted many historical publications even to the present day. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/12\/26\/arts\/lab-in-richmond-animates-comprehensive-1932-us-atlas.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">Recently<\/a> for the New York Times, project director Robert K. Nelson explained that &#8220;Paullin&#8217;s maps show ordinary people making a living, moving across the landscape, worshipping at churches, voting in elections.&#8221;\u00a0 This new, digital edition changes the way we can interpret these maps. \u00a0Each map has been georeferenced and georectified to provide accurate and optimal web-viewing, but the viewer can switch to a high-quality scan of the original plates. \u00a0The user can also toggle a sidebar with Paullin&#8217;s original text and legends, as well as zoom in and out and adjust the transparency of the map overlay. \u00a0Permalinks save all these preferences and ensure they can be accessed in the future. \u00a0Series of maps that show progression of movement or activity through time have been animated. \u00a0For example, the animation of <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/historicalatlas\/67\/b\/\" target=\"_blank\">slave populations<\/a> from 1790-1860 shows the concentration of southern slave power and its expansion westward concurrently with gradual emancipation of slaves in the North. \u00a0Furthermore, the statistical annotations provided for this map declare the exact numbers and percentages of slaves in each county, and by 1820 provide a breakdown of the slaves&#8217; genders. \u00a0Some maps are <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/fartherafield\/\" target=\"_blank\">accompanied<\/a> by additional analytical blog posts. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/fartherafield\/vanishing-indians\/#more-13\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Vanishing Indians,&#8221;<\/a> by lab director Robert K. Nelson, discusses the atlas&#8217; shortcomings when it comes to portraying Native Americans in their relationships to each other.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.29.12-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4639 alignright\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.29.12-PM.png\" width=\"384\" height=\"287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.29.12-PM.png 1017w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.29.12-PM-300x224.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a>The <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/emancipation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Visualizing Emancipation<\/a> project is another interactive map which highlights slavery&#8217;s end during the Civil War. \u00a0The map &#8220;presents a history of emancipation where brutality is sometimes easier to see than generosity and where the costs of war and freedom fell disproportionately on the most vulnerable in the South.&#8221; \u00a0Users can filter through different types of emancipation events (i.e. African Americans helping the Union, their captures by either army, fugitive slave-related incidents, etc.), as well as different types of sources, including books, newspapers, official records, or personal papers. \u00a0Like the Atlas, this map is animated, so as the user toggles pins and filters on and off, she can follow the relationship between emancipation and the position of the Union army, or the agency of slaves in <a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/07\/14\/contraband-of-war\/\" target=\"_blank\">obtaining their own freedom<\/a>. \u00a0The project also <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/emancipation\/featured-events\/\" target=\"_blank\">features certain events<\/a> and figures as starting points for understanding emancipation, with the ability to pinpoint each event on the map. \u00a0I only wish that there were at least one featured example where a person or group were involved in multiple events, so a user could follow their physical journey using the map. \u00a0For those teaching emancipation, there is an accompanying <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/emancipation\/lesson-plans\/\" target=\"_blank\">lesson plan and worksheet<\/a>. \u00a0Students are encouraged to contribute by submitting information they find in primary source documents, since the map, which covers &#8220;only a small slice of the available evidence documenting the end of slavery,&#8221; could never be complete.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.32.24-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4643 alignleft\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-04-11 at 12.32.24 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.32.24-PM-1024x685.png\" width=\"430\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.32.24-PM-1024x685.png 1024w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.32.24-PM-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.32.24-PM.png 1096w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a>Voting America also makes use of animated maps to show changes and differences in voting preferences for <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/elections.html\" target=\"_blank\">presidential<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/congressional_elections.html\" target=\"_blank\">congressional<\/a> elections (1840\u20132008). \u00a0The key factor is scope, which illuminates different patterns and trends. \u00a0For example, changing popular votes at the <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/statelevel.html\" target=\"_blank\">state level<\/a> show which parties won each election, while at the <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/countypopular.html\" target=\"_blank\">county level<\/a> show how each state was politically divided. \u00a0The <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/presvoting.html\" target=\"_blank\">dot-density maps<\/a> are even more democratic, as 1 dot=500 votes in an area; this way, more third-party votes are recorded. \u00a0For these types of maps, every legend shows important political events in history; so, one can watch the <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/voterturnout.html\" target=\"_blank\">progression of voter turnout<\/a> since 1840 and note the effect the Fifteenth and Twentieth Amendments had. \u00a0The user also has the option to view <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/preselections.html\" target=\"_blank\">individual elections<\/a> in each of these capacities. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/population.html\" target=\"_blank\">Population maps<\/a> show the location and movements of black Americans (represented\u2014a bit stereotypically\u2014as black dots) and white Americans (represented by pink dots). \u00a0Unfortunately there is no option to view these populations together, nor is there any representation of immigrant populations. \u00a0The project is accompanied by an <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/interactive_maps.html\" target=\"_blank\">interactive map<\/a> which can be used to compare presidential election years, but my computer, running Adobe flash player version 12.0.0.38, was unable to open it. \u00a0An alternative version is available through Google Maps, but currently this feature is down. \u00a0Finally, a <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/voting\/scholars.html\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Scholars Corner&#8221;<\/a> provides expert analysis by DSL staff on certain voting trends.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.36.20-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4646 alignleft\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-04-11 at 12.36.20 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.36.20-PM.png\" width=\"195\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.36.20-PM.png 271w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.36.20-PM-201x300.png 201w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a>Three other projects in the lab focus on the American Civil War. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/dispatch\/pages\/home\" target=\"_blank\">Mining the <em>Dispatch<\/em><\/a> uses topic-modeling, a computerized method of pulling together multiple documents that have the same key words within them. \u00a0This can reveal interesting categories and patterns among texts. \u00a0In this case, Nelson ran every issue of the Richmond\u00a0<em>Daily Dispatch\u00a0<\/em>from November 1860 to Lincoln&#8217;s death in April 1865. \u00a0Some of the more interesting <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/dispatch\/Topics\" target=\"_blank\">topics<\/a> are fugitive slave ads, anti-northern diatribes, military recruitment versus conscription, humor etc. \u00a0Nelson juxtaposed line graphs showing the frequency of similar topics, and, tentatively, relationships emerged. \u00a0This project is still in its preliminary phase and because of its algorithmic collection process, the data is imperfect. \u00a0Still, it is a good jumping off point for research questions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.37.30-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4648 aligncenter\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-04-11 at 12.37.30 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.37.30-PM.png\" width=\"534\" height=\"261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.37.30-PM.png 668w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.37.30-PM-300x146.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/collections.richmond.edu\/secession\/\" target=\"_blank\">Virginia Secession Convention<\/a> project seems to diverge from the site&#8217;s aim to tell the average American&#8217;s story. \u00a0It seeks to explain the decision of the VA delegates to secede from the Union through their full-text searchable speeches and the Convention&#8217;s proceedings. \u00a0However, as the <a href=\"http:\/\/collections.richmond.edu\/secession\/visualizations\/vote-maps.html\" target=\"_blank\">Data Visualizations<\/a> page shows, their decisions were likely influenced by their constituents. \u00a0Each county is annotated with statistics about the constituents: percentages of slaveholders and the enslaved, average farm value per acre, and pro- or anti-Union stances.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, though <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/civilwar\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hidden Patterns of the Civil War<\/a> largely highlights many of the projects already discussed, it also includes other mini-projects and tools, like a collection of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/civilwar\/mme.html\" target=\"_blank\">maps<\/a>\u00a0that shows the migration patterns of black Virginians who married after the war, a <a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/civilwar\/slavemarket.html\" target=\"_blank\">Google Earth tour<\/a>\u00a0of the Richmond slave market developed from a sketch by painter Eyre Crowe, and a full-access <a href=\"http:\/\/dlxs.richmond.edu\/d\/ddr\/\" target=\"_blank\">digital database<\/a> of the Richmond <i>Daily Dispatch\u00a0<\/i>during the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.40.27-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4650 alignleft\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-04-11 at 12.40.27 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.40.27-PM.png\" width=\"297\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.40.27-PM.png 618w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/files\/2014\/04\/Screen-shot-2014-04-11-at-12.40.27-PM-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 297px) 100vw, 297px\" \/><\/a>While the two remaining projects are less relevant to the nineteenth century, they are great tools for the classroom. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/holc\/pages\/home\" target=\"_blank\">Redlining Richmond<\/a> maps and annotates the racist categorizations of the Home Owners&#8217; Loan Corporation (a New Deal agency) in the late &#8217;30s. \u00a0The assigned value of each neighborhood is based on race and nationality, and shows the lingering effects of slavery in the Jim Crow era. \u00a0The <a href=\"http:\/\/historyengine.richmond.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">History Engine<\/a>\u00a0is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2008\/09\/04\/engine#sthash.nlHTK6fH.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;moderated wiki&#8221;<\/a> where students generate three-paragraph &#8220;episodes&#8221; (rather than arguments) about people, places, or events in American history, drawing on local university or online archives and secondary sources. \u00a0Because registration is required, each submission is carefully screened for quality and accuracy. \u00a0The project&#8217;s aim is to place students from around the world in conversation with each other and their work.<\/p>\n<p>The eight projects of the Digital Scholarship Lab thoughtfully and extensively explore the individual experiences of Americans during the nineteenth century. \u00a0The Lab&#8217;s innovative use of technology illuminates otherwise obscure patterns of growth, contest, suffering, and change. \u00a0This is an invaluable resource for studying the social history of our nation, and a must for anyone teaching or learning about the American Civil War.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Digital Scholarship Lab. \u00a0University of Richmond, 2014. \u00a0http:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/projects\/ Reviewed by Leah Miller, Dickinson College The Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond uses technology to digitize and present historical data in a way that reveals hidden patterns. \u00a0The lab consists of eight main projects which present various insights into American history: Atlas of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,4760,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-19th-century-1840-1880","category-history-online","category-recent-scholarship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4615"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4656,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4615\/revisions\/4656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/blogdivided\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}