esrc seminar the relation of new media practices to traditional literacy practices in the academy...

ESRC seminar

The relation of new media practices to traditional literacy practices in the academy and the professions.

In the hands of the userThe powerful voice of objects

University of Edinburgh

October 16th 2009 m clari

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award

In the hands of the user

Changing patterns of participation and learning through the digital collections of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

multi-disciplinary research community investigates issues around visual communication, sensory perception, orality and material culture in the context of today's digital culture

In the hands of the user The powerful voice of objects

how new online media environments are changing the way users engage with, and learn from, the collections of cultural institutions.

the role of users in contributing to the public online presence of cultural institutions

the ways in which users might contribute to the 'making' and 'unmaking' of public archives

the ways in which a global public learns and constructs meaning from institutions' digital collections.

how new online media environments challenge and might change the curatorial and outreach responsibilities of museums, galleries and archives.


From…


To…


http://www.englishheritageprints.com/pictures_1278284/candlestick-j-w-evans-n080193.html?PHPSESSID=1070a0f0e41a50f60363ad80b1db6751

http://www.englishheritageprints.com/pictures_485312/lindisfarne-priory-stone-j880194.html?PHPSESSID=1070a0f0e41a50f60363ad80b1db6751

http://www.englishheritageprints.com/pictures_424774/darwins-compass-j970126.html?PHPSESSID=1070a0f0e41a50f60363ad80b1db6751

http://www.englishheritageprints.com/pictures_1217552/bust-of-emperor-hadrian-k000206.html?PHPSESSID=1070a0f0e41a50f60363ad80b1db6751

http://www.englishheritageprints.com/pictures_1278284/candlestick-j-w-evans-n080193.html?PHPSESSID=1070a0f0e41a50f60363ad80b1db6751

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/image/src/256/SC765969


http://twitter.com/

http://www.flickr.com/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/YouTube_logo.svg


Bilingual and ELT lexicographyLanguage Reference publishing


Bilingual and ELT lexicography Language Reference publishing

In the hands of the user In the hands of the user The powerful voice of The powerful voice of objectsobjects


when tools, medium and environment support and nourish, rather than hinder, self-expression and the fulfilment of one’s communication needs.

Literacy


the range of cognitive and emotional skills needed to inhabit online environments in meaningful ways.

Web Literacy


Museums

… a way for us all to see our place in the world (Jowell 2005)

… a space in which the nation can present itself as an ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 1983)

… metaphors for the kind of society we have, and the society we wish to create (Anderson 1999)

… the provision of a personal compass for understanding history, culture and nature (M Anderson 2007)

… a ‘Third Place’ … forces for civic engagement and social cohesion, gathering spaces for social interaction and engagement (IMLS 2009)


… from repositories of objects to repositories of knowledge (Hooper- Greenhill 1992)

… a contested space where diverse social groups seek to assert a right to access and representation (Ross 2004)

… reinforce the existing power structure – because that is what they are for (Duncan 1995)

… like universities, museums adopt policies that ‘flatter’ students and visitors… social exclusion is made to appear to be a psychological matter. (Furedi 2004)

… museums already represent, somehow, a ‘nonplace’ (Malraux 1951)


… identity… ownership… power


Different models of engagement and participation

In the hands of the user The Powerful voice of objects


Tools, medium and environment support and nourish, rather than hinder, self-expression and the fulfilment of one’s communication needs.


To share photographs from the Library’s collections with people who enjoy images but might not visit the Library’s own Web site.

To gain a better understanding of how social tagging and community input could benefit both the Library and users of the collections.

To gain experience participating in Web communities that are interested in the kinds of materials in the Library’s collections.


• Admiration and gratefulness• Technical remarks• Political debate• Meta-commentary


Expressions of admiration

BBroadway says: Great collection

www.stickerklub.com says: the waistcoat is real nice

vivsirena says: He looks very handsome in this photograph~& Very regal

internetincomebox says: I think this is a very nice picture of president Abraham Lincoln. He looks great in this picture. We must thank Shepherd, Nicholas H., the photographer for taking this picture of the president.

Stieglitzz65 says: He looks a little bit like Cary Grant in this photo.


Comments about the artefact as a photograph

zosxavius says: so that's what a daguerreotype looks like....they are as beautiful as they say.....

madjer33 says: Of course the image is flipped. Daguerreotypes are direct positive images, there is no negative. You see what the lens sees, the image is reversed and upside down. Look at the image on the ground glass of a view camera and you will see what the daguerreotype saw. Sometimes this was corrected with the use of a prism or mirror, but more often not.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65404168@N00/


woodpainter says: The image is the frontispiece of Lincoln, Abraham. Lincoln on Democracy. Rev. ed. New York: Fordham University Press, 2004This is a revision of an earlier edition

Raiden_Fangirl says: The Raconteurs took this picture for their single cover of ‘Many Shades of Black’


Comments on Lincoln the man and politician

internetincomebox says: The picture of the president is a great memory of a great man!

idswart says: Lincoln was a tyrant.


striatic says: Lincoln violated the rule of law, the constitution, the human rights of thousands - to a much greater extent than any president that came before him.

jeandiva says: Tyrant? No. Lincoln was a man of his time. He was not perfect. We need to understand that he was president of a people about 150 years ago, and what that really means. Not apologize for it, but understand that we've made progress that was unimaginable by the people of that time.


julia says: … The idea of business as usual, in a time when a major chunk of the country was trying to secede, violating the Union? Ridiculous.… Funny how people can't understand that in times of war, normal ‘rights’ are removed. … This idea that there's an honorable way to conduct wars is asinine and shameful.

striatic says: i don't enjoy it one bit. i'm rather surly and upset right now, and i don't think of it as a ‘ping pong ball’ in any way whatsoever. if you're finding this entertaining, great. live it up.


Meta-commentary

Chicago Wedding Photographer, Wes Craft says: The 'add note' feature isn't intended for sticking flaming debate tags regarding the politics of lincoln all over the photo.

ELCore says: Ditto Wes Craft. Only one comment, as of now, is actually about the photograph

xtrarant says: as gibbermagash said, is there any way to get rid of those damn box outlines for the notes? LoC should turn off the ability to leave nots on its pictures as everyone and their brother feels the need to pepper pictures with them and ruin looking at them.


Whiskeygonebad says: Please stop with all of your 2009 P.C. mush-brained comments

staciex says: … Anyone who is looking at a 200 year old image of anything and not appreciating that fact alone is on the wrong website. We are photographers here. We're sharing our eyes to the world with everyone so that they might have a larger understanding, a moment of inspiration, a connection, or a rejection. But, even if it is a rejection, this community is generally supportive, constructive, or silent. We're photographers here - not politicians. Can you imagine if you posted a photograph that anyone would care at all about in 200 years, regardless of subject matter? Politics don't belong here.

striatic says: you don't know who flickr is for and who it isn't for. you've made an assumption that it it is a website devoted *solely* to photographic art, and are wrong.


julia says: It is an amazing photograph. … a piece of material history, specifically important because of the subject … flickr is not merely a place to discuss photography… Many of us also routinely discuss issues or feelings that are inspired by the photographs we see posted. Taking part in those discussions is completely voluntary.… I disagree -- we are all politicians … it is our right (some might say our responsibility) to actively discuss our political beliefs.

One needn't take advantage of that freedom, or fulfil that responsibility, but I don't think it is appropriate to tell others to refrain from such interaction …If you mean you wish flickr comment threads were only ever about the art and science of photography, then you are in luck: when you see a series of comments that seem to diverge from that course, you are only one click away from relief.


ISO1977 says: perhaps the thinking goes something like this: i have an opinion and access to the internet, therefore you are obligated to hear my opinion.


IdentityOwnershipPower


PeopleMeaningObject

Giving an ‘object’ a social life is profoundly more interesting… Dialogue around an object becomes an artefact in itself, and the way people imagine connections between objects often results in profound, original insight about relationships between things over time (Oates 2009).


social networks and social media

Social networks (Facebook etc) are great for conversations, but there’s nothing particularly bound to those conversations except a social relationship. A social media system (like Flickr) gives conversations a focal point.

access versus release

(Oates 2009)


the web is not a ‘channel’, not for individuals, groups or institutions. It is an environment which is multifaceted, dynamic and mostly unknown;

expertise, authority and scholarship are values which persist, and which are energized rather than threatened by new forms of authorship and validation;

people’s identity as ‘users’ is dynamically defined by their own actions and preferences, rather than by external organizations;


a plausible promise (why should anyone join or contribute to a group)

an effective tool (how are the difficulties of coordination managed)

an acceptable bargain with the users (what can all concerned expect)

(Shirky 2008)


inhabit environments where individuals just ‘are’ and where, as part of their daily existence, individually and collectively they develop and nurture their identities and narratives of self.

The role of education, of museums too, if they share this aspiration, may then simply be to make extraordinary sense of ordinary activity and experience (Thompson 2002).


the relinquishing of a model which sees the museum concentrating the effort around itself in favour of a much more de-centralized model, where content becomes the bridge between people and meaning, rather than institutions acting as sole mediator between people and content


What may be the implications of this model for

usersinstitutionstype of contentmeaningmedium/environments


REFERENCES

Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. (London, Verso).Anderson, D. (1999). A Common Wealth. Museums in the Learning Age. (London, Stationery Office). Retrieved: 24 June. 2009. http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/consultations/UnderstandingtheFuture.pdfAnderson, M. (2007) Afterword: The Future of Museums in the Information Age. In Museum Informatics: People, Information, and Technology in Museums. (New York, Routledge). Duncan, C. (1995) Civilizing Rituals: inside public art museums. (London and New York, Routledge).Furedi, F. (2004) Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone? Confronting Twentieth Century Philistinism. (London, New York, Continuum). Hooper-Greenhill, E. (1992). Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge. (London, Routledge). IMLS Office of Policy, Planning, Research, and Communications (2009). The Future of Museums and Libraries: A Discussion Guide. (Washington, Institute of Museum and Library Services). Retrieved: 24 June 2009. http://www.imls.gov/pdf/DiscussionGuide.pdfJowell, T. (2005). The Value of Museums. Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st Century Life. (London, Department for Culture, Media and Sport).Malraux, A. (1951) Le Musée Imaginaire”, in Les voix du silence (Paris, Nouvelle Revue Française, Gallimard).Oates, G. (2009). Creative Spaces – just…why? Electronic Museum blog. Retrieved: 2 April 2009. hhtp://electronicmuseum.org.uk/2009/03/04/creative-spaces-justwhy/Ross, M. (2004). Interpreting the new museology. Museum and Society 2(2) pp 84-103.Shirky, C. (2008) Here comes Everybody. (New York, The Penguin Press).Thomson, J. (2002). A Vision of a Civilised Society. Face newsletter, Winter 2002. Retrieved: 15 June 200.http://www.f-a-c-e.org.uk/docs/winter02.pdf

m clari

esrc seminar the relation of new media practices to traditional literacy practices in the academy...

Documents

clari slide

web literacy slide

repositories of objects

online environments

social cohesion

social interaction

public archives

way users